|
 By: Clayton South
Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) is a serious and painful condition that affects every athlete. Some athletes get DOMS only occasionally, while other athletes suffer from it on a continual and chronic basis. DOMS prevention is one of the most important considerations for an athlete because DOMS dramatically affects every aspect of training, including working intensity, muscle strength, muscle gain, training effect, body composition, hormone levels, anabolism, catabolism and exercise recovery. In this article, I will discuss briefly:
Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) is a debilitating and painful condition. It is often confused with regular muscle soreness, but regular muscle soreness and DOMS differ fundamentally. DOMS differs from regular muscle soreness in severity, duration of soreness and in causal factors. Whereas normal muscle soreness results immediately following exercise and usually lasts for less than two days, DOMS onset occurs several days following an exercise session. And, regular muscle soreness and DOMS are caused by different variables.
  Click Image To Enlarge. Regular Muscle Soreness Results Immediately Following Exercise.
It used to be thought that delayed onset muscle soreness was caused by the build-up of lactic acid in muscle tissue. However, new research has disproved this hypothesis, and it is now clear that whereas regular muscle soreness is predominantly due to microtrauma structural damage to muscle fibers, DOMS is primarily caused by the bodies inflammatory response to exercise1 and several other variables. Today, scientists know that DOMS is influenced by:
Your athletic conditioning, age and the condition of your skeletal muscular system all contribute to DOMS onset. Your degree of athletic conditioning - i.e. how adapted is your body to training - will determine, in part, the inflammatory response to exercise. Young athletes are susceptible to DOMS because their conditioning is not yet fully developed to handle heavy and intense workouts, and older athletes are susceptible to DOMS because of their age, shifting hormonal status and decreased recovery responses.
Structural damage to muscle tissue and tendons contributes to DOMS onset, but only because of the inflammatory response to muscular damage, as outlined above.
The inflammatory response system that activates following resistance training stimulus triggers the activation of pro-inflammatory cytokinases and PGE2 - prostaglandin E2. The activation of this pro-inflammatory response system and PGE2 draws water to the damaged body part, leading to edema, and increased pain sensitivity to exercise.
It doesn't matter if you're young or old, conditioned or unconditioned, male or female: DOMS doesn't discriminate and you're equally likely to get DOMS. While younger and less conditioned athletes are all likely to experience DOMS at some point in the beginning phases of their bodybuilding careers, older and more experienced athletes are equally likely to experience DOMS, despite their muscular maturity and excellent conditioning. DOMS Forum Threads: In the case of the young athlete, DOMS sets in because they lack muscular conditioning and because the pro-inflammatory response system that's triggered by exercise is over-active and not adjusted to their training volume. By contrast, advanced athletes are likely to experience DOMS, not because they lack muscular conditioning, but because their enzyme levels and their inflammatory response systems are slower and less efficient due to age. In both cases, both young and old athletes lack the anti-inflammatory enzymes needed to stifle prolonged inflammation and DOMS onset.
It used to be thought that speeding recovery and preventing DOMS was as simple as increasing protein, fats and carbohydrates intake. Now, however, its clear that while repairing structural damage to skeletal muscles by nutritional means is relatively simple, controlling or reducing the inflammatory response to exercise and preventing or reducing the painful symptoms that come with DOMS is more complicated. Until recently, the only anti-DOMS recourse for athletes has been to use non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) like ibuprofen. Unfortunately these over-the-counter pain killers stunt muscle growth2 and can damage the liver.
Using enzymes to combat DOMS is well established. A study by Innerfield in 1957 examined the anti-inflammatory effects of protease enzyme therapy and showed that protease enzyme supplementation may have anti-inflammatory effects.3 Unfortunately, absorption issues and the destruction of enzymes in the gut have severely limited the effectiveness of traditional anti-DOMS enzyme therapy. Typically, the absorption rate of orally ingested enzymes is low - with protease enzymes absorption rates ranging between 40% for bromelain and greater for mixed protease products4, and a rate of about 5% absorption for orally ingested sitosterols.5 To solve these absorption difficulties, scientists added the ingredient piperine to enzyme mixtures. They found that piperine - an ingredient extracted from pepper - increased enzyme absorption by up to 60%!6,7
Protease enzymes are essential because they play an especially important role in the exercise induced muscular inflammation process that causes DOMS. Protease enzymes include trypsin, bromelain, chymotrypsin and papain, and they help cleanse your blood of excess proteins, prevent invading organisms from attacking your immune system, and they're scientifically proven to inhibit the pro-inflammatory response that leads to DOMS.8,9,10 In addition, protease enzymes inhibit the action of PGE211,12,13 and stimulate anti-inflammatory agents8,14 - leading to less muscle pain from exercise, faster recovery, and a decreased chance of DOMS onset.
Sitosterols are plant sterols15 and they're especially good at combating DOMS because they can increase T-Cell and CD4 activity, while simultaneously decreasing levels of IL-6 (interleukin 6) - an inflammatory chemical that increases in response to exercise.16 Sitosterols also reduce cortisol levels and improve cortisol to DHEA ratios17 and have indirect muscle-building effects.
Regular digestive enzymes are great for food digestion and nutrient absorption, but they can't control the exercise induced inflammatory response or combat DOMS. Only a special, scientifically proven formulation of protease/proteolytic enzymes along with sitosterols can exert the systemic effects needed to effectively combat DOMS. During the course of my research I came across a product that specifically uses clinically proven anti-inflammatory, anti-DOMS enzymes15 and the research shows that these enzymes can reduce post-workout muscle inflammation by up to 63%.4
 Click Image To Enlarge. Reduce Post-Workout Muscle Inflammation By Up To 63%. By addressing the underlying enzyme-based inflammatory process that causes DOMS, you'll lessen the effects of DOMS or prevent its onset altogether. Scientific References:
Recommend this article to a friend by e-mail here! Visitor Reviews Of This Article!
Related Articles
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Athletic Conditioning, Age, & The Skeletal Muscular System:
Sign in for more FREE features and tools!
|
|
Give Us Feedback:
Report A ProblemSite Feedback |
Follow Us:
|
Bodybuilding.com Newsletter
Receive exciting features, |
