Before considering the question “why muscles hurt after training”, we will familiarize ourselves with some facts related to this important component of our body. Human muscles are quite complex in structure of the tissue. In total, three types of muscles are distinguished - cardiac, smooth (contracting the walls of the intestines, blood vessels, etc.) and skeletal - move individual parts of the skeleton relative to each other. The latter is based on a large (up to 14 cm) muscle fiber cell, which is the main unit of contractile processes. Fibers are bundled, which together form a muscle connected to the bones through tendons. Muscular systems are controlled by axons - nerve cells that have branches suitable for each fiber.
The problem of muscle soreness after training is of interest to many novice athletes. To resolve it, you need to know some of the basics of biochemistry:
- muscle fibers are reduced due to the energy obtained from ATP molecules;
- the supply of ATP in the muscles is extremely limited;
- ATP replenishment is carried out due to glycolysis - the breakdown of glucose into lactic acid molecules and the release of energy necessary for the synthesis of ATP ;
- energy appears during the breakdown of creatine phosphate to produce acid and ADP;
- energy can also be obtained aerobically when water, carbon dioxide and adenosine triphosphoric acid are obtained from oxygen, glucose and ADP.
As we can see, in all cases when energy is generated, acid appears in the chemical reaction, which explains why muscles hurt after training. There is a feeling of a certain “numbness,” of limited movement, which can last for more than one day if certain measures are not taken. If your muscles hurt after training, then you need to take a series of measures to reduce acidity. This is facilitated by a warm-up and a warm shower immediately after playing sports, as well as a gradual increase in stress for those who start training from scratch. A hot bath and ascorbic acid give vasodilation. And, of course, we must not forget about the appropriate nutrition necessary for all physiological processes.
How to relieve muscle pain after training, if it occurs, for example, every other day? Athletes call this type of physical suffering “delayed” pain. And they are most often associated with microtraumas in muscle fiber (in short myofibrils) that occur with excessive loads. Here, due to the additional amount of water entering the cell to dissolve the damaged lysosomes, microcurrents arise that give pain. Athletes with experience of short myofibrils are few, so they experience less pain of this kind.
Sometimes the problem of why muscle pain after exercise is associated with more serious processes that impose a temporary ban on any serious sports activity. In this case, we can talk about muscle strain or a rupture of the ligament. Damage to the latter often requires surgical intervention. But damage to muscle fibers is treated first by applying a tight dressing and observing a calm regime, followed by (after a couple of days) the use of warming ointments to accelerate the regeneration processes.