Conclusion Overall , our findings do not support the presence of a secondary loss of strength following an acute muscle injury , and strongly suggest that strength , on average , recovers steadily over the first 3 days post-injury
Background An immediate loss of strength follows virtually all types of muscle injury but there is debate whether the initial strength loss is maximal or if a secondary loss of strength occurs during the first 3 days post-injury .
Objective The objective of this analysis was to conduct a systematic review and meta- analysis of the research literature to determine if a secondary loss of strength occurs after an injurious initiating event .
Warm-up, stretching and massage diminish harmful effects of eccentric exercise.
The effect of a combination of a warm-up , stretching exercises and massage on subjective scores for  delayed onset muscle soreness ( DOMS )  and objective functional and biochemical measures was studied . Fifty people , r and omly divided in a treatment and a control group , performed eccentric exercise with the forearm flexors for 30 min . The treatment group additionally performed a warm-up and underwent a stretching protocol before the eccentric exercise and massage afterwards .  Functional and biochemical measures were obtained before , and 1 , 24 , 48 , 72 and 96h after exercise . The median values at the five post-exercise time points differed significantly for DOMS measured when the arm was extended ( p = 0.043 ) . Significant main effects for treatment were found on the maximal force ( p = 0.026 ) , the flexion angle of the elbow ( p = 0.014 ) and the creatine kinase activity in blood ( p = 0.006 ) . No time-by-treatment interactions were found . DOMS on pressure , extension angle and myoglobin concentration in blood did not differ between the groups . This combination of a warm-up , stretching and massage reduces some negative effects of eccentric exercise , but the results are inconsistent , since some parameters were significantly affected by the treatment whereas others were not , despite the expected efficacy of a combination of treatments . The objective measures did not yield more unequivocal results than the subjective DOMS scores
Conclusion Overall , our findings do not support the presence of a secondary loss of strength following an acute muscle injury , and strongly suggest that strength , on average , recovers steadily over the first 3 days post-injury
Background An immediate loss of strength follows virtually all types of muscle injury but there is debate whether the initial strength loss is maximal or if a secondary loss of strength occurs during the first 3 days post-injury .
Objective The objective of this analysis was to conduct a systematic review and meta- analysis of the research literature to determine if a secondary loss of strength occurs after an injurious initiating event .