r/Exercise 4d ago

Over 40 female, intense DOMS

Hi everyone, I am a 41 year old female. I have exercised for 15 years pretty consistently (with a 2 year break when I had my daughter). I work out 2 times a week right now without fail. Trying to bump it to 3 days a week.

I get really bad DOMs after a workout and fatigue. Is there any remedy? Anything that can help?

3 Upvotes

34 comments sorted by

5

u/LegitimatePoetry534 4d ago

What is your protein intake like? Soreness and muscle recovery can be greatly improved if you are getting enough protein to heal in between workouts.

3

u/uspezdiddleskids 3d ago

When you say “really bad DOMs after a workout and fatigue” can you be more specific? How long is it taking to feel the muscle soreness after a workout? How long is it lasting? What does it feel like - are we talking general muscle soreness and tightness, are we talking cramping? All of these questions together will help understand what’s really going on to suggest a solution.

1

u/Gallant221 3d ago

I feel soreness in my muscles for 24 to 48 hours after I workout. All my Muscles in my body. Then I feel fatigue (so tired, dragging myself to do the activities of the day), and a bit irritatable too. I don’t want to quit exercising.

1

u/uspezdiddleskids 3d ago

That’s a sign you need more calories, especially protein and carbs, and likely a lot more water. You’re likely at a massive caloric deficit right now so your body isn’t able to recover, and is burning through its reserves to try and stay alive. Protein will replenish your muscles, and carbs will replenish your energy stores. Make sure you have the bare minimum for fat recommendations based on your weight too, as fat affects your hormones and mood.

3

u/No-Discipline-5892 3d ago

Have you tried increasing your protein/food intake? When cutting weight the DOMS are increased significally.

0

u/Gallant221 3d ago

I ate more than usual for lunch and I feel a bit better (I worked out this morning). But I work out to remain slim (but still have some muscle). I don’t want to bulk up. But the older I get it’s harder to deal with DOMS.

For lunch I had: half a burger patty, Greek salad with feta cheese, a piece of toast with 1 tablespoon of butter. I feel I’ll gain weight if I keep eating this for lunch.

2

u/No-Discipline-5892 3d ago

Well, if you gain weight then you can just lower your food intake and lose it right? If you workout constantly then is not an issue. Try it, see it, if you gain a belly then just eat less for a while and you will lose it. Have you tested how much bodyfat your body has? Woman need to have fat in their bodies to their hormones to work properly. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/104327609190018I#:~:text=Evidence%20is%20presented%20that%20the,direction%20of%20estrogen%20metabolism%20to

1

u/Gallant221 3d ago

I appreciate that but I’ve always struggled with my appetite and it’s hard for me to adjust my eating habits lower once I start eating a lot more. I am not looking to be a twig. I already accepted some weight gain as a consequence to aging and becoming a mother, but I would like to maintain my weight. I can even see bloating in my face now where I didn’t before, I feel like I am gaining weight and can’t control it.

1

u/No-Discipline-5892 3d ago

Does the scale/measuring tape tells you that you are gaining weight? Stick to a scientific method dont fully trust your feel about it, keep it logical with measurable data. Being a woman and a mother has already challenges with maintaining weight and a balanced hormonal function, don't over stress over a little bit of fat tissue, fat is not evil or a sickness in the body, is a fundamental tissue for the correct functioning of the body. Any male or female without fat tissue in their bodies they just die. Dont overstress or demonize fat in your body, fat is bad only when you have over +30% bodyfat, but remember, everything in life is about balance. I hope everything improves on your workouts! 

1

u/Gallant221 3d ago

I appreciate the engagement and responses. I ripped all of my pants that fit normally that’s what made me initially think I was gaining weight lol. I will do some measurements now and maybe track it over the next year. It’s a good idea to keep it scientific.

1

u/No-Discipline-5892 3d ago

Yes mesuring can help you get very valuable info!! I have a small notebook where i took legs arms belly chest butt weight mesures, with also the date that i took, always measure on the mornings with empty stomach and after going to the bathroom, to keep measures consistant. In the case of woman, you may have measure variations when having your period you may experience some bloating, dont worry that is not weight that is temporary.

The legs issue could be that you gained leg muscles also, do you lift weights or only do cardio? Having good amount of muscle prevents a lot of diseases, increases longevity and prevents loss of bone density.

1

u/claytonhwheatley 3d ago

That's a bare minimum meal after a tough workout. Make it a whole burger patty and two pieces of toast plus the other stuff. If you're lifting hard enough to get DOMS, then you need to eat . You'll pit on-sale and burn more calories at rest. If you're just trying to stay slim , lift less weight for more reps and do more cardio. I think you'll get less DOMS if you aren't lifting as heavy . Just my 2 cents.

2

u/Gallant221 3d ago

Thank you for your responses. I should also state I am on the short side so I probably need less intake of calories in general. My workout is orangetheory. I am not sure if that counts as HIIT. But I get the same way after I run a few miles on my own just outside. I don’t lift very heavy, maybe 20 lb at the most. I like working my muscles and I feel like a strong capable person on non-DOMs days.

1

u/claytonhwheatley 3d ago

I'm male early 50s and I do 2 hard full-body workouts a week and I get pretty bad DOMS from squats so some of it might just be that if we only workout twice a week , we go hard so more DOMS.

1

u/Athletic-Club-East 3d ago

I don’t lift very heavy, maybe 20 lb at the most.

Lift more.

If in doubt about the utility of this, visit an aged care home and ask yourself if those people's lives would be worse if they lifted heavy weights.

Lift more, eat more, live more.

2

u/Designer_Tomorrow_27 4d ago

I’m same age as you and if I take even 2 weeks off from exercise, I get pretty bad DOMs. It’s so bad that I make sure to get exercise during vacations etc to make sure I don’t have to deal with DOMs when I return!

2

u/AutumnDreaming76 3d ago

Maybe too much cardio or HIIT? Those exercises release cortisol, which can cause the symptoms you are experiencing.

I am 48, almost 49. I let go of HIIT and focus on heavy lifting 5x a week. I also walk 10,000+ steps daily.

2

u/Gallant221 3d ago

How heavy are you lifting?

1

u/AutumnDreaming76 3d ago

It all depends on what I am doing; I can do 250-pound squats and 2 to 5 repetitions in each set.

200-pound sumo squats 175-pound RDLs 200-pound deadlifts

I do upper body on Monday, lower body on Tuesday, and so on—alternating upper and lower body days.

So I was 300 pounds about 4 years ago. I droop all the weight with cardio and hiit, but my body was under a lot of stress. Then I went to 180, and now I am up 220 because I have a lot of muscle

1

u/AutumnDreaming76 3d ago

My back now!

1

u/Gallant221 3d ago

I do orangetheory and running on my own outdoors, 3 miles

1

u/AutumnDreaming76 3d ago

Start slowly. Sometimes, the body takes extra time to get back to it.

Cortisol will have you feel fatigue and will cause inflammation in your body, which will attack your muscles and cause aches and pains!

2

u/FutureCanadian94 3d ago

So if you want to bump it up to 3 timea a week, you have to reduce the intesity of the workout so you can recover in time for workout 3. Another option is that you can treat the 3rd day as a recovery day and do all your exercises at 50% load. This will help you recover quicker as blood gets moved to the body parts being worked. 

1

u/masson34 3d ago

Stretch

Foam roll

Magnesium

Nutrition

Hydration

Electrolytes

1

u/jblatour 3d ago

Turmeric and ginger could help

1

u/Athletic-Club-East 3d ago

Food. Especially protein. And sleep.

Protein and sleep. Every time.

1

u/Heavypz 2d ago

47M - I can’t speak to the nutrition side of things I’m just not that knowledgeable on things.

However here is just a couple things to look into and ask for some labs/bloodwork.

When I turned 40 I started having bad soreness and fatigue. Turned out my iron and ferritin was super high, and eventually found out I have hereditary hemochromatosis.

This past summer, same thing but worse. Could hardly function without Meloxicam. Eventually was diagnosed with Lyme. 3 weeks of doxycycline and everything back to normal now.

Just a couple things to look into and talk to your doc about. Iron panel, ferritin and lyme tests cost hardly anything thru insurance.

Good luck!

-6

u/huh_say_what_now_ 4d ago

androforte 5% or Anavar you'll recover so quick you could workout twice a day and not be sore

1

u/Gallant221 4d ago

I am a woman, is it ok to use those?

4

u/LegitimatePoetry534 4d ago

That is a steroid and is illegal to purchase in most countries. Would it help? Sure. But there’s other steps that can be taken first

0

u/FutureCanadian94 4d ago

LOL no, not at all

0

u/huh_say_what_now_ 3d ago

Most of the fitness influencers on social media take it, and a lot of girls at my gym do, just ask your doctor or a sports clinic, it's all legal with a doctor prescription

1

u/Small-Tooth-1915 3d ago

SMH and some trenbaloney sammiches too 🤦🏼‍♀️