Hey 9to5
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]I always thought that DOMS probably means that some sort of hypertrophic activity is going on.
Not at all.
Before I comment, another quote from your post, so we're all clear...
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]My understanding is that there are 2 "thresholds", if you may, one for hypertrophy and one for DOMS. The threshold for DOMS is "higher". That means that if you get DOMS, you' ve probably done more than enough. However, the threshold for hypertrophy is lower, which in turn means that you could have probably done less and still get a hypertrophic response. In fact, I think this is what happens during a successful cycle; enough load and/or volume for hypertrophy, but not enough to get DOMS, always relative to our current level of conditioning, of course.
Again, not at all. Clearly not the case. Otherwise, Vince is right - all we have to do is keep on working out till we get DOMS so we are sure we are growing.
Your statements would also mean "I'm getting hypertrophy as long as I get DOMS".
Let me explain why this is wrong.
The short explanation is: DOMS really has nothing to do whatsoever with hypertrophy.
The longer explanation:
DOMS is a response to doing something you are unaccustomed to (I mean of course the muscles, that is, unacuustomed muscle activity), due of course to your conditioning level at the moment you did the exercise. Doing 5's is no problem for us. But right after a long rest, that might may or may not be the case, especially after a long lay-off.
DOMS is not related to hypertrophy... why? We have to take a look at hypertrophy mechanisms. This will be more complicated, so to simplify matters, we'll just talk about acute bouts and chronic bouts (of course, referring to working out). Acute bouts can cause DOMS, that's for sure. But will that cause hypertrophy? No. Why? Because in an acute bout, even though satellite cells are proliferated, they aren't differentiated. And the lack of differentiation gives us nothing but dog crap. And maybe pain if you are unlucky enough to get DOMS. So what causes the holy satellite cell differentiation? Chronic bouts, not just single acute bouts. That's why we "train frequently, to create an environment more conducive to hypertrohy", and that's why we call frequent training "more conducive to hypertrophy" - because chronic stimulation (assuming the bouts themselves are significant) is what is needed to cause satellite cell proliferation AND differentiation.
So did DOMS have anything to do with it? Nope, not at all.
You can look at it also in terms of MPS and MPD levels. And the result would still be the same, DOMS has nothing to do with growth. You can get extreme DOMS, but not grow at all, or even lose size, if MPS levels aren't higher or, worse, lower than MPD.
So getting DOMS doesn't tell you anything at all about whether you worked out enough, or if you are growing.
So like I said, it's ok to say 1 week may not be enough SD. It is true, in certain cases it is advised to have a longer SD. But don't say it's because of DOMS, or that you measure its effectiveness due to getting or not getting DOMS. It's simply not the case at all.
Regards

-JV