Tomorrow will hurt: why do your muscles ache after a workout?

Tomorrow will hurt: why do your muscles ache after a workout?

What is associated with the appearance of muscle pain on the second day after an intense workout? How to avoid it?

They say that if you have no pain at all after a workout, it means only one thing: you trained half-heartedly. But let’s look at it together. It can happen that after an intense workout you feel just fine, but on the second day you feel a nagging pain in your muscles. Sometimes even the simplest action, like squats or climbing stairs, may seem unrealistic to perform on such a day.

This is completely normal. This phenomenon is commonly known as delayed or lagging muscle pain. It most often occurs when you are subjected to a load that is more than 5-10% above your normal range of motion. This can include functional and high-intensity strength training, or sequential exercises that emphasize the eccentric phase, when the muscles are stretched under load, such as lowering the bar in the bench press or the barbell to the floor in the deadlift.

It’s not about lactic acid: scientists have proven that the level of lactic acid in the blood peaks five minutes after maximal effort and drops to the pre-exercise value after 40-60 minutes. Consequently, lactic acid leaves the muscles very quickly, so there is no way it can provoke soreness a couple of days after training.

Intense exercise causes micro-damage to muscle fibers and develops an inflammatory process in the body. Our body reacts immediately and releases cytokines – hormone-like proteins that regulate the body’s immune response to the inflammatory response. White blood cells are sent to the torn muscle fibers to clean the damaged tissue and speed up regeneration. In addition, the site of inflammation releases large amounts of prostaglandins, active substances that dilate blood vessels, create a sensation of heat in the injured area and increase the sensitivity of pain receptors.

It’s worth a try: bodybuilder Marty Kalajer had long been searching for a remedy for the muscle pain that comes a day after a workout. One day, he was given a piece of advice: regularly swim in cold water after working out in the gym. The method was indeed effective. Repeatedly following this recommendation, he got rid of the aching muscle pain after training.

But why do we feel pain on the second day after training, and not instantly? The fact is that the inflammation itself is gradual and reaches its peak within 24-48 hours. During this time, the regeneration process is in full swing, which in turn increases pain sensations.

What should be done to relieve the pain?

Take non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs – NSAIDs help to effectively relieve muscle and joint pain. Beware: these drugs are not very safe for health and have quite strong side effects, so we advise you to use them only after consulting your doctor or trainer.

Massage – if you want to relieve the feeling of heaviness in your muscles, try performing self-massage or consult a specialist. Massage will help warm up your muscles and at least temporarily reduce soreness.

Moderate exercise is the most effective method. Do a good warm-up and repeat the workout, excluding from the process work with heavy weights. Exercise improves blood flow and speeds up metabolism, so muscles recover faster.