What actually causes muscle soreness following a workout ?

What actually causes muscle soreness following a workout ?⭕️

Many lifters actively chase ‘DOMS’ (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness), valuing the *sensation* of feeling a workout’s effects, fays after completing it. For some, the presence or absence of DOMS can literally make or break their workout’s success, yet, the reality is that soreness does not reliably indicate the effectiveness of a workout.

Contrary to common belief, engaging in excessively long workouts, very high training volumes, or frequently changing exercises (which is what will likely cause DOMS the most) does not guarantee productivity, especially when such routines lead to prolonged recovery times, which can vary significantly based on the intensity of the exercise.

But what actually causes DOMS?

Interestingly enough, DOMS have always been attributed to the idea of muscle damage following strenous workouts, yet, recent research suggests that they may stem from micro-damage to the nerve endings within muscle spindles, following excessive lengthening (hard, eccentric contractions).

Sure, Muscle Damage can still occur, but more likely as a coinciding phenomenon, and not a primary cause for the symptoms of DOMS—which yes— could even enhance this experience.

What do you think ? Dropcyour comments below!

Reference:

Sonkodi B, Berkes I, Koltai E. Have We Looked in the Wrong Direction for More Than 100 Years? Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness Is, in Fact, Neural Microdamage Rather Than Muscle Damage. Antioxidants (Basel). 2020 Mar 5;9(3):212. doi: 10.3390/antiox9030212. PMID: 32150878; PMCID: PMC7139782.