If you think better workouts must leave you drained, sore, or barely able to walk the next day, this research takes aim at that idea. A review led by Edith Cowan University argues that muscle damage is not required to build muscle size, strength, or performance. Instead, the paper makes the case for eccentric exercise, the kind of muscle work that happens while a muscle lengthens, such as lowering a dumbbell, walking downstairs, or sitting down slowly into a chair. “The idea that exercise must be exhausting or painful is holding people back,” ECU’s Director of Exercise and Sports Science, Professor Ken Nosaka, said. That message runs against a stubborn fitness belief. Many people still link progress with soreness, especially delayed onset muscle soreness, or DOMS. But the paper says soreness after eccentric exercise is mostly tied to unfamiliar effort, and it usually drops when the same exercise is repeated. The idea that exercise must be exhausting or painful is holding people back. (CREDIT: Shutterstock) The authors argue that this matters because eccentric exercise can …