Muscle Soreness Myths

Have you ever been so sore after a workout that you had trouble sitting down or even walking the street? Muscle soreness is due tears in the muscles while training. That tearing is what allows the muscles to grow and their strength to increase. Working hard in the gym can make you sore. Whenever you lift weight you tear your muscle fibers a little bit, and as these fibers recover they bind back together to be bigger. Minor muscle soreness isn’t a negative thing. Minor muscle soreness means you pushed the muscles enough for them to tear and the repair process is underway. This equals bigger, stronger muscles.When your muscles get sore and overused usually it’s because (DOMS) delayed onset muscle soreness coming into effect. Sometimes even when we’ve done something that was not very strenuous DOMS still occurs. The point is you’ve done something your muscles aren’t used to. They haven’t had to perform in the way you’re now expecting them too, so in return they get sore and tired. Here are the top most common myths about soreness. Myth 1: Muscle soreness and DOMS is caused by lactic acid During exercise, your body needs energy, and it breaks down molecules to get that energy. As a result of this metabolic process, your cells naturally become more acidic, which makes your muscles feel like they're burning. But this isn't caused by lactate. Muscle soreness and DOMS is a result of micro-tears in your muscle fiber from added stress, particularly in the z-band filaments that hold your muscle fibers together within your muscles. Lactic acid is actually a by-product of molecular breakdown for energy to be used to contract your muscle fibers. As a result of exercise, the cells in your body naturally become more acidic which causes the burning sensation. Lactic acid is actually a buffer to slow down cell acidity. Lactic acid is released as a result of micro trauma in the muscles and surrounding connective tissues, which causes inflammation. Lactic acid is actually helping you fight the damage that is causing the pain in your muscles after the workout. Myth 2: If you are sore you can’t workout again It’s true getting stronger happens during a recovery or rest days, but that doesn't mean that every single time you feel sore you shouldn't work out again. Oftentimes a little bit of movement will loosen up those sore muscles and help the blood flow, which leads to recovery anyway, and will make you feel better. So don't think that just because you were sore from your first workout that you should cancel your next session Myth 3: Muscle damage is a bad thing DOMS appears to be caused by trauma to your muscle fibers, but it's not absolute measure of muscle damage. In fact, a certain degree of soreness seems to be necessary when building muscle mass. When muscles repair themselves, they get larger and stronger than before so that muscle soreness doesn't happen again. Myth 4: No pain, no gain This is a statement that many believe when it comes to making progress in the gym. In reality, muscle soreness should not be an indicator for a great workout to an extent. If you hit a hard workout and are still sore for your next workout nearly a week later, it is sign of poor muscle growth and chances are that you’re overworking yourself. A good estimate of the right intensity for a workout is to be sore for no longer than 2 to 3 days. Rest equals repair and repair equals growth.