Repair of the sarcomere and the surrounding connective tissue leads to delayed onset muscle soreness, which peaks between 24 and 72 hours after exercise.
The decrease in contraction has been theorized to have been caused by the high level of concentrations of proton created by glycolysis.
[3] Excess in protons displaces calcium ions which is used within the fibers in activating the sarcomere, resulting in a reduced contractile force.
A higher concentration of H+ will also cause the loss of contractile force through the misplacement of calcium in muscle fiber, which will disturb the formation of the actin-myosin cross-bridge.
[citation needed] Stretching immediately before or after a workout does provide some help, but is not significant enough to be considered as a preventative measure.