The Effect of Eccentric Retraining on Sensation of Muscle Pain and Delay Onset Muscle Soreness Markers on Sedentary Young Men

Due to the concerns among trainers about relieving muscle pain as soon as possible, this study aimed to investigate the effect of eccentric retraining on muscle pain and Delay Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) markers in sedentary young men.

In this study, sixteen inactive healthy young men voluntarily and after written informed consent. Subjects were randomly divided into control (n=8) and experimental (n=8) groups. Both groups performed seventy eccentric contractions in the flexor elbow muscles with 80% of maximal repetition. Muscular pain perception, serum levels of Creatine Kinase (CK), and Lactate Dehydrogenase (LDH) indices were measured before, one, 26, 48 and 72 hours after eccentric training. Independent t-test and Repeated measure analysis variance in the significant level of P≤0.05 used for data analysis.

The sensation of muscle pain and creatine kinase in both groups increased significantly after exercise (P≤0.05), lactate dehydrogenase level was increased in both groups. Still, this increase was not significant (P>0.05). Also, no significant difference in the CK and LDH and pain perception in the measurement stage between the two groups was observed (P>0.05).

This study results showed that retraining isn’t an essential influential variable on muscle pain and DOMS markers. However, more research needs to be done in this area.