DOMS not

[Jon Newman]

I thought this was an appropriate addition to this forum. Does anyone find this to actually be a big functional problem? I don't enjoy it when it happens to me but it doesn't really seem to be very bothersome. If a patient experiences this they typically seem to recognize it as an acceptable (on some level) pain.



Authors Law RY (http://gateway.tx.ovid.com/gw2/ovidweb.cgi?S=NFKLFPPOKPDDCPJLNCILAGMLECPPAA00&Search+Link=%22Law+RY%22.au.). Herbert RD (http://gateway.tx.ovid.com/gw2/ovidweb.cgi?S=NFKLFPPOKPDDCPJLNCILAGMLECPPAA00&Search+Link=%22Herbert+RD%22.au.).

Title Warm-up reduces delayed onset muscle soreness but cool-down does not: a randomised controlled trial.

Source Australian Journal of Physiotherapy. 53(2):91-5, 2007.

Abstract

QUESTION: Does warm-up or cool-down (also called warm-down) reduce delayed-onset muscle soreness? DESIGN: Randomised controlled trial of factorial design with concealed allocation and intention-to-treat analysis. PARTICIPANTS: Fifty-two healthy adults (23 men and 29 women aged 17 to 40 years). INTERVENTION: Four equally-sized groups received either warm-up and cool-down, warm-up only, cool-down only, or neither warm-up nor cool-down. All participants performed exercise to induce delayed-onset muscle soreness, which involved walking backwards downhill on an inclined treadmill for 30 minutes. The warm-up and cool-down exercise involved walking forwards uphill on an inclined treadmill for 10 minutes. OUTCOME MEASURE: Muscle soreness, measured on a 100-mm visual analogue scale. RESULTS: Warm-up reduced perceived muscle soreness 48 hours after exercise on the visual analogue scale (mean effect of 13 mm, 95% CI 2 to 24 mm). However cool-down had no apparent effect (mean effect of 0 mm, 95% CI -11 to 11 mm). CONCLUSION: Warm-up performed immediately prior to unaccustomed eccentric exercise produces small reductions in delayed-onset muscle soreness but cool-down performed after exercise does not.

[Nick]

Hi Jon,

Interesting post.

I think the two key words here are "unaccustomed" and "eccentric." Those are the two things most associated with DOMS in my experience. This is rarely a functional problem and many people actually consider it a sign of a good workout.

More later.

Nick

[Jason Silvernail]

I've also had many people (erroneously) say that if they don't feel DOMS they haven't had a good workout.

IIRC they've tried several things, including trials of NSAIDs and massage, and nothing manages to alleviate the discomfort.

[anoopbal]

There is a phenomeneon called the repeated bout effect. It's a protective mechanism whereby the muscle gets less and less damage following repeated bouts of excercse.

But I am not sure if they have studied with bouts seperated by such a short time.

Anoop

[Randy Dixon]

I have seen many patients become pretty alarmed when when they experienced DOMS, believing it to be an injury. I've had crippling DOMS, bad enough that it prevented me from doing much, but mostly it is just a slight annoyance.

[nari]

When I started long walks about 6 years ago in preparation for a trip overseas, I expected to experience DOMS, especially after one 8 hour hike over hill and dale, early in the piece.
Despite some climbing up 1300 m slopes, I never had delayed soreness - or stiffness. And here I was, a remarkably unfit person who had never liked walking more than a few kilometres. The usual response was: Oh you must be so fit!! Nope.

Don't know why. I can experience some soreness during a tough hike, but it never lasts long. Somehow I must have a good adaptive potential - or something.

Nari