Have you ever heard of DOMS (a.k.a. Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness)?
Written by Cliff D, Sports Massage/ Soft Tissue Therapist
What Is DOMS? Why Your Muscles Hate You Two Days After Leg Day
You know the feeling. You had a great session yesterday, you felt strong, you even treated yourself to a protein shake on the way home. Then today happens. You sit down on the loo; your legs give out halfway. Stairs become a genuine threat. Putting on socks feels like a mobility test you didn't sign up for.
Welcome to DOMS, or Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness. If you train regularly, you've met it before. I see it in clinic every single week, and clients always ask me the same thing: what is actually going on in there, and is there anything I can do about it?
Let's get into it.
Forget What You've Heard About Lactic Acid
For years, people blamed DOMS on lactic acid building up in the muscle. I still hear this from clients all the time. It's a myth, and it's worth clearing up.
Lactic acid clears from your muscles within an hour or two of finishing exercise. It has nothing to do with the soreness you feel two days later. So what's actually happening?
When you push your muscles through unfamiliar movement, whether that's a new exercise, a heavier weight, or more reps than usual, you create tiny, microscopic tears in the muscle fibres. This is a completely normal part of how muscle adapts and gets stronger. Your body responds with a natural inflammatory process, sending fluid and immune cells to the area to start repairing the damage.
That inflammation is what causes the stiffness, tenderness, and swelling you feel. It's not damage in the sense of an injury. It's your body doing exactly what it's supposed to do after being challenged.
The Timeline: Why It's Worse Two Days Later, Not One
DOMS doesn't hit you straight away, and that catches a lot of people out. You might feel completely fine the next morning and think you've dodged it.
Then day two arrives.
Soreness usually starts creeping in around 12 to 24 hours after exercise
It tends to peak somewhere between 24 and 72 hours post-workout
For most people it settles down within 3 to 5 days, sometimes a little longer if the session was particularly brutal
The delay happens because the inflammatory response takes time to build. Your body isn't reacting instantly; it's ramping up repair over the following couple of days. That's why the "day after the day after" is usually the worst.
Where Sports Massage Actually Fits In
This is the part clients really want to know. Can massage help, and if so, when should you actually book one?
Soft tissue therapy won't stop DOMS from happening, and I'll always be honest with you about that. What it can do is make the whole process more manageable and, in a lot of cases, speed up how quickly you bounce back.
Here's what's happening on the table when I work on sore muscle tissue:
Improved circulation. Massage encourages blood flow to the affected area, which helps deliver oxygen and nutrients needed for repair, and helps clear out some of that inflammatory build-up.
Nervous system calming. Sore muscles often carry a protective tension pattern. Hands-on work helps shift your nervous system out of that guarded state, which can genuinely reduce how tight and reactive the tissue feels.
Reduced perceived tension. Even if the tissue itself is still repairing, a good session can make everything feel looser and less restricted, which matters when you're trying to move normally again.
When should you actually come in?
I usually tell clients the sweet spot is 24 to 48 hours after the session that caused the soreness. Come in too soon, right after training, and the muscle is still in the early stages of that inflammatory response, so a deep session isn't always the right call. Give it a day, let the initial reaction settle, then book in.
If you train consistently, a lot of my regulars also book massage as ongoing maintenance rather than waiting for a bad flare-up. It's a completely valid approach too. Keeping on top of tension before it builds up tends to mean less severe DOMS overall.
What To Do While You Wait
You don't need to lie on the sofa for three days. In fact, that's usually the wrong move.
Light movement, gentle walking, easy cycling, or a slow stretch session all help keep blood flowing to the area without adding more load. This is often called active recovery, and it genuinely works better than complete rest for most people.
Stay hydrated, get enough protein to support the repair process, and don't be afraid to train other muscle groups while the sore ones settle down.
Final Word
DOMS isn't a sign that something's gone wrong. It's a sign you challenged your body and it's adapting. That said, you don't have to just grit your teeth and wait it out on your own.
If you're dealing with post-training soreness right now, or you train hard enough that DOMS is basically a monthly guest in your life, come in and let's get you sorted. Book a recovery session with me and we'll work out a plan that fits how you train.
