Why am I Sore?

 What does it mean?

I'm sure you've noticed an unusual muscle burning while exercising after a long break or if you just started hitting the gym recently as a new trainee. Muscle burning starts the next day or a day after your workout and lasts, at least, for a couple of days. 

This phenomenon is known as delayed onset muscle soreness, or simply DOMS. Usually, it starts from 24 to 72 hours after your workout. In this article, we will investigate the physiology of muscle burning and DOMS and learn how to deal with them.

Food is physical energy. When we eat it, our body converts it into chemical energy in our liver, and then we store it in our muscles in the form of molecules of ATP (Adreno Triphosphate). ATP is like an energy currency of the cell. When we work out or do any physical activity and contract our muscles, ATP molecules fire and release energy. Our body releases two by-products while creating energy: lactic and pyruvic acids. 

We will focus on lactic acid today. Lactic acid got its name because of its whitish color that resembles milk. When lactic acid fills up your muscles, you feel a burning sensation. We feel it when we work out and push harder, and our muscles burn. Remember that feeling?

 If lactic acid fills up your muscle completely, it blocks the ions that send signals back and forth to your brain, and you will lose control over it. Remember when you try plank for longer than you can, you start shaking and then fall? Now you know why. But no worries, our tolerance for lactic acid increases over time, and we can perform better and longer without feeling the burn.

Nest step is our body sends lactic acid back to the liver, producing even more energy. That is how we become more vital day by day when we exercise. 

Now let's talk about DOMS. When we work out, we create micro tears in our muscles. When we rest, especially in sleep, our body rebuilds our muscles making us stronger again. That is how we gain muscle mass.

 As we can see, muscle soreness is a positive process in our bodies. Over time you will even learn to enjoy it!

 Meanwhile, let's see what we should do to help our body to get better faster. First, we need to have a diet rich in proteins and carbs because proteins are the building blocks of our muscles (they mainly consist of water and proteins), and carbohydrates are the primary energy source. Our body is programmed so that for the energy-creation, it will always aim to get carbs first (it's called the Protein-Sparing Mechanism). If there are not enough carbs in your body, it will go for proteins and will catabolize (destroy) your muscles from within. That is why, right after workouts, we must eat proteins and carbs together. Always! 

Second, we need to rest and particularly sleep enough hours because muscles are built while we sleep. And third, we need to stretch! Click here to read more about stretches. When we stretch, our muscles become more flexible and pliable, and they get a better blood supply that brings oxygen, micro and macro elements that are so important for our recovery. Also, the bloodstream takes lactic acid back to our liver.

 Now that you know how it works, you understand why exercise progress should be gradual. Your body gets ready for you to get stronger, and it needs time to implement all these processes.