Delayed onset muscle soreness will happen, but how much is highly dependent on the program design. While post-workout drinks and cutting edge therapies are great topics for discussion, the root of the problem lies with training theory. Charlie Francis often talked about transitional stiffness or acute stiffness from abrupt changes in programs or unfamiliar exercises. Often a block or phase will be dramatically different, not only creating soreness but a lag of adaptation. Sometimes a new exercise or dramatic change in loading will also happen, rendering the spring of a speed and power athlete to dead legs. Solutions? Blending phases must be just enough to remove DOMS but not confuse the body in what phase it is. Too gradual and the body doesn’t get the original purpose of the training block. I have found that PNF stretches and assistance exercises in the precursor block helps prepare the body for the next phase as well as introducing small doses of similar stimuli.
