How can you Prevent Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS)?

     Delayed onset muscle soreness, better known as DOMS is a type of injury that occurs directly in the muscle days after training. DOMS can occur anywhere from 1-5 days following an exercise or training routine. DOMS is caused by lifting heavy weight during a workout or performing an unaccustomed exercise. However, the primary cause of DOMS is performing eccentric contractions. One exercise that primarily leads to DOMS is squats. The movement involved in squats involves an eccentric contraction when squatting down and this could lead to potential soreness days after if you are not accustomed to this type of exercise.

     When an individual experiences DOMS, their performance and strength could potentially be affected negatively. DOMS could lead to a decrease in strength for several days or weeks and the force-generating capacity of the injured muscle could potentially decrease.

     It is believed that the damage leading to DOMS is caused by excessive amounts of calcium in the muscle cell which can lead to tears in the sarcolemma. In addition, calcium can activate proteases (e.g. Calpain) which can digest structural proteins. Proteases are enzymes in the body that break down proteins (e.g action, myosin) which is not good for the human body. Also, calcium can activate phosolipase which is an enzyme that can break down proteins and can damage to the lipid membrane. This shows that elevations in calcium can lead to the activation of enzymes such as proteases and phosolipase which have negative effects on muscle repair and recovery.

     In order to properly protect and recover from DOMS, an individual may continue to perform their exercises week after week until their muscles adapt to the movement or exercise. The adaptation can usually last about 3-4 weeks and upwards of potentially 6 months. Eventually by performing the same exercise over and over again DOMS will eventually go away.

      It is important for an individual to reduce the negative effects of DOMS in order to maximize training gains. Therefore, DOMS can be prevented and minimized in 2 ways:

1. Start training at low intensities and then gradually increase as your body adopts to the training

2.  Or reduce the eccentric portion of an exercise 

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