Description

Athletic performance and preparation are typically impaired when an athlete is sore or
injured. Thus, any practice that limits the extent of damage or hastens recovery would be of
interest and practical value to the coach, trainer, or therapist (Papadopoulou, 2020). Muscle
soreness and damage often occur after selective exercise routines. For the practitioner, the
most obvious would be familiarity with the exercise and the intensity at which it is
performed. In general, more damage occurs with higher intensity and unfamiliar actions.
Additional factors such as muscle stiffness, contraction velocity, fatigue, and angle of
contraction have also been shown to play a role (Leite et al., 2023).
When the exercise is overload, vigorous or, more commonly, the loads cause eccentric
exercise pain is more significant. This clinical situation is known as delayed onset muscle
soreness (DOMS), and is responsible for impairing sports performance, with symptoms that
includes such as stiffness, limited range of motion and discomfort. Pain is not perceived
either during or immediately after exercise but generally occurs 24-48 hours after exercise
and subsides within 96 hours (Agten et al., 2017).