Extreme Post-exercise soreness: DOMS gone wrong

DOMS stands for "Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness" and it refers to the period 24-48 hours after a tougher than normal workout where it hurts to even stand up or brush your hair. I used to think this was a good thing, but latest studies show its a sign that waaaay too much muscle damage has been done and can actually be very serious or even fatal in extreme cases. That condition is called Rhabdomyolysis and its basically your kidneys shutting down because there is so much muscle tissue damage from the workout that the amount of waste products are too much. It's very serious stuff.

Yes, every workout involves some breakdown of muscle tissue. It's part of hypertrophy (enlargement of rebuilt damaged muscle fibers) and is a normal sign of progressively overloaded workouts. But in this case, too much of a good thing is not good. 

BTW, it was thought that lactic acid was the reason for the soreness in DOMS however is turns out that its just the reaction of localized damaged muscle tissue. Lactic acid (waste products in the blood from sustained muscular contractions) might account for AOMS (acute onset muscle soreness) which is the "burn" you feel during exercise, but would be long gone by the time DOMS sets in.

Check out this article by the ACSM to learn more about DOMS and warning signs you've gone too hard.

Great Shoulder Rehab and Injury Prevention Routine

As I've been trying out different rehab exercises for my rotator cuff issue, I came across this one which i just love by the Diesel Crew. I gave it a whirl the other day and found it on point. Most rotator cuff exercises a PT would give you are included in here in one form or another (ie shoulder external rotations and abductions in both horizontal and vertical planes), but you will notice there is an emphasis on retracting the scapula at the beginning of each movement which work the stabilizer muscles of the scapula (trapezius, rhomboids) which create a strong foundation for all overhead work. 

It also reinforces good shoulder mechanics since rotating and raising the scapula upwardly (for overhead work) or retracting it (for rows, etc) helps to avoid shoulder impingement and rotator cuff injuries by giving more space between the acromion and the humeral head. 

There are two schools of thought on overhead shoulder form. One is called 'active shoulders' (favored by CrossFitters, Ripetoe...) and is the act of rotating the scapulae upwardly in overhead movements. The other is referred to as 'packed shoulders' (favored by the kettle-bell crowd, Pavel...) which is keeping the scapula down and retracted at the top of the movement. Depending on the shape of your acromion, packed shoulders in overhead movement could lead to Rotator Cuff trouble by impinging the supraspinatus muscle or sub-acromial bursa so my opinion would be to avoid that. But you might have a forgiving shoulder anatomy so it might not be a problem for you, but better safe than sorry since it's a rough way to find out!

Thanks again to the Diesel Crew for the great routine and the Metallica :P

Passed the ACSM CPT exam! : )

I guess all that studying paid off! Whew! The certification is for the certified personal trainer with the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). It's one of the harder ones to get and carries some weight with it, but I decided to go for it since I'm in this for the long haul. : )

I scored 718 out of 800 (550 is passing), so I'm really happy with that. It was a lot of information and I felt the test needed solid prep so for those of you out there thinking of taking it, prepare and study well! I did take an ACSM weekend study course which I very much recommend as it helps you focus on what areas (KSAs) you need to know for the test. A good deal of the questions were in the other study material (not the workbook you get in the course) so I recommend supplementing your study with those other books. There were a few questions not covered in the material, but those are 'beta' questions and wont affect your score if don't get them correct. I would say for sure to learn spotting techniques for specific exercises since that wasn't anywhere in the material. I learned it from some NSCA books but you can find on the internet with some focused searching.

Again, I really recommend taking the weekend course. I think without that one could spend many more months studying material that might not be entirely relevant or perhaps not even covered. I studied hard for about 4 weeks after the course and it worked out well.

Good luck to anyone preparing for the test and know that if you are studying using the current workbooks and material, after Jan 1 the test will change so the material you have wont be 100% tied to the test so make sure to take before the end of the year!