Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness: Can Supplements Make A Difference? By Donna Marlor You find yourself walking backward down steps. It hurts to sit down. Your legs are on fire.
 Aerobic fitness doesn't protect you from delayed onset muscle soreness, or DOMS. In fact, you may not even be aware of when the damage is done until the next day.
he first inkling that something is wrong often occurs as
you get out of bed. Your joints are stiff and very sore. What's even worse, you stay sore for the next three days, and completely miss training.
The most likely cause of DOMS is eccentric muscle contraction, where muscles are providing a "braking" action. For example, running down an incline or lowering weights are actions that require your muscle fibers to forcefully contract while they are lengthening. Micro tears of muscle
fibers, along with inflammation of the surrounding area, are thought to be the cause of the soreness that results although no one knows for sure.
So you exercised. Now you're sore. What can be done about it? Or even more important, how could it have been avoided?
Nutrition Supplements to Prevent DOMS
If you're about to increase your weight training intensity, or have entered a 10K known for its challenging hills, then you might think about taking
some preventative medicine. Unfortunately, when it comes to DOMS, prevention is as difficult as treatment. Let's look at some of the supplement regimens that have been tried.
Number 1: Fish Oil Capsules
The theory sounds logical: tissue injury creates an inflammatory response; omega 3 fats found in fish oils reduce inflammation. When put to the test, athletes who supplemented with 1,800 mg of fish oil capsules for 30
days, and then performed eccentric exercise, had no reduction in levels of creatinine kinase or cortisol, which are measures of DOMS. Even more important, significant decreases in strength occurred despite the treatment with the supplements.
Number 2: Vitamin C
Tissue injury caused by a bout of high intensity exercise can create an imbalance in the body's natural antioxidant defenses. These natural defenses can be overwhelmed, creating short term oxidative stress, and
cell damage. Could a high dose of vitamin C be the answer?
A survey of the research literature provides a number of studies where vitamin C supplementation has been trialed as a means to reduce DOMS. The findings are quite clear that supplementation does not affect the severity of DOMS created by eccentric exercise. What's more, researchers at the Biochemistry of Aging Laboratory, University of Florida, Gainesville, found that high levels of vitamin C could actually act
as a pro oxidant. In other words, the effect of high dose supplementation (1,000 mg/day) may actually be harmful, and contribute to increased muscle damage, at least immediately post injury.
Number 3: Vitamin E
Heralded as the key to preventing heart disease, vitamin E has not been proven to be effective in large clinical trials for cardiovascular disease. That's right, taking vitamin E does not prevent a heart attack later in life.
Unfortunately, the same seems to be true for the prevention of DOMS.
Nutrition experts are now pondering why trials of vitamin E have failed. And their best guess is this supplementation with high doses of dl alpha tocopherol, also known as RRR alpha vitamin E, reduces the tissue stores of gamma vitamin E. It appears that gamma vitamin E has some unique functions as an antioxidant, which may be very important. In fact,
populations who have a high intake of gamma vitamin E, from corn oil and soybean oil, tend to have low rates of heart disease. So back to DOMS there has been no research to test whether or not gamma vitamin E supplementation reduces DOMS. But in the meantime, it doesn't hurt to use corn oil and soybean oils in your regular diet.
Number 4: HMB (beta hydroxy beta methylbutyrate)
When it comes to DOMS, HMB stands out in the trials published in
sports nutrition journals. It's the only supplement that seems to help reduce muscle damage. HMB is derived from leucine, which is an amino acid naturally found in the protein of meat, dairy, nuts and soy products. Only about 5 percent to 10 percent of the leucine from protein in foods is metabolized into HMB, which is why researchers believe that under conditions of extreme stress, cells may not have enough HMB to sustain maximal function.
Studies show that 3 grams per day of HMB for four weeks is effective in reducing the markers of muscle damage that occur with resistance training. And there's good news for runners as well: supplementation with 3 grams per day over a five week period reduced markers of muscle damage after a 20K run by 50 percent. Perhaps even more important, runners supplementing with HMB were able to maintain or improve leg strength following a 20K run.
Thus far, HMB appears to have a wide margin of safety with no adverse side effects, based on the findings in published research studies. However, if you're going to try HMB, it is important to use the identical product that has been used in studies. Look for the patent number 5,348,979 on the label, and expect to pay $89.95 for a month's supply.
Supplements To Ease The Pain
If you're already past the point of prevention, and are searching for a pain
remedy, then let's look at your options.
Pain Reliever #1: Bromelain vs. ibuprofen. Bromelain is a phytochemical found in pineapples and is known to have anti inflammatory properties. A group of researchers from the Sports Injury Lab at Indiana State University put bromelain (900 mg/day) head to head against ibuprofen (1,200 mg/day) as a treatment for DOMS induced by eccentric arm exercises. Their conclusions? Neither treatment was effective in reducing
perceived pain or in restoring strength and range.
Pain Reliever #2: Volatile mustard oil (Allyl Isothicyanate). You may not be a believer of natural pain remedies, but when ibuprofen fails, it may be time to try some alternative medicine. Volatile mustard oil is extracted from the dried, ripe seed of varieties of black mustard seed. It can be incorporated into a cream preparation designed for applying over the
sore muscle area, and is classified as a "counterirritant." The theory behind counterirritants is that the localized reaction of redness and warmth causes the patient to disregard the original deeper pain. Although you may get some pain relief with a mustard cream, don't expect any improvements in muscle strength or range.
Pain Reliever #3: Rest and root beer. OK. It's not the root beer that's going to relieve your sore muscles. But if you put your feet up, grab a
good book, and simply relax, well, I guarantee your pain will go away.
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