Delayed onset muscle soreness in a bench press exercis

Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) is a common experience, yet the cause of DOMS is poorly understood and the approaches used in research to measure DOMS vary widely. The study objectives were as follows: (1) to explore the contribution of movement strategy, as measured by acceleration, to resulting DOMS; and (2) to perform a systematic comparison (magnitude and time course) of DOMS measures. Methods. Twenty subjects were randomly assigned to use one of two movement strategies (high acceleration (HA) or low acceleration (LA)) in performing forty repetitions of a submaximal (75% concentric 1 RM) bench press. Acceleration of one upper extremity was measured to derive "drop and catch" acceleration magnitudes and high frequency acceleration magnitudes. Pain was evaluated on a series of 10 cm VAS' pre- and immediately post-exercise and at 12 hour intervals to 48 hours. Subjects' responses were measured at rest (R), with two levels of stretch (S1 and S2), and two levels of mechanical pressure (350 kPa with P1 and 139 kPa with P2). Effect of pain on function was also subjectively rated (Func). Results. Maximum and time-specific DOMS magnitude measured by R was significantly lower than all other pain measures (p<0.05). Significant differences were found between S1 and S2 (p<0.05) but not P1 and P2. Acceleration based movement parameters, especially high frequency acceleration, were found to be significant predictors of pain (p<0.05). No significance was found using physical parameters or exercise parameters. Conclusions. DOMS magnitude and time course varies depending on the measure used and selection of measures should be done with careful consideration. Acceleration parameters are predictive of DOMS magnitude reflecting that within exercise shifts in neuromuscular activation strategy is a contributing factor.