Effects of a Strength Training Session After an Exercise Inducing Muscle Damage on Recovery Kinetics

Abaïdia, A-E, Delecroix, B, Leduc, C, Lamblin, J, McCall, A, Baquet, G, and Dupont, G. Effects of a strength training session after an exercise inducing muscle damage on recovery kinetics. J Strength Cond Res 31(1): 115-125, 2017-The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of an upper-limb strength training session the day after an exercise inducing muscle damage on recovery of performance. In a randomized crossover design, subjects performed the day after the exercise, on 2 separate occasions (passive vs. active recovery conditions) a single-leg exercise (dominant in one condition and nondominant in the other condition) consisting of 5 sets of 15 eccentric contractions of the knee flexors. Active recovery consisted of performing an upper-body strength training session the day after the exercise. Creatine kinase, hamstring strength, and muscle soreness were assessed immediately and 20, 24, and 48 hours after exercise-induced muscle damage. The upper-body strength session, after muscle-damaging exercise accelerated the recovery of slow concentric force (effect size = 0.65; 90% confidence interval = -0.06 to 1.32), but did not affect the recovery kinetics for the other outcomes. The addition of an upper-body strength training session the day after muscle-damaging activity does not negatively affect the recovery kinetics. Upper-body strength training may be programmed the day after a competition.