SORE MUSCLE
What is behind it and how can you avoid it
Nearly everyone knows this, after a long training break, a strenuous work-out or after an unaccustomed load, it usually does not take long until the strained muscle areas start to hurt and every movement hurts, a sore muscle signs up. If it seems quite harmless on the first day, it usually reaches its peak on the second or third day after the exertion and hurts especially.
What exactly is behind this? Let me explain to you how a sore muscle develops, whether a sore muscle is harmless and how it can be avoided or treated.
SYMPTOMES
Usually, a sore muscle is already noticeable a few hours after an intensive or unaccustomed training session by a hardening of the strained musculature as well as by an increased sensitivity to pressure and lack of strength. Every movement now causes pain and mobility is restricted. In most cases, the complaints reach their peak about 24 hours after exertion and then gradually subside again. After seven to ten days, the symptoms have subsided completely.
CAUSES
It is not an over-acidification of the muscle that leads to the described muscle pain, as was previously assumed, but rather the smallest micro-fissures in the muscles under stress are triggers for the complaints. These occur most frequently during unusual and abrupt braking movements. Triggered by the training stimulus, external forces lead to a stretching of the working muscle and cause small micro injuries in the muscle fibers. The body reacts to this with local inflammatory reactions in the affected areas and a consequent accumulation of water. These so-called oedemas are responsible for the swelling and hardening of the muscles with the typical stretching pain.
A rarer form of muscle ache is caused by long and intensive endurance exertion, such as during a marathon. Here, the long-lasting metabolic stress leads to local inflammatory reactions with edema formation and the well-known pain. In both cases, the complaints subside after a few days without leaving any lasting traces. The causal training stimulus usually does not cause new muscle soreness for several weeks.
PREVENT SORE MUSCLES
Whether you are a beginner or an experienced athlete, aching muscles can only be prevented by a gentle start to training. Accustom your body slowly to new movements and increase the load carefully to avoid overstraining the muscles. Over-fatigue of the musculature leads to a decrease in intramuscular coordination and thus to an increased probability of muscular injuries and the associated muscle soreness.
A short warm-up before the planned sports session cannot save you from aching muscles, but it is still useful to prepare the muscles for the upcoming strain and to prevent serious injuries such as pulled muscle fibre tears. Even the intake of minerals, such as magnesium or sodium, will not protect you from sore muscles if the training stimulus was too great in the days before. A sufficient supply of minerals in combination with a protein-rich diet, however, helps with regeneration and muscle build-up.
HOW TO TREAT SORE MUSCLES
As a rule, the complaints subside on their own after a few days, so that no special treatment is necessary. In order not to disturb and delay the regeneration, you should refrain from further intensive stress on the muscle as long as the complaints persist. If you don't want to give up exercise altogether, you should, however, give way to lighter endurance exercises such as cycling or walking instead of running. Warm baths or a visit to the sauna promote the circulation of the stressed muscles and can support the healing process. For more severe complaints, light painkillers can provide relief, but they have no direct influence on the healing process. In the acute phase you should refrain from massaging the affected muscles. The pressure caused by a firm massage may lead to further irritation of the muscles and there is a risk of further destruction of injured muscle fibers, which delays the healing process.
