OK, it's only tangentially related to nutrition, but I can't think of anything more timely than a post collating all the wisdom I can find related to preventing, understanding and treating Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS).

Even if you aren't participating in the affiliate cup training, if you've been coming to regular classes you have probably noticed an increase in our intensity and volume this week.  And your shoulders, back, thighs, glutes and everything else are probably reminding you of it every time you try to get out of your chair.  Welcome to DOMS.

What is it, how is it caused and should I care?
Surprisingly, we still don't know exactly what DOMS is.  But the most commonly-accepted explanation is that heavy training results in micro-trauma (ie, tiny tears) to muscle fiber.  Just as with any trauma, the body's response is inflammation as it sends in the troops for repair, and the pain we feel is due to the inflammation interfering with normal muscle operation.

DOMS is caused by exertion beyond a muscle's normal capacity, but it is made far worse by exercises that involve 1) a lot of repetitions with 2) a heavy eccentric movement.  (Eccentric movement is any movement that lengthens the muscle against resistance - ie, lowering slowly from a pullup).  At its most extreme, muscle strain can result in rhabdomyolysis (aka rhabdo), in which damaged muscle tissue leaks into the bloodstream, causing kidney failure.  Rhabdo is rare, and typically occurs with people who are fit but untrained doing a large number of movements that feel easy but incorporate a heavy eccentric movement (jumping pullups, glute-ham situps and jumping squats are the usual culprits).

Rhabdo is serious - potentially fatal - but regular DOMS is just part of working out.  Indeed, many of us feel that if we aren't sore, we haven't been working hard enough.  However, applying several layers of microtrauma to the same muscles (ie, working out sore) can lead to overreaching and eventually injury, so it is in our best interests to try and stay ahead of the curve and diminish the soreness as much as we can before it adds up to incapacitation.  Not just for training purposes, but also for our daily existence - I find the ability to stand up and walk around greatly enriches my quality of life.

What can I do?
There is no magic bullet to prevent or cure DOMS.  But there are many small things we can do before, during and after workouts to mitigate its effects. 

PRE-WORKOUT

• Dynamic stretching.  I would save the static stretches for afterwards, but preparing your muscles for activity with some quick dynamic stretching will help prevent damage. 
  
• Warm-up.  This one's obvious:  don't workout cold.
• Elevate your legs.  If you spend all day standing or sitting, your legs can get swollen.  Spending a few minutes with your legs up can help balance your circulation.

DURING WORKOUT

• Keep moving between sets.  If it's a strength workout, don't sit down and rest between sets - simply walking around will help keep the blood moving.
• Don't work the same muscles back-to-back.  When you're not in charge of programming, you don't have a lot of control over this, and sometimes CrossFit might demand that you hammer the same muscle groups in consecutive workouts.  But when you DO have control, try to let the damaged muscles recover while you focus elsewhere. 
  
• Recovery workouts.  Taking a workout at half-weight can help you recover faster than just waiting it out - the elevated heartrate and light activity promotes circulation to damaged muscles, clearing out waste products and bringing fresh blood to the muscles.
• Be careful about which movements you do.  Be judicious with the "rhabdo movements" listed above, as well as anything else that involves a high number of reps of eccentric movements.
  

POST WORKOUT

• Eat a LOT of Quality Food.  Your body is in dire need of all the building blocks that food provides us, so feed it.  Brandon's method of "fighting overtraining a pound of meat at a time" is good advice.  If you're doing the affiliate cup training, do not be shy:  get in there and EAT, dammit!  Like it's your job.  But make sure it's good quality food: every time you put crap in your body, you're making more work for it to no benefit.  So keep the drinking to a minimum (a little red wine is OK), avoid processed foods, sugars, any ingredients with chemical-sounding names, bad fats, and factory-farmed meats.  Stick with lots of organic fruits and vegetables, good fats, eggs, quality meats, nuts and dairy (if you tolerate it well).  I will leave the grains decision up to your own conscience and experience.
  
• Sleep.  This is where the majority of repair happens, so don't sell yourself short.  Eight hours minimum, nine if you're doing the affiliate cup training.  As dark a room as you can manage.  And try to be asleep by ten.
  
• Fish Oil. A natural anti-inflammatory agent, fish oil ups your Omega-3-to-Omega-6 ratio, which is beneficial for keeping your cell receptors open for nutrient transfer.
  
• PWO nutrition.  Remember?  Reports from the field indicate that people are noticing diminished soreness when they have a good post-workout drink.
  
• Contrast showers.  OK, I know this sounds horrible.  And it is kind of horrible.  But I've started playing with contrast showers this week, and they do seem to help.  Here's the deal:  preferably post-workout (but anytime is OK), take your usual hot shower and do your usual hot shower stuff.  Then, gradually turn down the hot until the water is as cold as you can tolerate for about a minute.  Be sure to hit your body's core as well as any sore muscles.  Then go back to hot for 3-5 minutes.  Do this cycle 2-3 times, and end on cold.  Then towel off vigorously.  This helps alleviate pain by either promoting circulation (their theory), or by distracting you from the pain in your muscles with agonizing cold (my theory).  Whatever, it helps.
  
• Epsom salts.  If you're not brave enough for the shower, toss some epsom salts into a hot bath.  They say it helps sore muscles, but I've never noticed a difference.  But then, I don't fit into my bathtub.  You can pick them up at Walgreen's or any pharmacy.  And you can even dye them and make them stinky, if you're into that sort of thing.
  
• Cool-down.  As a group, we're not very good about this, and we should try to be better.  After a very hard workout, don't just collapse - or at least collapse only as long as necessary to breathe again.  But get back up and walk around, and do some light movement (some squats, a little jog, the mobility exercises) to keep the blood flowing while your heart rate goes back to normal.  Now, while your muscles are warm, is also a good time to work on improving your ROM with some gentle static stretches.  In a sauna or a hot-tub is a good idea, to keep the muscles warm while stretching.
• RICE it.  Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation, particular if you've got a strain or other acute pain.
  
• Eliminate stressors where possible.  Exercise is managed stress, induced so that we can recover from it and be stronger.  But additional stressors distract the body from its job of rebuilding the muscles, so try to keep anxiety and stress at bay where you can.
• Massage.  A good massage goes a long way to alleviating soreness.  If you can afford it, go for it.  If you have a good masseuse or massage parlor that you can recommend, share.

THE THING I HESITATE TO TELL YOU...
...but you probably already know.  NSAIDs (Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs) such as Aspirin, Ibuprofen and Naproxen (Aleve) are highly effective in reducing the pain associate with DOMS.  Aspirin, which thins the blood and promotes circulation, can be useful before a difficult workout by assisting with oxygen transport and lactic acid removal to and from the muscles.

HOWEVER.  There are two reasons I can't recommend taking these medications, and that I rarely take them myself.  1) Exercising while under the effect of a painkiller could allow you to push further than is safe for your body, resulting in injury, and 2) Studies show that NSAIDs inhibit protein synthesis (ie, muscle growth). In other words: if you're taking a painkiller, you're not reaping the full benefit from your workout.

For these reasons, I will only take an NSAID if I am so sore that I feel it will prevent me from basic functions (like doing my job).  Thus far, this has only happened two or three times in over a year of CrossFitting.

To Sum Up
Much of the advice I've written here has been covered in earlier posts - it just so happens that the things that are beneficial are beneficial for a wide variety of reasons.  All the more reason to do them, right?  I hope you're recovering nicely on your rest days, so you can come back stronger and feistier than ever on Wednesday.  If you have any advice on alleviating DOMS that I didn't cover here, please share in the comments.

I am not a dietician.  CrossKitchen articles come from my personal experience, observations and research, and should not be construed as professional medical advice.