Did you have a good workout? What is your goal?
Better health?
Weight loss?
Toning up?
Losing stomach fat?
Whatever it is, you will get results if you make your workouts count. Equally, you’ll never get results if your workouts don’t. Even more important is consistency. You don’t get fit on one workout, and equally you don’t get put weight on or become unfit from skipping just one workout.
Read on to find out more about effective weight loss and fitness workouts.
How To Tell A Good Workout
I have spoken about the SAID principle and making your workout specific to your goal. However, even if your workout is specific, how do you know if you have worked out hard enough? The answer could lie in Delayed Onset Of Muscular Soreness (DOMS).
A sure sign of an effective workout is the delayed onset of muscular soreness (DOMS) 24 to 48 hours post workout.
DOMS is particularly uncomfortable after a new routine, a period of inactivity through illness or work commitments or for those new to exercise. DOMS is a characteristic a good workout. Proper training plans will progress your fitness. Aching after a workout is a sensation you will grow to love, and even be a talking point among friends.
Contrary to popular belief the DOMS is not a result of lactic acid build up from your high intensity exercise sessions.
It is the result of muscular breakdown on a cellular level, with inflammation as a result of pushing the muscle beyond its ability (overload).
The resultant breakdown, although uncomfortable, is a great sign as it will elicit a reparation response and your muscles will adapt and you will get fitter.
How To Prevent DOMS
Methods to prevent DOMS, or at least reduce its severity, is to gradually progress your intensity of exercise over time, particularly if you are new to training.
It is also suggested that the eccentric phase of a muscle contraction is the most damaging to the muscle fibers and so an initial exercise routine that minimises time under eccentric tension might reduce the aches and pains the next day.
I believe however that if you are able to tolerate aching for a few days at the beginning of your routine you will gain far more rapid results in fitness if you can push yourself – towards your limits sometimes.
If you’re a beginner to exercise and weight loss and the DOMS is likely to put you off training, or if you are susceptible to getting injured then gradual and sustainable will be the best option for you. Just remember if you never push yourself in training however, you will not be able to in your sport either, and your weight loss and fitness results will be slower.
Keep on getting effective weight loss, fitness, and generally improve by keeping your routine fresh.
Keep things changing.
If you are working hard, but not experiencing DOMS, then mix up your workouts to create a new stimuli, and adaptation. If you are starting an exercise programme and your goal is to lose weight without dieting – once you have your nutrition dialed in then the fat will melt away!
Have a great workout, and be sure to let me know if you have experienced the DOMS!
Nico.