Background: It is well-documented that maximal eccentric exercise (MAX) frequently induces muscle soreness. This phenomenon is referred to as delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). The magnitude of development of DOMS induced by MAX is affected by the subjective sensation of the subjects. Although previous studies have been examined effects of eccentric exercise on DOMS using a small number of sample size, and no previous studies have investigated variability in DOMS after eccentric exercise using a large sample size. Purpose: To test the hypothesis that eccentric exercise-induced high and low responders of DOMS would have significant correlation with other indirect markers of muscle damage [maximum isometric muscle strength (MVC), range of motion (ROM), upper arm circumference (CIR), plasma creatine kinase (CK) activity]. Methods: Three hundred and fifty-six untrained young men performed 5 x 6 maximal isokinetic (30°/s) eccentric contractions of the elbow flexors (EF) of the non-dominant arm to induce DOMS and muscle damage. Changes in DOMS, MVC, ROM, CIR and plasma CK activity were measured before, immediately after, and for 5 consecutive days after MAX. Afterwards, the subjects in the top- and low-20% of peak DOMS after MAX, respectively, were defined as high (HR) and low (LR) responders groups (n=72/group). Data were compared by repeated-measures of two-way ANOVA and Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient. Results: 1. Changes in all muscle damage indicators (DOMS, MVC, ROM, CIR, and CK) after MAX were significant greater for the HR group than the LR group (p＜.05); 2. Peak-DOMS after MAX for the HR group also had a significant (p＜.05) correlation with the maximum changes in MVC (r=-.25) , ROM (r=-.20) , CIR (r=.23) and CK (r=.20) . Conclusions: Thus, these findings suggested that DOMS may be regarded as an indicator of variability in MAX-induced muscle damage.