Muscle soreness after exercise

Many people have found that if they have not exercised for a long time, sudden exercise will cause their muscles to feel sore, and many people don’t understand what is going on. In fact, muscle soreness after exercise is caused by the production of a large amount of lactic acid in the muscles. Lactic acid stimulates the muscle nerves, so everyone will feel waves of soreness. In fact, this is a normal phenomenon. It just means that you haven't exercised for a long time.

Exercise is a good thing, but if you haven't exercised for a long time, it is not recommended to do some strenuous exercise suddenly, because this will cause muscle strain or strain. This is something everyone should pay attention to.

In sports medicine, muscle soreness caused by exercise is generally divided into two types: one is pain that occurs immediately after exercise, but disappears quickly, which is called acute muscle soreness. The other type occurs a few hours or overnight after exercise, accompanied by fatigue, and even muscle cramps and stiffness. This type of muscle pain disappears relatively slowly, and it often takes 3 to 4 days or even 6 to 7 days to fully recover. This symptom is called delayed muscle soreness or post-exercise fatigue.

Acute muscle soreness is generally explained by lactic acid accumulation. "Muscle movement is like a machine that requires energy supply. However, the energy required by muscles is not electrical energy or thermal energy, but chemical energy released by the oxidation of energy substances such as sugar and fat in the body.

In the presence of sufficient oxygen, such as when the human body is at rest, the carbohydrates in the muscles are directly broken down into carbon dioxide and water, releasing a large amount of energy. However, when the human body is engaged in strenuous activities, skeletal muscles urgently need a large amount of energy. Although respiratory movement and blood circulation are greatly enhanced at this time, they still cannot meet the muscle tissue's demand for oxygen, causing the muscles to be temporarily hypoxic. Sugar breaks down in the absence of oxygen to produce a large amount of lactic acid. The lactic acid accumulates in the muscles and stimulates the nerve endings, which reflexively causes muscle soreness.

Here are some simple ways to eliminate muscle soreness.

rest

Rest can relieve muscle soreness, slowly promote blood circulation, accelerate the elimination of metabolic products, and eliminate the supply and repair of nutrients to the sore muscle area, restoring it to normal.

Stretching exercises

Static stretching of muscles can accelerate muscle relaxation and relieve antagonist muscles, which helps the recovery of spastic muscles. Perform static stretching exercises on the sore area, maintain the stretch for 2 minutes, then rest for 1 minute, and repeat. Doing this stretching exercise several times a day can help relieve spasms. Patting massage is used to massage the sore areas to relax the muscles, promote muscle blood circulation, and help repair injuries and relieve spasms.

Heat

Hot compress is the most effective method. Applying hot compress to the sore local muscles can promote blood circulation, improve metabolism, and accelerate the relief and recovery of muscle soreness. Especially when combined with light stretching exercises or massage, it will speed up the elimination of delayed muscle soreness and promote its recovery to normal.

The above introduces some knowledge about muscle soreness after exercise. I believe you all know what it is after reading it. If you feel uncomfortable with body aches, you can use hot compresses, because heat can help eliminate lactic acid in the muscles and enhance metabolism.