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The DOMS that follows an initial bout of eccentric exercise is much less on subsequent similar bouts. This is often called the Repeated Bout Effect (RBE)<ref name="Howatson-2008"/><ref name="Cheung-2003"/>. The initial bout does not have to cause significant soreness or damage<ref name="Clarkson-1987"/>. As few as 2-10 maximal eccentric repetitions can protect against a subsequent larger bout (24-50), but the initial bout must be close to maximal effort<ref name="Brown-1997"/>. By contrast, eight weeks of training with 50% of the maximal eccentric load did not provide protection against a subsequent maximal bout<ref name="Nosaka-2002"/>. There is some cross-over of protection between different forms of exercise. For instance, eccentric weight training protects against soreness and weakness in subsequent downhill running<ref name="Eston-1996"/>. The protection from the RBE is long lived. One study showed that while the initial weakness was not reduced by the RBE, the recovery of strength was much faster for up to 9 months, and soreness was less for up to 6 months<ref name="Nosaka-2001"/>. Another study showed that 30 minutes of downhill running provides protection for between 6 and 9 weeks<ref name="Byrnes-1985"/>. There is evidence that the RBE may rapidly start to provide protection from soreness and weakness<ref name="Mair-1995"/>, within 5 days<ref name="Ebbeling-1989"/>, and possibly within 24 hours<ref name="Chen-2001"/>. One study<ref name="Brockett-2001"/> demonstrated a change in the length-tension curve of DOMS trained muscles. As shown on the chart below, 7 days after a bout of DOMS inducing exercise the hamstring is able to generate more force and generate it at a greater angle.
[[File:Length Tension Curve and DOMS.jpg|none|thumb|500px|A chart of a subject before and 7 days after DOMS inducing hamstring exercise. The chart shows the angle and the torque developed, indicating that after training the hamstrings are not only stronger, but are able to generate power at significantly longer length. This may be part of the underlying mechanism for the repeated bout effect.]]
===Repeated Bout and Vitamin C===
I found a single study that looked at how the repeated bout effect changes with Vitamin C<ref name="HeHockemeyer2015"/>. As described below, most studies have found a small reduction in DOMS with Vitamin C. This 2014 study found that for the first bout, Vitamin C reduced the muscle soreness for the hamstrings, Quads, and Tibialis Anterior (shin), but the soreness of the glutes and calves were similar. However, for the second bout, not only was the soreness was reduced for the placebo, but it was further reduced with the Vitamin C. While this is just one study, it is intriguing with some profound implications. If the protective benefits of the repeated bout effect are dependent on nutritional (or other) factors, some runners may not get the benefit from their training. Personally, I've been taking ~1g/day of Vitamin C for many years due to [[Epidermolysis Bullosa| skin condition]]. However, the evidence that Vitamin C impairs the adaptation to exercise caused me to take a break for about 15 months. During that break from Vitamin C, I found my ability to perform downhill running was quite impaired, and I didn't seem to be able to build up resistance from the repeated bout effect.
[[File:Does Combined Antioxidant Vitamin Supplementation Blunt Repeated Bout Effect.jpg|center|thumb|300px|]]
==Carbohydrate and Protein==
{{Main| Nutrient Timing}}
One study looked at applying heat for 8 hours, either directly after DOMS inducing exercise or 24 hours later<ref name="PetrofskyBerk2017"/>. The study used "ThermaCare" chemically generated heat wraps, and I suspect the study was sponsored by the company. The 60 subjects underwent 5 minutes of squats to induce DOMS, then 20 were controls, 20 had immediate heat for 8 hours and the remainder had heat applied 24 hours after exercise. The immediate heat subjects had little reduction in strength over the follow three days, where the 24-hour delayed heat was no different from the controls. The strength drop was about 24% in controls/delayed-heat, which is a meaningful improvement. There was some reduction in pain over the first two days, with the immediate heat doing better than the delayed heat, which was slightly better than the controls.
==Antioxidants - Vitamin C and E==
The evidence for anti-oxidants is mixed, with some studies showing a benefit but not others. Note that one study below showed an impaired recovery with vitamin C supplementation. In addition, there is mixed evidence that vitamin C and/or vitamin E reduces [[Endurance Adaptations]] from exercise<ref name="Gomez-Cabrera-2008"/><ref name="RistowZarse2009"/><ref name="Strobel-2011"/> or they do not<ref name="Wadley-2010"/><ref name="Higashida-2011"/> <ref name="YfantiAkerstrom2009"/>. A 2019 systematic review of 50 studies covering 1,089 subjects concluded that there was moderate quality evidence that Vitamin C reduced DOMS at 48 and 96 hours, with lower quality evidence for 6 and 24 hours, but the reduction was quite small<ref name="RanchordasRogerson2018"/>.
{| class="wikitable" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border: none;"
! Vitamin C
<ref name="McDonnellCooper2018">Adam C McDonnell, Diane Cooper, Tinkara Mlinar, Igor B Mekjavic, The effect of post-exercise application of either graduated or uniform compression socks on the mitigation of delayed onset muscle soreness, Textile Research Journal, 2018, pages 004051751878000, ISSN [http://www.worldcat.org/issn/0040-5175 0040-5175], doi [http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0040517518780002 10.1177/0040517518780002]</ref>
<ref name="TufanoBrown2012">James J. Tufano, Lee E. Brown, Jared W. Coburn, Kavin K.W. Tsang, Vanessa L. Cazas, Joe W. LaPorta, Effect of Aerobic Recovery Intensity on Delayed-Onset Muscle Soreness and Strength, Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, volume 26, issue 10, 2012, pages 2777–2782, ISSN [http://www.worldcat.org/issn/1064-8011 1064-8011], doi [http://dx.doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0b013e3182651c06 10.1519/JSC.0b013e3182651c06]</ref>
<ref name="RanchordasRogerson2018">Mayur K Ranchordas, David Rogerson, Hora Soltani, Joseph T Costello, Antioxidants for preventing and reducing muscle soreness after exercise: a Cochrane systematic review, British Journal of Sports Medicine, 2018, pages bjsports-2018-099599, ISSN [http://www.worldcat.org/issn/0306-3674 0306-3674], doi [http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2018-099599 10.1136/bjsports-2018-099599]</ref>
<ref name="HeHockemeyer2015">F. He, J. Hockemeyer, D. Sedlock, Does Combined Antioxidant Vitamin Supplementation Blunt Repeated Bout Effect?, International Journal of Sports Medicine, volume 36, issue 05, 2015, pages 407–413, ISSN [http://www.worldcat.org/issn/0172-4622 0172-4622], doi [http://dx.doi.org/10.1055/s-0034-1395630 10.1055/s-0034-1395630]</ref>
</references>