The effect of passive stretching on delayed onset muscle soreness, and other detrimental effects following eccentric exercise
Two articles on PainSci cite Lund 1998: 1. Quite a Stretch 2. A Deep Dive into Delayed-Onset Muscle Soreness
PainSci notes on Lund 1998:
From the abstract: “There was no difference in the reported variables between experiments one and two. It is concluded that passive stretching did not have any significant influence on increased plasma-CK, muscle pain, muscle strength and the PCr/P(i) ratio, indicating that passive stretching after eccentric exercise cannot prevent secondary pathological alterations.”
original abstract †Abstracts here may not perfectly match originals, for a variety of technical and practical reasons. Some abstacts are truncated for my purposes here, if they are particularly long-winded and unhelpful. I occasionally add clarifying notes. And I make some minor corrections.
The aim of this study was to measure if passive stretching would influence delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS), dynamic muscle strength, plasma creatine kinase concentration (CK) and the ratio of phosphocreatine to inorganic phosphate (PCr/Pi) following eccentric exercise. Seven healthy untrained women, 28-46 years old, performed eccentric exercise with the right m. quadriceps in an isokinetic dynamometer (Biodex, angle velocity: 60°.s-1) until exhaustion, in two different experiments, with an interval of 13-23 months. In both experiments the PCr/Pi ratio, dynamic muscle strength, CK and muscle pain were measured before the eccentric exercise (day 0) and the following 7 d. In the second experiment daily passive stretching (3 times of 30 s duration, with a pause of 30 s in between) of m. quadriceps was included in the protocol. The stretching was performed before and immediately after the eccentric exercise at day 0, and before measurements of the dependent variables daily for the following 7 d. The eccentric exercise alone led to significant decreases in PCr/Pi ratio (P<0.001) and muscle strength (P<0.001), and an increase in CK concentration (P<0.01). All subjects reported pain in the right m. quadriceps with a peak 48 h after exercise. There was no difference in the reported variables between experiments one and two. It is concluded that passive stretching did not have any significant influence on increased plasma-CK, muscle pain, muscle strength and the PCr/Pi ratio, indicating that passive stretching after eccentric exercise cannot prevent secondary pathological alterations.
related content
Specifically regarding Lund 1998:
- “Stretching to prevent or reduce muscle soreness after exercise,” Robert D Herbert, Marcos de Noronha, and Steven J Kamper, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2011.
This page is part of the PainScience BIBLIOGRAPHY, which contains plain language summaries of thousands of scientific papers & others sources. It’s like a highly specialized blog. A few highlights:
- Association of Lumbar MRI Findings with Current and Future Back Pain in a Population-based Cohort Study. Kasch 2022 Spine (Phila Pa 1976).
- A double-blinded randomised controlled study of the value of sequential intravenous and oral magnesium therapy in patients with chronic low back pain with a neuropathic component. Yousef 2013 Anaesthesia.
- Is Neck Posture Subgroup in Late Adolescence a Risk Factor for Persistent Neck Pain in Young Adults? A Prospective Study. Richards 2021 Phys Ther.
- Sudden amnesia resulting in pain relief: the relationship between memory and pain. Choi 2007 Pain.
- Photobiomodulation therapy is not better than placebo in patients with chronic nonspecific low back pain: a randomised placebo-controlled trial. Guimarães 2021 Pain.