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,” Herbert et al, 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:
- Inciting events associated with lumbar disc herniation. Suri 2010 Spine J.
- Prediction of an extruded fragment in lumbar disc patients from clinical presentations. Pople 1994 Spine (Phila Pa 1976).
- Characteristics of patients with low back and leg pain seeking treatment in primary care: baseline results from the ATLAS cohort study. Konstantinou 2015 BMC Musculoskelet Disord.
- Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of universal school-based mindfulness training compared with normal school provision in reducing risk of mental health problems and promoting well-being in adolescence: the MYRIAD cluster randomised controlled trial. Kuyken 2022 Evid Based Ment Health.
- Is there a relationship between throbbing pain and arterial pulsations? Mirza 2012 J Neurosci.