Muscle pain after training is known to everyone who started playing sports after a long break, or changed the program or type of physical activity. This kind of pain is called “soreness.” It was previously believed that its cause was muscle acidification, but scientists soon refuted this assumption. What causes sore throat and is it possible to play sports if muscle pain does not go away?
Sports-related muscle pain comes in three types: traumatic, burning during exercise, and delayed muscle pain (soreness).
Traumatic pain is acute and occurs during or after training. It is usually described with the words “pulled a muscle” or “strained a ligament.” If you experience such pain, you must urgently complete the workout, relieve the pain syndrome, give yourself a complete rest from training, and, if necessary, consult a doctor.
A burning sensation occurs during physical activity due to accumulation in the muscles, the concentration of which increases with each muscle contraction. For example, you perform biceps curls and feel a burning sensation in your muscles (calorizer). Towards the end of the approach it reaches its peak. After finishing the approach, you rest, and the burning goes away. Such pain is a natural reaction of the body.
Krepatura is a pain syndrome that occurs the next day after training. During sports, myofibrils rupture in the muscle fiber - the cells become inflamed and retain water. Water puts pressure on nerve endings and causes painful sensations. To heal microtraumas, the body produces hormones and actively synthesizes protein. With each subsequent workout, the pain dulls and the muscles become stronger.
Whether to exercise with muscle pain or not depends on the intensity of the pain. If you have severe sore throat, training is not recommended. Firstly, sports should lead to progress, and not to pain and fatigue, and secondly, if unrecovered muscles are given another portion of excessive load, this will lead to overtraining or even the death of muscle fibers. It is necessary to find a middle ground between the need to receive microtraumas for further growth and normal well-being.
Use a 10-point scale to rate your readiness for training, where 0 means you feel no pain and 10 means the maximum intensity of the pain. If it hurts slightly - 3-4 points, then good - go train. If the pain is worse - 5-6 points, that’s also good, you can go to training (calorizator). And if you rate the pain as 7 points or higher, then rest or change the type of physical activity. You can exercise the muscles that don't hurt or do cardio. It is strictly forbidden to repeat the previous workout and load damaged muscles.
Krepatura is the case when too strong sensations and their complete absence are bad, and moderate sensations are good. After 2-3 weeks, you will adapt to the loads, increase your level of fitness, and instead of strong soreness, you will only have a pleasant heaviness.
There are ways to reduce the intense pain experienced after exercise. Various warming procedures will help you cope with sore throat:
- Warm shower;
Physical activity reduces the intensity of muscle pain:
- Having a warm-up before training and stretching at the end;
- Light stretching on a day of rest from sports;
All of the above methods are aimed at increasing blood circulation in the muscles, which helps to recover better.
All people have different adaptation capabilities. Trained people recover faster than beginners and feel soreness less often. Someone who trains a muscle group twice a week is less likely to experience long-term pain than someone who exercises their muscles once a week. Pain does not always lead to growth, and in some cases it even interferes with recovery.
What to do if your muscles hurt after training? This question worries the majority of gym visitors who are amateurs and not professional athletes. Such people usually play sports for the sake of good health and attractiveness. appearance. They don’t need records, but it is important that the classes are comfortable and bring pleasure and mental relief.
What to do if your muscles hurt after training is always a pressing question.
What a pleasure it is when, after intense exercise, you cannot straighten your arms or legs. There is an opinion that if muscles hurt after training, this is good, they also say that the main cause of pain is lactic acid in the muscles. Let's figure out what actually happens to our body after an intense workout, and what causes the pain that bothers us so much.
Muscle pain is not inherently an indicator of the effectiveness of training. The causes of muscle pain after exercise can be different. Let's look at them one by one.
Muscle pain during and immediately after exercise
Lactic acid in muscles is formed as a result of the breakdown of glucose during intense strength training.
During intense strength training, you periodically feel a strong burning sensation in the muscles being stressed. This usually happens at the end of an exercise when you are pushing yourself to the limit, trying to finish off the last few reps. The reason for this pain is exactly what was mentioned earlier.
The fact is that during intense strength training, muscles require a large amount of energy to do the work. This energy is generated by the breakdown of glucose, which is found in the muscles in the form of glycogen molecules.
The breakdown of glucose can occur aerobically (in the presence of oxygen) or without it (anaerobic method). During strength training, the muscle works so intensely that blood does not have time to supply it sufficient quantity oxygen. Therefore, an anaerobic process of glucose breakdown occurs. With this chemical reaction the energy needed by the muscle is released. The breakdown product of glucose is lactic acid.
Lactic acid accumulates in the muscles during exercise, without having time to be washed out by the bloodstream, and begins to irritate the nerve endings. You feel an unpleasant burning sensation and pain. As a rule, this pain lasts for several hours after training. Then the blood flushes lactic acid from the muscles, and the pain goes away.
How to relieve muscle pain after training? Everything here is more or less simple. You need to increase blood flow in the muscle in any way. And to do this, first of all, you need to relax her. To relax after a workout, it’s good to stretch, take a warm shower, or get a light massage. You can also drink a couple of glasses of water to quickly remove lactic acid from the body.
Muscle pain the day after training
Late or delayed muscle pain appears a day after training.
If everything is now clear about the burning sensation in the muscles at the end of a workout, then for many of us it remains a mystery why the muscles hurt the day after a workout. Delayed or, as it is also called, delayed pain appears a day after the end of the training. On the second day, as a rule, it intensifies, and then gradually fades away.
This pain is much more unpleasant and painful than post-workout pain. It prevents you from moving and discourages any desire to go to training again.
The cause of such pain is no longer lactic acid in the muscles, but microtrauma of the muscle fibers that form when performing high-load exercises. Tiny micro-tears form in muscle fibers that contract under load. They do not cause us discomfort immediately after training, but after a day they begin to become inflamed and then pain appears.
There is no need to be afraid of this inflammation; it is aseptic (without germs) and is caused by the reaction of muscle tissue to overstrain. After a few more days, the inflammation subsides and the damaged tissue scars. The muscle increases in volume accordingly.
In order to reduce the pain symptom in case of delayed pain, you can use anti-inflammatory ointments - they are sold at any pharmacy. A small massage will also be beneficial - gently stretch the muscles, but without strong impact.
Oddly enough, physical activity will help speed up muscle healing. Exercise improves blood flow and speeds up metabolism, and, accordingly, muscles recover faster. However, it’s worth making a reservation here that the load should not be extreme and not on the very next day. Give yourself a little time to get in shape. And to the question of what to do if your muscles hurt a lot after training, the best answer is - give your body a little rest. Otherwise, you risk overtraining.
Traumatic pain
If you've been injured, chances are you'll know it right away. When a muscle or ligament is injured, the pain is sharp and acute, and it will not allow you to continue training with the same intensity.
If you suddenly realize that you have been injured, or even just suspect that you have been injured, end the lesson immediately. Under no circumstances continue to work through pain. It is better not to rely on luck, but to consult a doctor immediately.
» Ekaterina Polivanova
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Beginners in fitness often quit classes, frightened by unusual muscle pain. However, muscle pain that occurs after exercise is common. Similar discomfort may appear after a long break from training. Changing the training program or increasing the intensity of the lesson also often leads to unpleasant sensations in the muscles. How to get rid of muscle pain after training, read this material.
Why does pain occur?
Muscle pain occurs due to the accumulation of products of oxidation-reduction reactions. These reactions actively occur in the muscles during exercise. physical exercise. Perceiving an emergency load as stress, the body spends internal resources to fight it and needs recovery to compensate for these losses.
Unpleasant sensations during fitness or sports activities do not pose a health hazard. At maximum load, the muscles may even begin to tremble, but this is normal. Short stretching between sets helps to quickly restore strength during exercise. If training turns into real torture, simply reduce the load.
What is overtraining
The body's capabilities are not limitless, so the best effect is obtained by alternating intense loads with light ones - the muscles should have enough time to recover. Sharp pain the day after training is a warning sign. The habit of training to the point of exhaustion can lead to rupture of overworked muscles or tendons, it is also possible problems with the spine and joints. Such overloads are also harmful to the nervous system, causing a feeling of aversion to exercise.
Can the pain lag
If unpleasant sensations appear the morning after training, but over the course of several days they do not subside, but intensify, then there is delayed or residual muscle pain. This phenomenon is associated with microtrauma of muscle fibers due to excess tension. In this case, a break from classes is not necessary. It’s better to warm up your muscles well and do set of stretching exercises- this will alleviate the condition and speed up the recovery process. It is also useful to relieve general tension with 5-10 minutes of any aerobic activity. A treadmill, rowing machine or swimming will help your body get back into shape faster.
How to recover properly
Tension in the muscles appears due to the fact that they are constantly in a contracted state. A special massage will help to relax them (this is an excellent preventative against feeling stiff the next day). You can supplement your recovery with a visit to the sauna. Have a relaxing effect baths with sea salt or essential oils— it is enough to lie in the water for only 15 minutes. For severe muscle pain, a suitable drug will help, for example Voltaren* Emulgel 1% .
This The best decision for pain in muscles, back and neck due to sprains or strain. Unlike gels, which only mask the pain, Voltaren* Emulgel 1% penetrates deep under the skin, eliminating both pain and its cause - inflammation. Using the drug has become even more convenient thanks to “smart” packaging. The updated applicator cap makes it easier to apply the product, leaving your hands clean. The specific shape and texture of the applicator ensures close contact with the skin, movement and activation of the gel on its surface, and the hydrophilic base of the gel allows the active substance to penetrate faster and deeper, without leaving greasy marks on clothes.
Beginning supporters of a healthy lifestyle after the first workout and experienced athletes who have returned to fitness after a long break often complain of severe muscle pain. As a rule, the intensity of pain is directly related to the level of physical activity. An unprepared body experiences enormous stress, which results in pain. To overcome discomfort after the first lesson, it is necessary to determine the main reason for its occurrence.
Why does fitness cause muscle pain?
An unpleasant feeling may appear immediately after training or after some time. Anyway main reason is fitness after a long absence of regular physical activity, however, experts differ on the physiological nature of this phenomenon. Painful sensations can be triggered by one or more factors, including:
- accumulation of lactic acid in muscle tissue;
- damage to connective tissues and/or muscles;
- microtrauma of muscle fibers.
To prevent various injuries, it is necessary to structure classes correctly. Fitness should begin with a 10-minute warm-up based on warm-up exercises. At the main stage of training, it is advisable to listen to the instructor’s advice, choosing the right weight and number of repetitions.
It is almost impossible to avoid microtraumas, because they are a natural part of building up muscle mass. Fortunately, it is not for nothing that such pain is called delayed, because it appears a few days after training and disappears quite quickly. In other cases, to get rid of pain you will have to use certain means, including medications.
There is no universal recipe against muscle pain, because each athlete’s body is unique, and the causes of discomfort can vary significantly. Experts advise listening to your feelings to determine the true nature of the pain. Muscle soreness can be accompanied by spasms, injuries or cramps, and each case requires a different approach.
Unless discomfort is a sign of a serious injury, give your body proper rest. It will take some time to relax and completely heal your muscles, during which it is better to avoid intense physical activity. For several days, avoid any activities that may worsen the condition. It’s not just classes that are banned gym, but also ordinary physical work, including moving heavy objects.
During rest, only low-intensity fitness, mainly aerobic in nature, is allowed. To get some exercise, you can go for long walks, swim or ride a bike. The only contraindication to cardio training is strong pain in the muscles of the lower body. If your legs hurt, stop doing aerobics for two days.
Try reducing pain with stretching exercises. During exercise, use exclusively static poses, as complex dynamic stretching can aggravate the situation. Move with a small amplitude at first, increasing it as the condition eases. After exercise, lightly massage your muscles to help them relax. If after stretching the painful sensations do not disappear, but only intensify, consult a doctor immediately to make sure there is no injury.
Unpleasant sensations in the muscles, as a rule, signal inflammation, which can be combated with medication. If you need quick pain relief, use over-the-counter medications and make sure you are not allergic to any of the ingredients. Ibuprofen, acetaminophen and aspirin, which can be purchased at any pharmacy, have a good anti-inflammatory and analgesic effect. For best result they can be combined with various creams and ointments. Remember that medications begin to act only after 30-40 minutes, so be patient and do not exceed the dosage in an attempt to bring about the long-awaited relief.
If you are unable to relieve pain with medications, use folk recipes. They will also come in handy if the pharmacies are already closed, and unpleasant sensations continue to annoy you. For emergency assistance For damaged muscles, take edible olive oil and warm it slightly in your palms. Massage the painful area for about five minutes, but do not press too hard. Therapeutic massage can also be performed using an ice cube.
Advanced athletes use more complex recipes, the ingredients for which are not available in every home. Try to choose the appropriate option:
- a teaspoon of cucumber inflorescences and a glass of boiling water, brew for 6 hours;
- tablespoon apple cider vinegar and a teaspoon of turpentine;
- five large sheets burdock, scalded with boiling water;
- lotion from mashed potatoes, preferably still warm.
All of the listed remedies, except for the infusion of cucumber flowers, must be applied evenly to the affected area of the body, covered with a clean cloth or paper, and a woolen scarf tied on top. This will warm the affected area, enhancing the effect of the compress. As for the decoction of cucumber inflorescences, it is taken orally, one tablespoon 5 times a day.
Regular compresses provide good results. Hot or cold - depends on the situation. If the pain is caused by a cramp or severe spasm, use a heating pad or hot bath. In case of a sprain, you will need an ice pack, which must be applied to the damaged area for about 15 minutes. To consolidate the result, repeat the procedure 2-3 times a day, but stop immediately if the compress begins to cause you discomfort.
It often happens that after a good workout, muscle pain bothers you. It can be very light, it can be pleasant, or it can cause severe discomfort during movement or even bother you at rest. Muscle pain is a reason to think about its occurrence and possible consequences while ignoring her.
Is muscle pain good or bad? To answer this question, you need to learn to identify the types of muscle pain and the reasons why it occurs, and also know how to get rid of it. This article will answer the questions and dot the i’s.
Why do muscles hurt after training?
Despite the presence of voluminous scientific knowledge In the medical field, muscle pain after exercise is a topic that raises many questions to this day. Some believe that muscle pain is an indicator of a good and productive workout that the body has “digested.” Others argue that muscle pain is a reason to think and reconsider your training. One way or another, there are two types of muscle pain.
During the training process, muscle fibers are subject to physical stress. As a result of heavy physical exertion, microdamages form on muscle fibers. Sometimes they are called microtraumas. When muscle tissue is destroyed, the body will intensively secrete lysosomes and phagocytes. They digest injured muscle fibers. Thus, the formation of new protein molecules appears, which act as builders of new muscle tissue.
There is also a second opinion about the appearance of muscle pain. Muscle pain occurs as a result of the breakdown of ATP (adenosine triphosphoric acid).
ATB is a molecule that provides energy to all processes that occur in the body. During intense stress on skeletal muscles, lactic acid is released. It increases acidity levels in the muscles. It helps slow the transmission of nerve signals and causes a burning sensation in the muscles when exerting or moving.
Regardless of the controversy, predicting the onset of muscle pain is not that difficult.
After a long break from sports, when performing new exercises, when lifting heavy weights, or during long workouts, the next 1-3 days will be accompanied by muscle pain.
Professional athletes can reach a level where they feel no muscle pain at all. This occurs due to an increase in the energy potential of muscle groups and adaptation to volumetric physical activity.
What types of muscle pain are there?
To prevent muscle pain after exercise, it is not enough to know the causes of its occurrence. You need to know what kind of muscle pain there is and what causes it.
Pleasant muscle pain
Manifestation of moderate muscle pain: feeling of congestion, weak muscle tone, stiffness when performing any actions.
The pain is mild and pleasant. Pain occurs when muscle fibers are fully stretched or contracted.
Moderate muscle pain lasts from 2 to 3 days and is considered a good sign, which means growth and generation of new fibers.
Muscle pain that appears with a delay
If such muscle pain bothers you long time and does not allow you to train normally, then this is a sign of excess load. Due to the large volume of physical activity, an unprepared body does not have time to recover. Overtraining occurs.
Overtraining is a process in which progress in physical development, increase in muscle volume and strength indicators. High load the cardiac and nervous systems are affected. It appears when the amount of physical activity exceeds the body's recovery capacity.
Muscle pain caused by injury
Pain caused by injury is characterized as a sharp and severe pain that occurs during exercise or the next day. It is accompanied by the inability to perform any actions. Most often, injuries occur due to poor warm-up, when working with maximum weights, and when there is insufficient vitamins and minerals in the body.
If you are concerned about pain in the joints or ligaments, you should immediately stop training and consult a doctor.
Muscle burning during the final part of the exercises
This muscle pain occurs due to muscle oxidation, which occurs when lactic acid is released. This kind of pain is not something to be afraid of. This is how the body protects itself from possible overloads. Lactic acid is removed from the body within 60-90 minutes.
Is muscle pain an indicator of muscle growth?
Muscle pain after exercise is not a direct sign of muscle growth. However, muscle pain means that the muscle tissue has been subjected to stress and has received micro-tears, therefore, the process of restoration and generation of new tissue is underway. But this does not mean that the process of generating and restoring muscle tissue is always accompanied by muscle pain.
It is impossible to completely get rid of muscle pain and forget it forever. But you can make muscle pain pleasant and useful, and also bother you much less often.
Gradual increase in weights and training volumes
The number of workouts should be such that each workout is desirable. This means that the body is completely restored and ready for a new portion of stress. When you are not in the mood to train, and the usual weights are given with great difficulty, this means that the body is exhausted and has not recovered from the last workout. In this case, it is necessary to increase the rest time or conduct a light, restorative workout.
You should do the same with scales. It is necessary to gradually and smoothly increase weights. With this approach, all ligaments and joints will get used to more heavy weights, and the muscles adapt to the new, larger load.
Correct exercise technique
The correct technique will save you from unwanted injuries and ensure stable progress in physical development.
Warm-up
Warm-up is the most main part training process. It allows you to warm up the muscles, joints, ligaments and prepare the body for the upcoming physical activity. A good warm-up is the key to a good and productive workout.
Also, special attention should be paid to warm-up approaches.
Additional rest
If you’re not in the mood, it’s hard to get up in the morning, and you suffer from insomnia at night. If your robot is a mess and you have no desire to go to training, then you should think about it. Most likely, this is a sign of overwork of the body. In such cases, you need to free yourself from all matters and rest for a couple of days.
Much water
Water increases the body's performance significantly. It thins the blood and speeds up the delivery of nutrients.
Complete rest
8 hours of sleep per day. Everyone is already talking about this. But for some reason, not everyone talks about the value of sleep.
What is the value of sleep?
- Sleep value is the quality of sleep at a certain hour of the day.
- The value of sleep from the 19th to the 20th hour is 7 hours.
- The value of sleep from 5 to 6 am is just a few minutes.
If a person goes to bed at 22:00 and gets up at 5 in the morning, and also does this constantly, then he will fully recover, will always be full of strength and in good mood. At the same time, he will spend only 1/3 of the day on sleep.
If he lies down every time late at night and sleep until 13-16 o'clock in the afternoon, then the body will not have time to fully recover, and the rest of the day will be plagued by headaches and drowsiness. And this despite the fact that he will spend as much as 12 hours sleeping!
Fact: scientists have proven that if a person regularly goes to bed at 19 pm and wakes up at 2 am, he will be completely rested during this period of time.
However, the modern lifestyle of the average person does not allow him to adhere to such a routine, so it is enough to go to bed no later than 11 pm and sleep at least 7-8 hours a day.
How to get rid of muscle pain
- Massage. Massage accelerates blood circulation, therefore increasing metabolism. The recovery process is faster and the pain disappears much earlier.
- Recovery cross. Conducting gentle cardio training involves a light, long cross-country run. For example, a cross-country race of 8-10 kilometers at a pace of 5:30-6 minutes per kilometer. This cross accelerates the body’s recovery processes and increases the overall endurance of the body.
- Hitch. Cooling down is a process similar to warming up, but is performed at the end of the workout. Special attention You need to pay attention to stretching your muscles. This improves their elasticity and speeds up the recovery process, calms the excited central nervous system and normalizes heart rate (heart rate). The most important thing is that the cool-down relieves possible muscle pain.
- A nutritious meal after training. During exercise, the body spends a lot of vitamins, electrolytes and glycogen. To start the body’s recovery process, it must be provided with the right amount of nutrients.
- Extended rest. It is not always possible to have a good rest. Therefore, every 3 months it is necessary to arrange an extended rest, lasting about a week. Such a vacation will provide full recovery body and will protect you from overtraining.
- Bath procedures. Baths, swimming pools and saunas improve blood circulation in the body and speed up recovery processes.
Using the information obtained after reading this article, you can easily distinguish good muscle pain from bad. By applying tips to prevent and get rid of muscle pain after training, you can save yourself from injuries, overtraining and other undesirable moments.
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