DOMS or delayed onset muscle soreness, can it be seen as a protective mechanism?
Pain can be warning sign. Could DOMS be seen as a warning sign? Because the muscle is recovering and it would not be in its advance if training would be done again. For instance there is repair and restructioning done which cost energy, and training will cost energy and reset the focus from construction to performance.
So is DOMS not the cell telling the muscle (and body) to not train because it is recovering?
If it is a protective mechanism i reckon it's a pretty bad one. some DOMS can appear up to 3 days after training. What is the use of that as a protection?
Since pain is an experience, it is hard to reduce it to merely being "a thing" like an "alarm" or a "mechanism". You have to make a distinction between the lived experience of pain and nociception.
BTW a lot of the biomarkers of muscle damage that have been identified and elevated in DOMS are non specific and are only in loose correlation with the phenomenon. They could also be elevated after any trivial workout that doesnt cause DOMS.
So, my answer is not a straighforward one and not a simple one. Pain is a complicated subject, no simple answers.
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