What happens to our muscles during exercise?
Exercise is the contraction of muscle fibers. These fibers are made up of myofirbils (contractile structures) that are of varying lengths. When performing exercises, those that are shorter are torn. It’s a muscle injury. And that is why we feel this pain. If we perform the same exercises, the body adapts to the loads, myofibrils become the same length, and post-workout pain goes away. And when we change the training program, add something that we did not do before, increase the weight, etc., we experience this pain again. A new load is stress for our body, thanks to which it progresses.
It should be noted that there is another reason for soreness in the muscles after a workout. This is muscle contraction. Acidification occurs due to the active production of hydrogen ions during exercise. The amount of hydrogen ions exceeds the usual norm, and this leads to the destruction of the contractile structures of the muscles.
What to do?
Your mistake will be to lie down and not move because of muscle pain after a training day. Your task is to disperse the blood in the body, and let him know that this pain is a normal phenomenon.
Dream
It is very important to get good sleep. At least 8 hours. It is during sleep that all microdamages received during training are restored.
Food
Next – replenish the expended kcal. No need to run to throw greasy burgers and sweet soda. Restore in a balanced way : proteins, fats, carbohydrates, fiber. Healthy quality food will be your good assistant to restore the body and grow muscles. And don’t forget to drink water. Try to drink at least 2 liters of water a day.
Cardio
Cardio load – running, swimming, cycling, active walking, dancing, yoga, stretching, etc. Many professional athletes and ordinary people confirm that a little cross-country or cycling saved them from muscle pain. The most difficult thing here is to overcome yourself in the first 10 minutes. Then the body warms up, and the process does not seem so painful. And after – it becomes really much easier.
Massage
Relaxing massage. This is a favorite way to get rid of muscle pain + accelerate recovery processes for a large number of people. Massage helps to disperse the lymph, increases muscle elasticity and removes clamps.
Water procedures
Bath, sauna and hot tub. At high temperatures, our blood vessels expand and this increases the volume of blood in the muscles. This affects the increase in the rate of removal of toxins and the recovery process.