THE EFFECTS OF AEROBIC EXERCISE ON DOMS MEASURES.

Abstract

Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) has been shown to occur after strenuous bouts of eccentric exercise and impairs strength and motion. Several modalities have been investigated for their potential alleviating effects on DOMS, however, few have addressed the use of aerobic exercise repeated throughout the recovery period. PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of aerobic exercise on parameters of DOMS, including pain, strength, range of motion (ROM), creatine kinase (CK), alanine aminotransferase (LT), and aspartate aminotransferase (AST). METHODS Twenty-one subjects were divided into a control (CON) or exercise intervention (EX) group using matched assignment for age and gender. All subjects performed 5 sets of 10 repetitions of eccentric hamstring contractions on a Biodex isokinetic dynomometer, followed by 3 days of treatment. Isometric hamstring strength, active knee extension, ROM, pain ratings, CK, ALT, and AST were assessed prior to, and at 24, 48, and 72 hours post exercise. The EX group participated in walking on a motorized treadmill for 20 minutes at 50% of their max heart rate at 3, 24, and 48 hours post exercise. RESULTS Repeated measures ANOVAs revealed significant differences (p ≤ .05) over time for all variables, thus, showing evidence of muscle damage. There were no significant differences between the groups over time, however, a trend analysis revealed significant differences in response within the subjects for ROM, strength, and CK (p ≤ .001). The EX group continued to lose ROM on day 3, dropping to 57.5±5.2 vs 66.1 ±6 degrees (mean ±SE) for the CON group, prior to improving. CK elevated more rapidly for the EX group, with a final value of 5912.3 vs 4105 U/L for the CON group (SE=1837). CONCLUSIONS The lack of differences between the groups over time demonstrates that the introduction of aerobic exercise as an intervention did not alleviate DOMS. In fact, the trend analysis suggests that the intervention slowed down the normal healing process.