Elimination of Delayed-Onset Muscle Soreness by Pre-resistance Cardioacceleration before Each Set

Abstract

We compared delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS) induced by anaerobic resistance exercises with and without aerobic cardioacceleration before each set, under the rationale that elevated heart rate (HR) may increase blood perfusion in muscles to limit eccentric contraction damage and/or speed muscle recovery. In two identical experiments (20 men, 28 women), well-conditioned athletes paired by similar physical condition were assigned randomly to experimental or control groups. HR (independent variable) was recorded with HR monitors. DOMS (dependent variable) was self-reported using Borg's Rating of Perceived Pain scale. After identical pre-training strength testing, mean DOMS in the experimental and control groups was indistinguishable (P > or = 0.19) for musculature employed in eight resistance exercises in both genders, validating the dependent variable. Subjects then trained three times per week for 9 (men) to 11 (women) weeks in a progressive, whole-body, concurrent training protocol. Before each set of resistance exercises, experimental subjects cardioaccelerated briefly (mean HR during resistance training, 63.7% HR reserve), whereas control subjects rested briefly (mean HR, 33.5% HR reserve). Mean DOMS among all muscle groups and workouts was discernibly less in experimental than control groups in men (P = 0.0000019) and women (P = 0.0007); less for each muscle group used in nine resistance exercises in both genders, discernible (P < 0.025) in 15 of 18 comparisons; and less in every workout, discernible (P < 0.05) in 32% (men) and 55% (women) of workouts. Most effect sizes were moderate. In both genders, mean DOMS per workout disappeared by the fourth week of training in experimental but not control groups. Aerobic cardioacceleration immediately before each set of resistance exercises therefore rapidly eliminates DOMS during vigorous progressive resistance training in athletes.

Health-Promoting Effects of Serial vs. Integrated Combined Strength and Aerobic Training

“…The magnitude of training effects did not differ between the serial and integrated combined training programs. The major distinction between the integrated and the serial form of combined training is that the continuous alterations of endurance and strength exercises in the former method abolish the condition where the fatigue of the first exercise mode adversely affects the execution of the second exercise mode [6][7][8]. Also, there is a notion that the repeated alternations of aerobic and strength exercises make the exercise session more pleasant for the general population compared to the serial method.…”

“…The only previous study that has compared the training adaptations of a serial and an integrated combined training program was performed in young athletes [6][7][8]. The authors reported that, for most variables, the integrated combined training was discernibly superior in improving cardiovascular and neuromuscular performance compared to the serial method [7,8].…”

“…With this in mind, research has been focusing on examining the efficacy of different combined aerobic and strength training programs to find the most effective exercise-training regimen for improving indices of physical fitness, functional capacity and metabolic health. There are 2 forms of combined training programs: the serial method (strength loading is completed prior to aerobic in each training session or vise-versa) and the integrated method (aerobic and strength routines are altered repeatedly during the training session) [6][7][8]. The numerous studies in young and only a few in middle-aged and elderly individuals that examined the effects of either serial or integrated combined training programs on indices of physical fitness and health have reported improvements [13,24,28,37,38] or no change [14,33,36,38] on cardiovascular and neuromuscular performances and on body composition profile.…”

“…Age and physical fitness, however, are associated with different cardiovascular responses [15], peripheral fatigue development [26] and substrate utilization [23] during exercise; these age-and fitness-dependent responses may affect the aerobic and neuromuscular adaptations [9,27]. Furthermore, it has been suggested that the "interference effect" between strength and aerobic training is mostly evident in less conditioned individuals and that the integrated combined training mode may reduce or eliminate the "interference effect" in this population because such programs are associated with less muscle soreness and faster muscle recovery [6][7][8].…”

Effect of Concurrent Strength and Endurance Training Sequence on Muscular and Aerobic Fitness for Volleyball Players

“…In this study, the aerobic session involved continuous running at a pace that corresponded to 70% VO2max for 25 minutes. Study of Davis et al 2008(Davis, 2008) used a ''cardio acceleration'' protocol in which subjects were asked to run for up to a minute at 60% to 84% of heart rate reserve immediately before each set of resistance exercise. They found that this cardio-first sequence was able to eliminate the delayed-onset muscle soreness by the fourth week of training.…”