How to remove lactic acid from muscle tissue. Why lactic acid accumulates in muscles - a means of cleansing metabolites

Quite often, athletes evaluate the effectiveness of training by how much their muscles hurt. A good workout is when in the morning after an evening load you are literally unable to get out of bed, because every cell in your body hurts. The legs do not move, the arms do not rise, sometimes even getting a cup for traditional morning coffee from the top shelf becomes difficult. "Hooray! I did a great job, my muscles are growing!” - this is exactly what the future Mister or Miss Universe thinks. But not everyone realizes that the cause of the pain, most likely, was lactic acid accumulated in the muscles. And it's not as wonderful as it seems. Let's figure out what kind of "beast" it is, how this substance can be dangerous and how to remove it.

Reasons for the appearance

The chemical mysteries of lactic acid formation are complex, but they can be explained simply. To begin with, during exercise, the muscles actively consume oxygen, replenishing the energy spent. After all, they need to take strength from somewhere for the next approach to the bar? And the more you work on yourself, the more oxygen they need. Everything seems to be logical. But the problem is that rapid muscle contraction blocks the supply of oxygen. That is, it turns out that one cannot do without fuel - but there is nowhere to get it from. And this happens due to the fact that during the load, the local blood flow decreases and the “supply” of oxygen to the working muscles becomes slower.

Severe muscle pain after exercise is a sign of excess lactic acid.

This vicious circle leads to the fact that the muscles have to invent an alternative source of energy, and they begin to work without oxygen, that is, anaerobically. This is due to the breakdown of glucose, which is always present in the body. And just a side effect of this process is the formation of lactic acid in the muscles, which is not excreted in time due to reduced blood flow. Like any acid, it lowers the natural PH level. Hence there are unpleasant sensations in trained muscles, pain and burning. But these are not all the problems that "milk" can bring.

Consequences of the formation of lactic acid in the muscles

Usually lactic acid is quickly eliminated from the body, which naturally tries to protect itself. To do this, it is enough to wait from a few hours to two days. But during this time, the substance manages to damage the muscle fibers, which is why muscle pain is often felt even after a long time after training. Unpleasant sensations may remain in the body until the muscles are fully restored and begin to work at full strength. Sports doctors call this phenomenon "delayed muscle pain syndrome", which is associated with microtrauma during sports.

Experienced athletes are able to feel the moment when it is necessary to slightly reduce the pace in order to avoid overexertion - and, as a result, muscle pain.

The constant accumulation of lactic acid can lead to unpleasant consequences, such as:

• pain in different muscle groups, and sometimes these sensations are so strong that you have to seek help from doctors;
• a state of general weakness, when instead of a surge of strength from a successful workout, a feeling of depression and weakness appears in the body;
• an increase in body temperature (as in inflammatory processes).

However, for each specific person, lactic acid acts in its own way: someone can feel its effect for a long time, and for someone even the most exhausting workout will be safe. But in any case, you should not forget about the proper preparation for going to the gym.

How to prepare for a workout

If you want to protect the body from unnecessary stress when playing sports, it is enough to follow simple rules. They are especially important for those who constantly experience muscle pain that interferes with full training. So, don't forget the following points:

• be sure to warm up before starting the main part of the workout, let it be brisk walking, easy running, stretching - any movement that will tone the muscles and prepare them for the load;
• build the workout correctly: do not try to embrace the immensity, do not increase the number of approaches or hang a new pancake on the bar if the body is not ready for an increase in load;
• think over a training plan: divide the muscles involved by the days of the week, let the same biceps rest for a couple of days, and at this time pump the quadriceps femoris muscle;
• do not forget to take a short break after each approach (at least 30 seconds), this rest will allow the body to partially remove lactic acid and return oxygen to the muscles;
• at the end of the session, be sure to stretch the muscles you worked on (5 minutes will be enough), because even such a stretch will give tired muscles elasticity and speed up the recovery process.

Preliminary warm-up is a prerequisite for proper training

How to remove lactic acid from the body

If discomfort after training still appears, techniques that are easy to apply at home will help reduce pain. Methods to help get rid of lactic acid are well known to athletes, but not everyone uses them regularly. As practice shows, absolutely in vain. Consider the main ways to neutralize this substance.

Going to the bath or sauna

One of the most effective ways to deal with unnecessary "milk". Blood begins to actively carry oxygen throughout the body and reaches the very muscles that have worked hard. True, one must be careful not to overdo it with the steam room, especially if there are contraindications to visiting a bath or sauna (for example, diabetes mellitus or hypertension). Even if everything is in order with health, when visiting the sauna you need to follow certain rules and follow the recommended scheme:

• first run - 10 minutes, then 5 minutes break;
• the second run - 20 minutes, the break can be left the same;
• third run - 30 minutes.

After the steam room, you should take a cold shower or plunge into the pool to tone the warm and relaxed muscles.

Hot air and high temperatures increase blood flow to the muscles, which slows down during sports activities.

hot tub

If the sauna or bath is not available to you, then there is another way to expel lactic acid - after training, take a bath. Here the scheme of action is almost the same as in the case of visiting the steam room. To start, take as much hot water as you can handle. Then follow this program:

• lie down in the bath for 10 minutes so that the heart area is not covered with water;
• get out of the bath for 5 minutes;
• add hot water and repeat the procedure 3 to 5 times.

After the bath, take a cool shower and arrange self-massage - with a hard towel or a special washcloth. It will also help increase blood flow and shorten muscle recovery time.

Fluid intake during and after exercise

Drinking fluids during exercise helps flush out lactic acid

Compliance with water balance is one of the commandments of an athlete and, in general, a person leading a healthy lifestyle. Do not forget that during intensive sports, the body needs much more fluid than usual (at least three liters per day). Drinking plenty of water helps speed up metabolic processes and remove decay products much faster.
What is better to drink? Here is an individual question. If you do not have a tendency to high blood pressure, then it is best to brew fresh green tea, because it is an excellent antioxidant. If there are prerequisites for hypertension, then just drink clean still water. Most importantly, don't forget about it.

Massage

Another way to remove lactic acid from the muscles can be massage. No wonder professional athletes cannot do without a personal massage therapist, otherwise it would be much more difficult for them to recover from training. In the absence of a personal massage therapist, you can stretch tired muscles in any salon or fitness club.

Combine business with pleasure: ask your other half for a massage. Even a simple kneading of the muscles in this case will help to disperse the blood flow and relax.

With experience, you will learn to understand what training intensity to choose, when to stop and what type of recovery to choose in order to avoid unpleasant consequences and prevent lactic acid from accumulating. In addition, trained muscles will not react as painfully to physical activity, which will also reduce recovery time. So it’s not difficult to solve the problem, you just need to listen to yourself and your feelings, as well as train regularly and carefully.

In recent years, more and more people are beginning to pay more and more attention to their health. Including far from the last place in this list is sports, and just visiting the gym. However, sometimes people, striving to achieve the desired result as quickly as possible, overdo it. And as a result, they face such a problem as lactic acid in the muscles.

And this lactic acid can lead to a range of discomforts, such as:

• Pain in a variety of muscle groups, and especially in those on which the load was especially high. And the pain is often very severe.
• General weakness and a feeling of "brokenness" - a person is not able to make an extra movement. Moreover, such a state can last quite often.
• An increase in body temperature - for someone it rises slightly, and for someone - it may require the immediate intake of antipyretic drugs.

A person will not even exacerbate special attention - a similar condition occurs periodically in almost any person. And it does not always appear as a result of playing sports - sometimes even a long walk can cause a similar condition. As a rule, it passes very quickly, so if there is no temperature, and the pain does not bring great discomfort, you should not take any measures - very soon, as a rule, after a day, the pain will disappear without a trace.

Where does lactic acid come from?

It is with the help of oxygen absorption that the muscles replenish their energy supply - they renew ATP. During exercise, muscle contraction is many times more intense than at rest. But the more intense the muscle contraction, the more oxygen is required for the muscles.

But the characteristics of the human body are such that too intense contractions of muscle tissue inevitably lead to blockage of oxygen supply. Why is this happening? During an intense load on the muscles, local blood flow slows down and, as a result, oxygen enters the muscles. It turns out a kind of vicious circle - the muscles require an increased content of oxygen, but at the same time they themselves restrict blood flow, thereby reducing blood flow and, as a result, oxygen.

But the load on the muscles, despite the lack of oxygen, still continues. This means that the muscles require more and more portions of ATP - an energy source. And the body has no choice but to start producing ATP without oxygen, in the so-called anaerobic mode. Thanks to the glycogen contained in the muscles, ATP in the muscles continues to be produced even without oxygen.

However, as a result of such energy intake by the muscles, local secretions are produced, which are called lactic acid. If you remember, it was said a little higher that during an increased load, blood flow is greatly impeded. And this means that the outflow of lactic acid from muscle tissue is also very difficult, so it accumulates in the muscles.

Lactic acid itself consists of two main components - the lactate anion and hydrogen. It is the acid that significantly lowers the pH level in the muscles. As a result, a person begins to experience a burning sensation and pain in the muscles. And, despite the fact that scientists classify lactic acid as a mild acid, affected people are unlikely to call lactic acid that soft.

Why do muscles hurt?

Most of the lactic acid produced during physical activity is very quickly excreted from the muscle fibers on its own - a maximum of two days after its production. Lactic acid does not tend to stay in the human body for a long time. That is why the muscle pain that a person feels after three days or more has nothing to do with lactic acid.

However, here you need to be extremely attentive to your state of health - despite the fact that after three days muscle acid almost completely leaves the muscle fibers, it can cause damage to them. And as a result, a person will feel severe muscle pain until the muscles are fully restored.

And these concepts must be very strictly distinguished - lactic acid will not lead to muscle pain after a few days. However, it is lactic acid that can provoke muscle damage, due to which a person will experience pain.

And remember that the appearance of a burning sensation during exercise, or immediately after it, does not at all indicate that a person will necessarily experience pain for several days after that. However, it is still worth listening to your feelings - if the burning sensation is too strong, it can be assumed that lactic acid has been produced in a very large amount. And this means that the risk of damage to muscle fibers increases significantly.

That is why if you suspect that your body has produced too much lactic acid during exercise, you can try to get rid of it. How you can do it yourself will be discussed below. In the meantime, we should talk a little about what else can lead to the development of pain in muscle fibers.

What is delayed muscle pain syndrome? This kind of pain got its name due to the fact that it does not appear immediately after training, but after some time - a day or even two. Many people may object - the muscles begin to hurt almost immediately, and do not stop for quite a long time, up to a week.

However, this unusual, at first glance, fact is explained very simply - in the first hours and days a person experiences pain due to the fact that an excess amount of lactic acid acts on muscle fibers. After a short amount of time, lactic acid is broken down by the liver and excreted from the body.

However, by this time, a different type of pain is making itself felt - traumatic pain. It occurs as a result of strong physical exertion, which entailed the deformation of muscle fibers and their damage - for example, overstretching. Such pains often occur after stretching exercises, walking up stairs and the like. Such physical pain passes in about a week, but in very severe cases, the affected person is forced to seek help from a traumatologist. Fortunately, this phenomenon is extremely rare - it is most often found in professional athletes.

Another reason associated with the appearance of delayed pain syndrome is the development of an inflammatory process that occurs in muscle fibers. It has already been said above that an excess amount of lactic acid, coupled with the tension of muscle fibers, often leads to the development of muscle microtraumas.

Of course, the human body will necessarily react to injuries, even small ones - an inflammatory process occurs. Those immune cells that are necessary to start the process of muscle tissue regeneration begin to enter the damaged muscle fibers very intensively. Without this, the restoration of muscle fibers is simply impossible. And pain sensations arise precisely because of this very ongoing inflammatory process.

And remember that the inflammatory process is not always accompanied by extensive muscle injury, for example, stretching - sometimes damage to just a few cells is enough. But injury to muscle fibers is certainly accompanied by fairly strong intramuscular inflammatory processes.

How to get rid of lactic acid?

That is why it is time to learn how to quickly remove lactic acid from the muscles. True, in fairness, it should be noted that skeptical doctors say that it is almost impossible to do this until the body breaks down and removes it on its own.

However, the second group of doctors are still encouraging and claim that it is still possible to remove lactic acid from the body, although not so easy. What are the ways? This is what will be discussed below:

• Sauna visit

However, you should not go to extremes and try to spend too much time in the sauna without a break. Otherwise, the desired effect will not be achieved. The scheme for visiting the steam room should be approximately as follows - the first approach should last about 10 minutes, after which it is worth leaving the booth for about five minutes. The second approach can be increased by about 10 minutes, and the time spent outside the booth can be reduced to about three minutes. In total, within one day it is permissible to spend no more than one hour in the sauna. Finish the procedure preferably with a cool shower.

Be sure to take into account your general health - in no case do not visit the sauna if you have certain diseases, in the presence of which there are contraindications to visiting the sauna or bath. For example, such diseases include hypertension, diabetes mellitus and others. If you are not sure, before visiting the sauna, be sure to consult your doctor.

• hot tub

After about ten minutes, you need to douse yourself with cool water and stay out of the bath for a while. During this time, if the water has cooled down, add hot water and repeat the procedure again. There must be at least five such cycles in total. After the end of the procedure, carefully rub the muscles with a terry towel until the skin turns red.

No more than three such baths can be carried out per day. And also do not forget that such baths are contraindicated for pregnant women, people with high blood pressure, women during menstruation.

• Drinking large amounts of liquid

And therefore, in the event that you have a tendency to increase blood pressure, give up green tea. However, you still need to drink, so give preference to clean, non-carbonated drinking water. Drink at least five liters of fluid per day.

And try to learn the right lesson from this case - strictly dose the load in order to prevent a recurrence of a similar situation. And you no longer have to puzzle over how to get rid of pain in the muscles. Perhaps it makes sense to use the services of a professional trainer?

Recently, more and more people are involved in sports. Many people want to achieve the desired result as soon as possible, so they overdo it in training. As a result, after a regular workout, a person experiences muscle pain. It results from the accumulation of lactic acid.

The accumulation of lactic acid in the muscles leads to a number of unpleasant sensations: pain in various muscle groups, general weakness, and even fever. This condition can last for several days or even several weeks. It all depends on how strong the physical activity was.

This condition does not always occur after training. Sometimes even a long walk can provoke such a condition. But it usually passes quickly and the pain does not cause much discomfort.

Where does lactic acid come from

With any physical activity, our muscles are involved. In order for the muscles to perform their biochemical functions normally, they need to absorb a sufficient amount of oxygen. With the help of oxygen, the muscles replenish energy reserves (renew ATP). During physical exertion, the muscles contract very intensively. Therefore, the more intensively the muscles contract, the more oxygen they require.

The peculiarity of our body is that intense muscle contraction leads to blockage of oxygen supply. During intense exercise, local blood flow slows down, and as a result, oxygen supply to the muscles also slows down. The result is that our muscles need oxygen, but at the same time they restrict blood flow and reduce the flow of oxygen.

But despite this, the load on the muscles still continues, and therefore the muscles are looking for new sources of energy. As a result, ATP is produced in the muscles without oxygen, in an anaerobic mode. Glycogen found in muscles helps produce energy without oxygen.

But as a result of this energy production, local secretions are produced, which are called lactic acid. With obstructed blood flow, lactic acid is difficult to remove from muscle tissue, so it accumulates in the muscles.

The two main components of lactic acid are hydrogen and the lactate anion. The acid lowers the pH level in the muscles, causing the person to experience pain and burning. But despite this, lactic acid belongs to the group of mild acids.

Why do muscles hurt

Most of the lactic acid that is produced during physical exertion is very quickly excreted on its own from the muscle fibers - a maximum of two to three days after its production. It does not stay in the body for a long period. Therefore, the pain that a person feels three days after a workout has nothing to do with lactic acid.

However, despite the fact that lactic acid leaves the muscle fibers after two days, it can cause damage to them. As a result, a person will experience severe muscle pain until the muscles recover.

If a person experiences a burning sensation in the muscles during a workout, this does not mean that he will experience pain in the next couple of days. However, if the burning sensation is too strong, then it is worth stopping the workout or weakening the exercises, as there is a possibility that lactic acid has been produced in large quantities and the muscle fibers will be severely damaged.

Not only lactic acid can lead to the development of pain in the muscles, but also delayed muscle pain syndrome. What is it? This kind of pain got its name due to the fact that it appears some time after a workout. Although the muscles begin to hurt almost immediately, this pain is caused by an excess amount of lactic acid. After a couple of days, it is excreted and by this time another type of pain already makes itself known - traumatic pain.

It occurs due to strong physical exertion, which entails deformation and damage to muscle fibers, such as sprains. This type of pain goes away on its own in about a week. But if the cases are severe, then the person has to seek help from a doctor.

Another reason that leads to the development of delayed pain syndrome is the development of an inflammatory process that occurs in the muscles. It's quite normal. Indeed, those immune cells that are necessary to start the process of regeneration of muscle tissue begin to enter the muscle fibers.

How to get rid of lactic acid

With excess production of lactic acid, it must be eliminated. This will reduce the risk of developing delayed pain and burning sensation. Unfortunately, it will not be possible to completely remove lactic acid from the body on its own, but this process can be accelerated.

Sauna visit

Under the influence of high temperatures, blood vessels and muscle fibers expand, and blood flow becomes more intense. As a result, lactic acid is excreted faster. But you can not spend a lot of time in the sauna without a break, otherwise you can only make it worse. The scheme of visiting the sauna should be approximately as follows: the first approach is 10 minutes, after which you need to leave the booth for five minutes, the second approach is 15 minutes and a break is 5 minutes. You can spend no more than an hour in the sauna per day. And it is recommended to complete this procedure with a cool shower.

There are contraindications to visiting the sauna. For example, people suffering from diabetes, cardiovascular diseases are not recommended to visit the steam room.

hot tub

It is not always possible to visit or sauna. Therefore, you can replace them with a regular hot bath. It is necessary to draw water into the bath as hot as you can stand. You need to sit in the bath for at least 10 minutes, but make sure that hot water does not cover the skin in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe heart. After ten minutes, douse yourself with cool water and stay out of the bath for a while.

Then repeat the procedure from the beginning again. You can do no more than five such cycles at a time. After finishing, rub the muscles with a terry towel.

Hot baths are contraindicated for pregnant women, during menstruation and people with high blood pressure.

Drinking large amounts of liquid

To remove lactic acid as quickly as possible, it is necessary to drink as much water as possible on the first day after training. You can drink green tea, which is an excellent antioxidant. But you should not drink too much of this drink, as green tea can increase blood pressure.

If you have high blood pressure, then it is better to refuse green tea and give preference to purified non-carbonated water. Drink at least four liters of fluid per day.

In order not to suffer from muscle pain after training in the future, it is recommended to draw up a training scheme so that the muscles are not overloaded too much in one session. It is best to alternate exercises for different muscle groups. Also, if you feel very tired or burning during a workout, it is better to stop it and let the body rest for a couple of days.

At one time, Arnold Schwarzenegger outlined the bodybuilder's success formula with the words of the English proverb "No pain - no gain." In the gym, this motto is understood specifically: no pain (muscles) - no growth (muscles).

In other words, after a fruitful workout, the muscles should hurt. Other bodybuilders, on the contrary, consider muscle pain an obstacle to increasing loads and moving forward, trying to reduce the content of lactic acid, the “culprit” of the pain syndrome. Only by understanding what processes occur in the muscles during extreme loads, the athlete will be able to properly build training and mobilize all the resources of the body to achieve success.

Work in the hall with iron refers to such types of muscle activity that go beyond the optimal limits, are stressful. In such cases, the body turns on emergency energy supply systems for cells.

Read more about all the ways to eliminate muscle pain after a workout:

Normal physical load on the muscles does not exceed 50% of the possible maximum stress. The energy supply of cells in this mode occurs due to the breakdown of fats with an increased supply of oxygen to the working areas of the body.

Strength exercises with weights go beyond the 50 percent threshold of maximum loads. Muscles during such work are extremely strained, their strong contraction prevents the cells from being saturated with blood and oxygen. Pictured: Kai Greene

The heart muscle, working at its limit, does not have time to pump blood to the affected areas, it itself experiences oxygen starvation.

Under such conditions, the body switches to anaerobic (oxygen-free) metabolism. Cells receive an energy resource as a result of glycolysis: the breakdown of glucose into 2 organic acids.

• ATP (adenosine triphosphate) is absorbed by cells and provides energy for all biochemical processes in the body.
• Lactic acid - the second product of glycolysis - at the time of intense exercise cannot leave the muscle fibers with blood flow, it is forced to accumulate in them.
• The retention of lactic acid in the muscles leads to its decomposition into lactate and hydrogen ions.

The more ATP cells receive, the longer the body can work in a mode of increased intensity. The stress mode of energy supply ensures the work of the muscles at maximum loads, but is accompanied by the accumulation of lactic acid in them.

Pain during exercise

Lactic acid appears in the muscles after 30 seconds of weight training. Hydrogen anions, the acid residues of milk, begin to act on muscle fibers. The result of their action is twofold.

• They damage muscle fibers, causing pain and burning in the muscles during exercise. Such pain is an indicator that the athlete is at the limit of his body. It is better for a beginner to stop, stop the exercise and consolidate the result in the following approaches. Experienced bodybuilders allow themselves to keep working through pain in order to make a leap forward.
• Hydrogen ions weaken the electrical charge of nerve signals to the muscles - they experience a feeling of fatigue. In this way, the nervous system blocks overload, requires rest, protecting the heart, brain, and working muscles from hypoxia (oxygen deficiency).

Even in a short rest period between sets, the body manages to restore blood circulation, remove lactic acid and prepare for new loads. Within a few hours after training, it is completely eliminated, and in the worked areas, the regeneration process begins: the release of hormones for the healing of fibers, the synthesis of proteins for the construction of new cells - the muscle becomes more powerful.

delayed pain syndrome

The pain that occurs on the second or third day after training is only indirectly related to lactic acid. The main reason is unprepared for hard work muscles.

Pain syndrome appears in muscles unprepared for exercise:

• for beginners,
• during intensive work without preliminary warm-up;
• after a long break in classes;
• when changing training programs;
• after excessive overexertion on weights.

The source of pain is in torn muscle fibers, where inflammation occurs. Symptoms of the inflammatory process:

• severe pain when moving; aches and weakness in the body;
• fatigue, weakness, lack of energy;
• fever, sometimes requiring pills, medical intervention.

Only a small part of intensively working muscles is injured by lactic acid ions. The syndrome of delayed pain occurs in fibers unprepared for work, which are torn from strong tension. Adaptation to training and adequate loads prevent such pain reactions.

Where and how is lactic acid excreted

Those athletes who believe that lactic acid "kills muscles" are especially concerned about its excretion after training.

Muscle recovery after training

Bath or sauna. When visiting the steam room, it is recommended to do three sets of 10, 20, 30 minutes with a five-minute rest break.

About the benefits of the sauna and combining it with the training process, I recommend that you read the article:

Hot bath. The water should be hot enough (39-42°), you need to immerse yourself in it so that the heart area is not exposed to heat. Every 20 minutes of being in hot water alternate with a 5-minute rest - you can do 3-5 such dives, finishing the procedure with a cold shower.

Massage. Professional or restorative massage in a fitness club, home kneading of muscles help to relax them and relieve residual tension.

• pomegranate and cherry juice,
• green tea,
• a decoction of nettle, wild rose and hawthorn with the addition of honey.

All of these popular methods of muscle recovery help improve blood circulation, replenish vitamin C, elements to stimulate heart activity, and antioxidants. They may help in the treatment of inflammatory processes characteristic of delayed pain syndrome, but these methods are not associated with the removal of lactic acid. From the muscles, it is excreted by the body immediately after the end of training and stress relief.

Studies have shown that the level of lactic acid in the blood of those who take a steam bath in the sauna is about the same as that of just relaxing athletes. Nevertheless, the athlete does not interfere with mastering the correct circulation of lactic acid in his body.

How to Manage Lactic Acid

Pain in tense muscles causes only one component of lactic acid - hydrogen ion, the other part of the acid - lactate - is a truly invaluable energy resource of the body. Being a product of the breakdown of glucose, it allows you to replenish cellular energy reserves as quickly as possible. In stressful situations, during a period of intensive work, brain cells, heart muscle, slow-working muscles replenish ATP reserves using lactate.

1. Burning in the muscles during strength exercises is a signal that a sufficient amount of lactate has accumulated in them, and the task of the athlete is to properly remove and mobilize it.
2. A short rest between sets restores blood circulation in the muscles, and lactate is removed from them through the blood vessels. It is important to resume the exercise in time to prevent the muscles from cooling down, because then the body will switch to a different energy supply mode and the formation of lactate will decrease.
3. It is necessary to alternate strength exercises with cardio loads. During aerobic training (running, walking, exercise bike), lactate is redirected from fast-working muscles to "slow" ones and becomes a source of energy for them. This is how the energy supply of long and intense workouts occurs.
4. Drinking plenty of water during exercise and maintaining water balance contributes to normal blood circulation. A glass of clean water should be drunk every 10-20 minutes of training in the gym.
5. Sports nutrition. During the recovery period after exercise, lactic acid is excreted from the muscles and sent through the bloodstream to the liver, where it turns into glycogen - a necessary resource for future energy costs of the body.

To replenish these reserves, a diet is needed, the main features of which are:

• the predominance of slow carbohydrates that form glycogen;
• a sufficient amount of protein - so that muscle fibers do not tear, do not become inflamed after training;
• drugs beta-alanine, carnosine, citrulline, which help relieve pain after training.

Rules for organizing training so that the muscles do not hurt

Following the principles of building workouts will help get rid of muscle pain or minimize it.

1. In order not to tear the muscles on the simulator, you need a warm-up; to remove lactic acid from worked muscles, you need a hitch.
2. Increase the number of repetitions on weights gradually; during short periods of rest, do not allow the muscles to cool down.
3. Alternate strength exercises with cardio loads - this will ensure the duration and intensity of the workout.
4. Do not take long breaks between classes so that there is no delayed pain syndrome.
5. After classes, you need active rest with the connection to the work of "slow" muscle fibers. They use lactate as fuel and promote the rapid removal of lactic acid from worked muscles.

Lactic acid and testosterone production

Perhaps lactic acid stimulates the synthesis of testosterone in the body. This dependence was established by East Asian scientists. The concentration of testosterone in the blood of experimental rats after exercise was 2 times higher than before it. And after the injection of lactic acid, the content of the male hormone in experimental animals increased by 4 times.

It is likely that lactic acid enters the testicles and hypothalamus through the blood, where the process of testosterone synthesis can be launched. In order for it to start, an intense load on the muscles should be long enough: 15-60 seconds. If the link between lactic acid production and testosterone release in the blood can be proven, athletes will receive an inexpensive supplement to effectively increase muscle mass.

Be sure to read about it

Once again, I welcome you to the pages of the blog about health and sports. Surely among the readers there are professional bodybuilders, athletes and, in general, athletes. There will also be those who have only recently joined our classes. Think about what unites you all, besides this blog and physical activity? I will say: you all once started. And you all experienced at least discomfort after your first workout. Same way? And do you know the reason for this? Excellent!

Then let's try today to figure out how to remove lactic acid from the muscles, because it was and remains the cause of unpleasant, sometimes even painful sensations after physical exertion.

I propose to start by setting certain boundaries, where the discomfort is caused precisely by lactic acid (or lactate), and where it is the consequences of microtraumas and their healing - often these two phenomena are mistakenly attributed to one. Further, it makes sense to figure out how to properly conduct training so that the release of lactic acid is as close to normal as possible.

But since our workouts are mostly strength and intensity, we will need to learn how to disperse the lactic acid in the muscles so that the recovery process after the load is more painless.

But first of all, let's look at where and as a result of excessive release of lactate in the muscles, and why it leads to pain and, often, to a breakdown, temperature, etc.

Where does acid come from

Complex chemical processes take place in our body, which we, perhaps, will not delve into in detail. However, understanding what and how is necessary. Therefore, let's "on the fingers" try to master everything.

So, as you understand, the body needs to draw energy from somewhere in order to perform various physical activities. And the more intense they are, the naturally more this energy is required. Up to a certain point, this energy is drawn from stored fats. However, when the load starts to exceed 50% of your maximum, the energy intensity of fats is no longer enough. This is where carbohydrates come into play.

The higher the load, the more carbohydrates you need to break down, extracting from them. And it is precisely this breakdown product, precisely this fuel, that is lactic acid.

Excessive accumulation of lactate, inevitable during intensive training, imbalance in its excretion from the body, are the reasons for those unpleasant sensations that, for sure, each of you experienced after training.

By the way, it is a mistake to blame the pain in the muscles 2-3 days after the load on the action of lactic acid. You can feel the side effect of it within an hour or two after training, maximum - within a day. Burning in those muscle groups that you worked on, slight dizziness, weakness, a slight increase in temperature - this is lactic acid. And muscle pain a day or more after a workout is the consequences of microtraumas received during strength exercises, and lactate has nothing to do with it.

It is worth noting that you can try to minimize both, correctly, competently scheduling your sports activities. To do this, you just need to contact the trainer, who is always present in any gym. But then why are we here today?

You should also know that the withdrawal of lactic acid and the reduction of pain directly depends on our nutrition. In order to balance your diet as much as possible and save yourself from breakdowns, pain and overtraining, you should use sports nutrition, which will speed up metabolic processes in the body.

Proteins and amino acids should always be at hand to achieve the result.

How to practice

If you thoroughly approach our classes, follow all the recommendations, then, in principle, you should not have problems with an excess of lactic acid. However, pay your attention again to make sure that you are doing the right thing. So, training.

Be sure to start with a good warm-up. I have always advised you to perform in this capacity: exercise bike, jump rope, squats, jogging. Specialists, precisely in the context of lactic acid, recommend the same.

Now the actual exercise itself. In order for the output of lactate from the muscles to correspond as much as possible to its intake, the interval training regimen is the most suitable. Do you know how it is? This is a change in pace and load during the exercise. This, by the way, also has a very effective effect on the results - not only on lactic acid.

However, not all workouts can be done with intervals, I agree. Therefore, when performing strength training, do not stretch the rest between sets - this is what I have always told you and I say. I will add: it is important that this, albeit short, but rest, be active. This means not lying down, taking a breath after the barbell, for example, but walking around, doing swings with your arms or something like that. It also promotes an adequate distribution of acid in the body.

Just as it is important to start a lesson with a warm-up, you need to finish it with a “hitch”. Here it is super-effective, from which side you do not look, to do stretching. Most recently, we held a separate training session, where we performed the appropriate set of exercises. Repeat it again, because this not only promotes muscle development, an increase in their volume, and a speedy recovery after exercise, but also prevents lactic acid from accumulating in the muscles, distributing it evenly throughout all parts of the body and removing excess.

However, many bodybuilders and powerlifters who regularly perform super high loads need to carry out separate manipulations to remove lactic acid from the body, as they work at the limit of their capabilities, which means that carbohydrate consumption literally rolls over. And this means that the amount of lactate produced is also several times higher than the norm.

How to remove lactic acid from the body

Let's start with the fact that, as we know, an intensively trained person should differ significantly in a big way from those who lead a passive lifestyle. Drink from 3 to 5 liters per day.

The rest of the procedures that contribute to the removal of lactate, believe me, you will be pleased. The most effective in this series is a bath or sauna. Here, blood circulation is greatly increased and blood vessels dilate. Accordingly, the neutralization of the side effect of strength training is significantly accelerated. The rest of the benefits of "paired establishments", I think, can not even be mentioned.

If for some reason a bath is not available to you, a hot bath will be a worthy replacement. Both there and there I recommend taking “hot” for 10 minutes, after - 5 minutes of contrast cooling. Having done this at least 3 times, you should certainly feel relief.

On this good note, perhaps, we will end our meeting. You understand that lactic acid is an inevitable companion of an athlete. It is she who is the fuel that gives you the energy to do physical exercises intensively, increasing the load. However, approach this wisely, without fanaticism, so that the side effect of this fuel does not become a real torment for you. See you at the next workout.