Range of Motion as a Predictor of Clinical Shoulder Pain During Recovery From Delayed-Onset Muscle Soreness

Context: Athletic trainers use clinical pain and range of motion (ROM) to gauge recovery after musculoskeletal injury. Limited evidence to date suggests which shoulder ROM measures can predict symptomatic relief and functional recovery after delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS). Objective: To determine whether shoulder passive internal rotation, passive external rotation, active abduction, and active flexion and evoked pain with abduction are associated with resting pain experienced after exercise-induced DOMS. Design: Descriptive laboratory study. Setting: Controlled research laboratory. Patients or Other Participants: A total of 110 healthy, right-hand–dominant participants (44 men: age = 25.39 ± 7.00 years, height = 178.93 ± 7.01 cm, weight = 78.59 ± 14.04 kg; 66 women: age = 22.98 ± 6.11 years, height = 164.64 ± 6.94 cm, weight = 61.86 ± 11.67 kg). Intervention(s): Participants completed an exercise-induced DOMS protocol for the external rotators of the dominant shoulder to replicate muscle injury. Ma...