Desanka Filipović, Kristina Vukušić, Ivana Topalović

The muscle soreness experienced by athletes is associated with a lower range of motion and reduced strength and therefore, it has a negative impact on performance. Athletes often feel an indistinct aching muscular pain and the affected muscle feels stiff and tender. A contraction occurs when the actin filaments and the myosin proteins are attached to one another and come together; thereby, there is relaxation when they are uncoupled and pull apart (Cheung, Hume, 2003). For the process of uncoupling, sarcomere needs a huge amount of energy and adenosine triphosphate (ATP). In the state of an energy crisis, actin and myosin filaments become stuck in an interlocked state. This contracture knot may squeeze the capillaries and cut off the blood. Failed circulation or ischemia impairs the mitochondria which fail to produce ATP. The absence of ATP leaves the sarcomere in a shortened and contracted state, with a huge amount of proinflammatory pain-causing substance (Dommerholt, 2011). The result of that is the appearance of muscle soreness 24 to 48 hours after exercise, referred to as a delayed onset of muscle soreness (DOMS). A lack of oxygen makes oxidative stress, referring to the creation of an increased volume of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Current studies have shown that athletes may be under high oxidative stress, suggesting that is important to consume adequate amounts of antioxidants (Benardot, 2010). Understanding the impact of antioxidants on muscle soreness is unconcluded and will be discussed further.

Keywords: muscle soreness, energy crisis, oxidative stress by exercise, free radicals, supplement therapy

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