What causes muscle soreness after strenuous exercise?

Muscle soreness after strenuous exercise. Some people who do not exercise regularly will experience muscle soreness after strenuous exercise, especially after long-term strenuous exercise. They can obviously feel the soreness and weakness of the muscles in the corresponding parts. Many people will panic when they have severe soreness, thinking that something is wrong with their body. So what is going on? Is it normal to have muscle soreness after such intense exercise? So what is the cause of it?

Two situations that are prone to muscle soreness

Muscle soreness is a normal and positive physiological manifestation. After a new intensity or new exercise, there will often be obvious muscle soreness, which will disappear naturally after a few days. There are two main types of muscle soreness after exercise:

The most common situation occurs in people who lack exercise. After these people occasionally participate in exercise, they will experience general discomfort and muscle soreness. Therefore, we must develop the habit of regular exercise.

Another situation is that it also happens to people who often do equipment exercise in the gym. Due to the gradual increase in load and intensity of strength training, muscle soreness will occur during the delay period. This kind of muscle soreness is still the feeling pursued by many muscle-building enthusiasts. Generally speaking, muscle soreness is, to some extent, a sign that the corresponding muscles have been properly trained.

One of the causes of muscle soreness: lactic acid accumulation

Exercise and movement require energy. If the energy comes from aerobic metabolism in the cells, it is aerobic exercise; but if the energy comes from anaerobic glycolysis, it is anaerobic exercise. Excessive lactic acid stimulates the muscles to increase osmotic pressure, causing the muscle tissue to absorb more water and produce local swelling, which will cause muscle soreness.

The second reason for muscle soreness: muscle fiber connective tissue damage

People who exercise regularly will often experience muscle soreness. why is that? In fact, for this group of people, lactic acid accumulation is only one of the reasons. Another major reason is the slight damage to muscle fibers.

In fact, this kind of muscle fiber damage and spasm is local and microscopic. The muscles can still complete the movement function, but there is soreness. After the soreness, the muscle tissue becomes stronger than before after the local micro-damage in the muscle is repaired, and the same load will no longer cause damage (soreness) in the future. It is worth noting that this kind of repair requires rest and protein nutrition supplementation.

Therefore, we should control the intensity of exercise according to our own situation on the basis of exercise. Only by exercising step by step can we exercise our bodies more safely and better. We should maintain a normal mentality and not force the body to exercise. Just reach a comfortable level. Only a moderate amount of exercise can make the body achieve better health results.