Let’s Talk About Lactic Acid
Whether you’re being screamed at by your trainer, or watching one of the Rock’s motivational speeches on Youtube, you’ve probably all heard:
“No pain, no gain!” or “Feel the burn!” before.
Most people will tell you that these old expressions about suffering in sport are referencing the pain caused by the build up of Lactic Acid in your muscles. But this is one of the most common misconceptions in the fitness world and it’s probably holding you back in your training.
If you’re going to get the absolute maximum out of your workout regime, it’s really important to understand why it is you’re really feeling this burning sensation in your muscles. This way, you’ll be able to reduce the amount of pain you experience during or after exercise — and hopefully be able to train more regularly too.
So that we can take a closer look at what’s going on in your muscles during exercise, let’s dive down to the cellular level.
When you start exercising, be it running or weightlifting, your cells break down glucose to make Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP) — the energy that powers your muscles. This is called Aerobic Respiration. In a state of Aerobic Respiration, there is a ready supply of glucose and plenty of oxygen for your cells to create ATP from. The only by-products of this reaction are water and carbon dioxide. Easy.
But, run a little faster or do another few reps and suddenly the extra ATP demanded by your muscles cannot be generated in the same way. This is because there isn’t enough oxygen in your blood for your cells to break down glucose quickly enough to fuel your muscles. So, to ensure the muscle gets the ATP it needs to keep working, your body must find another way to generate ATP without oxygen. It does this by switching over to a mode of Anaerobic Respiration. In this process, glucose is broken down without the help of oxygen. This is when Lactic Acid is produced — as a by-product of this new reaction.
And it’s this build up of Lactic Acid in the muscles that’s often blamed for muscle soreness during exercise and delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) afterwards.
But this isn’t the whole story. So what’s really going on?
Scientists have found that during intense exercise, your muscles naturally become more acidic, which in turn interferes with performance and results eventually in muscle failure. This is the ‘burn’ we spoke about earlier. Lactic Acid (or lactate) arrives on the scene to counteract this deficiency of energy. It’s not the cause of the pain you’re feeling, but rather a protective mechanism against muscle damage. When lactate production can no longer sustain the required levels to continue exercising, you’ve reached your limit — you can’t do another rep or run another second.
What is actually to blame for muscle soreness or the ‘burn’ is now thought to be ‘microtrauma’ to the muscles, not Lactic Acid. This happens as a consequence of overworking the muscle, causing inflammation in the connective tissues that surround it. This cannot be treated with a foam roller or other methods that reduce the build up of Lactic Acid.
So what can you do to treat this pain?
Natural anti-inflammatories like magnesium or curcumin are recommended after exercise. This will help bring the inflamed region back to its natural state and will reduce your recovery time too. This should help make your regime more consistent and pain-free. The American College of Sports Medicine also advises taking it slow with any new exercise in order to give your muscles plenty of time to adjust and recover. Warming up with dynamic stretching and light cardiovascular work is also a good rule of thumb, as is a light cool down period.
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