Prevention of muscle soreness by pretreatment with antioxidants

A free radical-scavenging preparation (pollen extract) or the corresponding placebo was given to 50 volunteers over a period of 4 weeks to test the hypothesis that muscle soreness is associated with the generation of free radicals. The increase in malonyldialdehyde and lactate immediately after exercise both in blood and in muscle tissue was significantly lower after treatment with the scavenging preparation. The same was true for the prolonged post-exercise increase in creatine kinase over a 5-day period. The post-exercise glycogen content of muscle was higher in the pollen extract group, as were the subjective feelings of pain, oedema, discomfort and tension in the working muscle. We conclude that the beneficial preventive effect of pollen extract on post-exercise muscle soreness and lowering of the concentration of lipid peroxides indicate that free radicals are probably involved in the development of muscle soreness.