If I have DOMS, then does that mean my muscles are growing?

Question

I just started weight training, and I have never lifted before. DOMS stands for Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness. It is when you have soreness in muscles hours after you worked out. So does that mean that my muscles are growing?

Answer 1

It means that you have given your muscles a hard workout.

Basically, weight training creates little micro-tears in muscle fibers, which then, over the course of a few days, rebuild themselves stronger. This is how weight training promotes muscle growth.

DOMS, which usually is most severe about 24-36 hours after working out a muscle group, is simply soreness related to that minor damage you caused to your muscles. It is worse when you haven't worked out a particular muscle in a while.  People who are conditioned and workout regularly still experience a very minor level of DOMS, which they refer to as "feeling tight" or "feeling their workout."

For what it's worth, the first phase of weight training is simply to condition the body to withstand a hard workout without crippling pain afterward. So, the DOMS effect will pass in time, except for on hard leg days. Your legs will probably always suffer from DOMS if you are working them out hard.

Meanwhile, drink a lot of water (at least 3-4 liters a day), be sure you're eating right, getting enough rest - your body repairs itself mostly while you're asleep - and make sure there's sufficient protein in your diet to support all this muscle-building and rebuilding.  You can take some Ibuprofin to relieve the symptoms, and try to stretch the affected muscles every hour or two-- they'll be very tight, and loosening them up will aid in swift recovery.  You might consider taking a Glutamine supplement (about 5-10mg before bed) to assist in muscle repair and recovery.