Journal of Movement Sciences & Sports Special Issue, No1, pp. 1-5 Effect of Two Regimes of Vitamin C on Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness

The aim of present study was to investigate the physiological effects of two regimes of vitamin C on the delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). Thirty seven non-athletic female volunteers (age, 22.02 ± 1.54 yrs) were randomly allocated into 4 groups; Group 1: consumed 100 mg vitamin C (n=9); Group 2: consumed 200 mg vitamin C (n=10); Group 3: consumed placebo (n=9); Group4: control (n=9). The treatment groups received vitamin C 1 hr before eccentric actions up to 47 hr after actions. The placebo group consumed identical capsules that contained 100 mg lactose. Muscle soreness was induced by performing 70 eccentric contractions of the triceps muscle of the non-dominant side on a modified arm curl machine. The time interval every action was 3 s with a 10 s rest between them and there was 1 min rest between every 10 actions. Perceived muscle soreness (PMS), maximal eccentric contraction (MEC), creatine kinase (CK) enzyme values and elbow range of motion (EROM) were assessed, 1 hr before, and 1 hr, 24 hr, and 48 hr after the eccentric actions. Data were analyzed by two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with repeated measures for the time component of the experiment and the following results were concluded: Peak muscle soreness in all groups in the study occurred 48 hr after the contraction except in the group 1 and there was not a significant difference between the 4 groups in muscle soreness. CK activity increased in all groups after eccentric contraction and there was not a significant difference in CK levels between the 4 studied groups. A non-significant reduction of elbow joint ROM was also indicated in all groups of study. There was not significant reduction in MEC in any groups. Therefore consumption 100 or 200 mg vitamin C dose not affect on (DOMS)