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 .
Leg immersion in warm water, stretch-shortening exercise, and exercise-induced muscle damage.
CONTEXT Whether muscle warming protects against exercise-induced muscle damage is unknown . OBJECTIVE To determine the effect of leg immersion in warm water before stretch-shortening exercise on the time course of indirect markers of exercise-induced muscle damage . DESIGN Crossover trial . SETTING Human kinetics laboratory . PATIENTS OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS Eleven healthy , untrained men ( age = 21.5 + /- 1.7 years ) . INTERVENTION(S ) Participants ' legs were immersed in a water bath at 44 + /- 1 degrees C for 45 minutes . MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S ) Creatine kinase changes in the blood , muscle soreness , prolonged ( within 72 hours ) impairment in maximal voluntary contraction force and height of drop jump , and electrically evoked muscle force at low and high stimulation frequencies at short and long muscle lengths . RESULTS Leg immersion in warm water before stretch-shortening exercise reduced most of the indirect markers of exercise-induced muscle damage , including creatine kinase activity in the blood , muscle soreness , maximal voluntary contraction force , and jump height . The values for maximal voluntary contraction force and jump height , however , were higher during prewarming than for the control condition at 48 hours after stretch-shortening exercise , but this difference was only minor at other time points . Muscle prewarming did not bring about any changes in the dynamics of low-frequency fatigue , registered at either short or long muscle length , within 72 hours of stretch-shortening exercise . CONCLUSIONS Leg immersion in warm water before stretch-shortening exercise reduced most of the indirect markers of exercise-induced muscle damage . However , the clinical application of muscle prewarming may be limited , because decreasing muscle damage did not necessarily lead to improved voluntary performance
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 .