This all explains the delay prior to the onset of muscle soreness. The fact that muscle soreness occurs only upon unaccustomed activity is also easily explained. In this situation, intramuscular coordination is still poor. The sequence of muscle contraction in the different muscle fibers is not perfectly synchronized, as it becomes after long practice. This means that individual muscle fibers are exposed to especially high concentrations of tension.
Coordination deteriorates in competition as a consequence of fatigue.
It follows clearly from the above, that in order to prevent muscle soreness, one must avoid high power demands, especially in times of poor coordination. During the learning of new activities and upon the commencement of an athletic activity, one should increase the load only carefully. If this cannot be done, as in competition, careful warm-ups and preparatory massage is important. Once one already has muscle soreness, one can apparently not influence the natural healing process much. As massage is not useful for fresh injuries, so has it proven fruitless for muscle soreness.