DOMS - Crameri et al (2007)

[BendtheBar]

I referenced this study in a recent video and article. I might have been somewhat confusing in the video. The point I made was that DOMS, or soreness, wasn't from muscle inflammation but from connective tissue inflammation.

Here is a quote that talks about this in greater detail:

Why Your Muscles Get Sore: Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) and Exercise ? Myosynthesis

A study by Crameri et al (2007) indicates that muscle damage doesn’t really correlate to soreness...

The pain of DOMS was actually attributed to the inflammation of the extracellular matrix – which is connective tissue that binds the muscle fibers together.

All of this would strongly indicate that connective tissues are the source of the actual pain and soreness, not the muscle fibers themselves. The damaging effects of exercise on actual muscle fibers don’t correlate with pain.

This is of interest because it means that inflammation and pain don’t indicate damaged muscle fibers per se. There’s tissue damage, and muscle fibers can be damaged along with that, but there’s no actual relation between muscle fiber damage and the pain you feel.

Taken together, there’s a very good chance that the processes behind DOMS and those responsible for muscle growth are only loosely related.

[BendtheBar]

From Wiki:

In biology, the extracellular matrix (ECM) is the extracellular part of animal tissue that usually provides structural support to the animal cells in addition to performing various other important functions. The extracellular matrix is the defining feature of connective tissue in animals.
Extracellular matrix includes the interstitial matrix and the basement membrane.[1] Interstitial matrix is present between various animal cells (i.e., in the intercellular spaces). Gels of polysaccharides and fibrous proteins fill the interstitial space and act as a compression buffer against the stress placed on the ECM.[2] Basement membranes are sheet-like depositions of ECM on which various epithelial cells rest.

[Off Road]

That's the way I've always understood it too. I have never seen the illustration before, that is helpful. I've went round-and-round with the guys that think soreness is muscle fiber damage and that equates to growth (train for soreness). They will constantly switch routines or exercises chasing that soreness. I'm not saying soreness can't be used as some type of indicator, just that it doesn't mean what most lifters think it means and actively seeking it is just spinning their wheels.

[5kgLifter]

Well, considering massage of the golgi tendons relieves muscle pain more readily and for longer than massage of the muscle belly, that kind of makes perfect sense.