The muscle damage is the same, so wouldn’t the DOMS be the same?
In: Biology
So, this is a matter of the how’s and why’s of muscle soreness…
To start, when our muscles do anything they burn energy. This energy is usually made through breaking down sugars through the cellular respiration cycle. In short- sugar goes in, broken up through a three stage process and out pops ATP( the energy of our body). At rest, this molecule builds up and all is well.
However- side note- this 3 step process requires oxygen to run properly.
During work outs, we burn through stored ATP in our muscles pretty quick..mwe also start running low on free oxygen through the body.
This switches over the long, 3 step cellular respiration process that requires oxygen to a faster 2-step process called the lactic acid cycle that doesn’t require oxygen. This cycle (as the name suggests) produces lactic acid. It’s the build up of lactic acid in muscles that produce soreness
When we break for a day, we let the body process and get rid of lactic acid, the next time we work out, our body is just ever so slightly better at staving off the lactic acid cycle, and even processing lactic acid.
DOMS is the result of muscle fibers being strained with tiny tears. As you probably know, muscles become stronger as those tiny tears are repaired. Doing a workout of the same intensity will no longer cause DOMS after the initial soreness goes away, as it isn’t enough to cause those tiny tears anymore.
If you mean why you get sore more easily when you haven’t worked out for a while then it’s because your tolerance to lactic acid has decreased. It’s one of the longer term effects of exercise, but it also works the other way round, if you haven’t worked out, you’ll become less resistant. This will also cause you to fatigue more easily but will allow the lactic acid to damage the muscles, which is part of what makes you sore.
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