Why Do Muscles Ache After Exercise?

Pain after exercise is a common complaint. The pain from exercising can vary from minor stiffness and cramping to so severe you can't move the next day. Most people consider such pain a rite of passage, a requirement of improvement, but it actually is not helpful at all and can be avoided or diminished to a large extent by proper preparation.

Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness

Most people who exercise regularly are familiar with DOMS. If you have ever exercised and felt energized and renewed afterward only to feel like a cripple the next day, you have been a victim of delayed onset muscle soreness. It is a phenomenon in the exercise world that is only marginally understood. It has to do with the way your body releases the lactic acid that builds up during an exercise routine.

Lactic Acid

The buildup of lactic acid is the primary reason muscles ache after exercise. As you flex and stress your muscles, your body releases lactic acid that is trapped in the muscle fibers. This release occurs when you expend more energy and require more oxygen than your body can deliver to muscle groups. When it needs more oxygen it produces it without "air" (anaerobic). It delivers oxygen by means of a chemical reaction that produces a byproduct--lactic acid. As this acid dissipates from the muscles it causes cramping and pain.

Bunching Up

The feeling of tightness and bunching up of muscles is also a residual effect of the lactic acid buildup in your system. It is caused by the cramping that the release of acid triggers.

Breathe Right

The first method of combating extreme muscle pain after exercise is to develop a proper breathing technique during exercise. By allowing your body to provide oxygen to your muscles using air flow rather than chemicals you lessen the chances of a painful aftermath.

Stretching

While stretching is not a total cure for muscle aches following rigorous exercise it helps reduce the pain to a great extent. By stretching following hard exercise you trigger the release of lactic acid and force its dissipation faster.

Nutrition

Nutrition plays a key role in preparing your body for strenuous exercise, as well. By providing plenty of carbohydrates to fuel the muscles you help protect them and give them enough energy to cut the need for a chemical release during exercise. Proper nutrition after exercise is also very important. Giving the muscles plenty of protein to rebuild damage helps them get stronger and build up and recover faster, lessening the pain felt later in a prolonged recovery period.

References

• Scientific American: Lactic Acid Buildup After Exercise
• Natural Physicques: DOMS
• How To Be Fit: Nutrition to Reduce Exercise Muscle Soreness