So if it's not lactic acid...

rick_chasey

There has been a number of articles debunking the myth that lactic acid is a waste product and is instead part of the energy releasing process, and most of it has gone after a few hours and isn't the cause of delayed onset muscle soreness.

Which begs the question: what is that buring sensation akin to exercise burn when I massage muscles with DOMS if it's not that?

shockedsoshocked

DOMS is typically caused by eccentric contractions of the muscles under load. As far as I'm aware that doesn't happen in cycling, but you can still get sore legs and inflammation through doing high intensity/high volume work, especially if you're not used to the load.

Lactic acid doesn't even stay in your system that long, it gets re-metabolised much quicker than that, minutes at most.

buckles

Don't forget the body is full of nerves that create sensations. There doesn't have to be any actual chemical present to cause the sensations. It could just be your body's way of saying 'stop the f**king cycling, I need to recover'.

Chrissz

DOMS is caused by micro-tears within the muscle fibres as the component parts are put under stress and are pulled apart (usually via eccentric work but can also be cause through concentric work). It can cause localized pain and some swelling as the body/muscles go into repair mode.

rick_chasey

Ok.

So my legs are sore post ride. But when I massage them, it feels like something acidic is being released. They warm up and burn a little, akin to the burning during exercise only weaker.

So what is that?

kajjal

Buckles wrote:

Don't forget the body is full of nerves that create sensations. There doesn't have to be any actual chemical present to cause the sensations. It could just be your body's way of saying 'stop the f**king cycling, I need to recover'.

This is good advice which if not taken will lead to injuries and possibly ill health if you are pushing yourself too hard without enough recovery.

dw300

Does it matter what causes it?

If you know you can jump on the bike and pump out the same power while suffering DOMS then it might as well not be there. It's actually good for your mental game.

If it is affecting your performance, then you may still be able to find a workout you can handle that provide useful training impulse which makes you stronger without building fatigue you can't recover from.

Don't use the 'listen to your body' thing as an excuse not to train, if you're in shape to still put in useful training. Absolutely it should be listened to if your performance is lagging, especially over the period of several days or weeks, but if you're still strong then the extra training with DOMS, stringing 3, 4 or 5 days in a row every so often, could be the over-reaching that you might just require to kick on.