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J Athl Train. 2005 Jul-Sep;40(3):174-80.
Effects of massage on delayed-onset muscle soreness, swelling, and recovery of muscle function.

Zainuddin Z, Newton M, Sacco P, Nosaka K.

Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, Western Australia, Australia.

Comment in:

    * J Athl Train. 2005 Jul-Sep;40(3):186-90.

Abstract

CONTEXT: Delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS) describes muscle pain and tenderness that typically develop several hours postexercise and consist of predominantly eccentric muscle actions, especially if the exercise is unfamiliar. Although DOMS is likely a symptom of eccentric-exercise-induced muscle damage, it does not necessarily reflect muscle damage. Some prophylactic or therapeutic modalities may be effective only for alleviating DOMS, whereas others may enhance recovery of muscle function without affecting DOMS.

OBJECTIVE: To test the hypothesis that massage applied after eccentric exercise would effectively alleviate DOMS without affecting muscle function.

DESIGN: We used an arm-to-arm comparison model with 2 independent variables (control and massage) and 6 dependent variables (maximal isometric and isokinetic voluntary strength, range of motion, upper arm circumference, plasma creatine kinase activity, and muscle soreness). A 2-way repeated-measures analysis of variance and paired t tests were used to examine differences in changes of the dependent variable over time (before, immediately and 30 minutes after exercise, and 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 10, and 14 days postexercise) between control and massage conditions.

SETTING: University laboratory.

PATIENTS OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS: Ten healthy subjects (5 men and 5 women) with no history of upper arm injury and no experience in resistance training.

INTERVENTION(S): Subjects performed 10 sets of 6 maximal isokinetic (90 degrees x s(-1)) eccentric actions of the elbow flexors with each arm on a dynamometer, separated by 2 weeks. One arm received 10 minutes of massage 3 hours after eccentric exercise; the contralateral arm received no treatment.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Maximal voluntary isometric and isokinetic elbow flexor strength, range of motion, upper arm circumference, plasma creatine kinase activity, and muscle soreness.

RESULTS: Delayed-onset muscle soreness was significantly less for the massage condition for peak soreness in extending the elbow joint and palpating the brachioradialis muscle (P < .05). Soreness while flexing the elbow joint (P = .07) and palpating the brachialis muscle (P = .06) was also less with massage. Massage treatment had significant effects on plasma creatine kinase activity, with a significantly lower peak value at 4 days postexercise (P < .05), and upper arm circumference, with a significantly smaller increase than the control at 3 and 4 days postexercise (P < .05). However, no significant effects of massage on recovery of muscle strength and ROM were evident.

CONCLUSIONS: Massage was effective in alleviating DOMS by approximately 30% and reducing swelling, but it had no effects on muscle function.

very nice posts LBSS.

as for training with soreness, it depends on the goal of the session etc..

Recovery sessions can help to "mask" the intensity of DOMS or actually improve it:
- Sled dragging (great for alleviating soreness)
- Light active-dynamic work, any type of activity that is submax and greatly improves blood flow (light sport practice, light interval sprints)
- High rep lifting, 15-20 reps, light.. not 20 rep squats

Strength sessions can be performed with DOMS:
- ME & RE sessions can be performed, just make sure a thorough warmup is performed and foam rolling and/or stretching follows the lifts, because fascia can become "tighter" when lifting with soreness

Should not be performed with "considerable soreness":
- Peak performance sessions (max effort MAX V sprints, full runup RVJ's, depth jumps/single leg bounds/shock)
- Peak RFD work


When it comes to jumping, in my experience:
- max effort jumping with considerable quad soreness is very dangerous, can really leave you with some knee aches and possibly worse.. NEVER jump with considerable VMO soreness.
- ME jumping with hamstring soreness tends to make me jump lower but the sessions are bearable
- ME jumping with glute soreness is interesting, sometimes I get up even higher when my glutes have a small bit of soreness, but when they are considerably sore, they can actually "pull" very easily
- ME jumping with considerable calf soreness is dangerous, puts too much strain on the achilles
- ME jumping with upper body soreness depends, usually doesn't impact much


When it comes to sprinting, in my experience:
- max effort MAX-V sprinting should be avoided completely if you have: considerable hip flexor (illiopsoas), ham string, or quad soreness.. Hip flexor/hamstring soreness can easily lead to pulls, quad soreness can easily lead to patellar aches & pains due to possibly less optimal firing of vmo.
- max effort short accels (10-20m) should still be avoided if there's considerable soreness in the above muscle groups, but it's much less risky given the lower velocity's obtained.
- glute soreness isn't much of an issue, though speed can decrease, risk of injury to glutes and joints doesn't seem to be that high with glute soreness.

peace man