Date of Defense

4-23-2021

Date of Graduation

5-2021

Department

Interdisciplinary Health Programs

First Advisor

Daryl Lawson

Second Advisor

Hyun Bin Kang

Abstract

Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) can be defined as muscle soreness that peaks 24 hours after unaccustomed, strenuous exercise. Many treatment strategies exist to alleviate DOMS, such as cryotherapy, thermotherapy, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS), and kinesiology tape. In order to test the efficacy of these treatments to induce DOMS, researchers must be able to intentionally induce DOMS in study participants. I worked on a study under principal investigator Dr. Daryl Lawson at Western Michigan University (WMU) that examined the effects of TENS on DOMS, but DOMS was not able to be successfully induced in participants (Lawson et al., 2021) . In order to understand why DOMS was not induced, I reviewed five studies that successfully induced DOMS in research participants. Key characteristics of successful DOMS protocols are as follows: a method to tailor the protocol to individual subjects based on athletic ability, a focus on eccentric exercise, and a level of exercise that is strenuous to participants. Using what I learned, I proposed a new DOMS protocol using the same materials available during the study performed at WMU by Lawson et al. (2021). My proposed DOMS protocol is very similar to the one used by Lawson et al. (2021) but has an increased emphasis on eccentric exercise and is more strenuous.

Access Setting

Honors Thesis-Restricted

Restricted to Campus until

12-7-2021

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