HighIntensity.net View Mike Mentzer Bodybuilding Topic

I have been training for 14 years now and continue to get sore after every hard workout. At every stage of my sports career -whatever the sports was- I always used to get more sore than other comparable athletes. Even when playing soccer I was the most miserable guy on the team the day after the training.

Recently, I have started to experiment with some methods to reduce DOMS (not because I don′t want t deal with it -at this stage I am used to it- but because I was wondering if it would make me grow better) and obtained some amazing results.

First, I found that immersion in cold water post-workout helps a lot. Ideally, sitting in an ice-bath for a while would be awesome but I have not tried that. Instead a cold shower helps quite a bit. Now if the soreness after a workout would have been 7 out of 10 when I shower with lukewarm water after the session, it comes down to a 6 when I use a cold shower and goes up to 8 or 8.5 when I use super hot water -so linear is the relationship.

Secondly, Baking Soda makes a huge difference. I will not get into the funny stories of immense GI discomfort when I first tried to just spoon the Baking Soda right out of the box, but in the end I just settled on putting it in gelatin caps and taking the equivalent of 2-3 teaspoons of it over the 3 hours following training. When I also use calcium citrate tablets with this, I can almost entirely eliminate the DOMS.

My question is: Is that useful for greater hypertrophy or even relevant? Am I actually going to recover faster at a molecular level by doing this or am I simply masking the pain?

Another thing that is less important but still very interesting is that something like Baking Soda -even when taken directly out of the box- can make a difference. Is the stomach acid not strong enough to neutralize the base in the Baking Soda? Anyway, this is less important. What matters is if this will lead to more growth, which I have not been able to judge because I have not been doing this long enough yet…

Sub7

Hey Sub,

First, that is really weird about the baking soda, it changes your blood ph helping you buffer lactic acid, and lactic acid isn′t related at all to DOMS. I′m not sure why or how that could work, weird!
Now in theory, you stopping the DOMS should not hurt your growth, the way science explains DOMS is that the actual pain part is about the 3rd step.
1) High Calcium causes damage
2) The immune system reacts
3) Nerves are now more sensitive so transmit the pain

Cheers,
Az

"Is the stomach acid not strong enough to neutralize the base in the Baking Soda?"

No, sodium IS alkaline, and the stomach acid doesn′t get enough time to neutralize it. You will absorb the sodium into your bloodstream, and like Az said, it will raise your PH (a GOOD thing). Calcium ALSO is alkaline, and raises the blood′s PH. Water has a PH of 7.0, and you body USUALLY wants to be slightly above that, say, 7.2 or so. Doing exercise produces lactic acid, which LOWERS your PH (a VERY bad thing).

Our bodies are designed to be alkaline (above 7.0 PH), so they can repair things, and do their bodily functions MUCH better in that state. You can′t get sick or catch colds either when you′re alkaline, because bacteria and such can′t live in it. This is why balancing the PH in pools is so important it GUARENTEES NO bacteria, mold, etc., can live in it. So, what MAY be happening is you′re preventing your system from becoming to acidic, thus, nothing can INTERFERE with the repair/rebuilding process. If you became acidic, bacteria, virii, etc., would all be having a hayday and try to start replicating. This would lower your recovery ability, because the body would have to spend time multitasking the repairs and fighting off the bacteria, virii, etc.

Also, being alkaline really cuts down on inflammation. I take coral calcium (for health) and it makes a HUGE difference with inflammation in my wrists (tendonitis from too much computer work). I′m a gigantic believer in the power of the body to heal and repair when alkaline. By the way, stress makes you acidic, so even though you can be taking in large amount of calcium, sodium (NOT salt, that′s sodium chloride which is NOT good – it′s not alkaline because the bond cannot be broken), or potassium, you can STILL be slightly acidic from your body making so much more acid.

Anyway, it doesn′t surprise me at all, and if you started taking 200% of the recommended calcium, you won′t have hardly any soreness. Calcium is more stable than taking all that sodium like that all at once, so that′s what I personally do and WOULD do. Getting lots of potassium from rich foods is also a great way to raise PH (probably the HEALTHIEST overall).

Darrell

Darrell,
I take Coral Calcium as well. So what I gather from you is that if I take 200% of the recommended dosage after a workout and the day or two following, It can reduce DOMS? Or did I misunderstand what you wrote.

Take care
Surge

"If you became acidic, bacteria, virii, etc., would all be having a hayday and try to start replicating. "

There must be a misunderstanding here. All microorganisms have a much harder time replicating in acidic environments. Acid is one of the best things to get rid of bacteria and even some viruses (some viruses, not all because there are viruses that are just too strong to get rid of with anything)

Az,
I am also amazed that this is having such an effect. Now even if the Baking Soda is eliminating acidity and dealing with muscle′s low PH, it is still puzzling because DOMS is not caused by acidity anyway. I always thought that the PH of the muscles that have been worked returns to baseline in a matter of hours and DOMS starts in 24 or so hours, so the two cannot be related. Or can they? But do try it for yourself and see… You do not have to ingest baking soda. Just get calcium citrate and take like 1200 – 1300 mg of it right after the workout (this dose should be very very harmless)

Sub7