The effects of exercise-induced muscle damage on maximal intensity intermittent exercise performance

Abstract

Exercise-induced muscle damage (EIMD) is a common occurrence following activities with a high eccentric component. Alterations to the torque-velocity relationship following EIMD would appear to have serious implications for athletic performance, particularly as they relate to impairment of maximal intensity exercise. However, this has been studied infrequently. The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of EIMD on maximal intermittent sprint performance. Ten male participants (age 22.4 +/- 3.2 years, height 178.6 +/- 5.2 cm, mass 80.6 +/- 10.7 kg) performed 10 x 6 s cycle ergometer sprints, interspersed with 24 s recovery against a load corresponding to 0.10 kp/kg and 10 x 10 m sprints from a standing start, each with 12 s active (walking) recovery. All variables were measured immediately before and at 30 min, 24, 48 and 72 h following a plyometric exercise protocol comprising of 10 x 10 maximal counter movement jumps. Repeated measures ANOVA showed significant changes over time (all P<0.05) for perceived soreness, plasma creatine kinase activity (CK), peak power output (PPO), sprint time and rate of fatigue. Soreness was significantly higher (P<0.01) than baseline values at all time intervals (3.1, 4.9, 5.5 and 3.2 at 30 min, 24, 48 and 72 h, respectively). CK was significantly elevated (P<0.05) at 24 h (239 IU/l) and 48 h (245 IU/l) compared to baseline (151 IU/l). PPO was significantly lower (P<0.05) than baseline (1,054 W) at all time intervals (888, 946, 852 and 895 W, at 30 min, 24, 48 and 72 h, respectively). The rate of fatigue over the ten cycling sprints was reduced compared to baseline, with the greatest reduction of 48% occurring at 48 h (P<0.01). This was largely attributed to the lower PPO in the initial repetitions, resulting in a lower starting point for the rate of fatigue. Values returned to normal at 72 h. Sprint times over 10 m were higher (P<0.05) at 30 min, 24 h and 48 h compared to baseline (1.96 s) with values corresponding to 2.01, 2.02 and 2.01 at 30 min, 24 h and 48 h, respectively. Values returned to baseline by 72 h. The results provide further evidence that, following a plyometric, muscle-damaging exercise protocol, the ability of the muscle to generate power is reduced for at least 3 days. This is also manifested by a small, but statistically significant reduction in very short-term (approximately 2 s) intermittent sprint running performance. These findings have implications for appropriate training strategies in multiple sprint sports.

Effect of an acute dose of omega-3 fish oil following exercise-induced muscle damage

“…It is well established that physical performance is detrimentally effected by EIMD, with a number of studies showing reductions in peak power generation, jump performance and time trial exercise (Byrne and Eston, 2002;Twist and Eston, 2005;Burt and Twist, 2011). Consistent with our hypothesis as indicated in Figure 1a, and when observing a large effect size (η 2 p 0.39), high dose EPA supplementation attenuated the decrement in average squat jump performance (-2.1%) in comparison to both low dose EPA (-9.8%) and placebo (-8.3%) supplementation.…”

“…Participants were instructed to assume an un-weighted squat of approximately 90° and mark their perceived soreness on a horizontal line between 0 and 10 ( Twist and Eston, 2005).…”

The Effects of Combined Strength and Endurance Training on Running Performance the Following Day

“…Studies have reported that strength training impaired running economy (RE) 8 hours post (Palmer and Sleivert, 2001) and compromised running time-trial performance (Marcora and Bosio, 2007) and repeated sprint ability (Twist and Eston, 2005) 24 hours post. In contrast, studies have shown no eŠect on RE 24 hours following strength training despite increases in creatine kinase and muscle soreness (Marcora and Bosio, 2007;Paschalis et al, 2007).…”

“…Collectively, theseˆndings suggest that strength training may impair sub-maximal endurance performance on the same day yet cause no aŠect the following day, or aŠect maximal endurance performance the following day. However, these studies (Marcora and Bosio, 2007;Paschalis, et al, 2007;Twist and Eston, 2005) collected endurance performance measures following a single training session. To date, the eŠect of combining the two modes of exercises on the same day and their eŠect on various performance measures the following day remains unclear.…”

Effect of Kinesiotaping Intervention on Knee Muscle Strength and Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness Pain Following Eccentric Fatigue Training

“…DOMS pain and loss of strength arises from damage to muscle fibers, muscle fatigue due to lactic acid and creatine kinase accumulation, degradation of connective tissue and fascia structure, muscle spasms, decrease of afferent inputs and inflammation (2,(5)(6)(7)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21). DOMS and strength loss reach their maximum value within 24-48 hours following eccentric fatigue protocol or eccentric training (2,(5)(6)(7).…”