Some suffer as an inevitable punishment, others believe that they are the proof of a real effort: anyway aches make us difficult.
Regardless of the intensity of the pain, they are usually very bothersome and the slightest movement becomes laborious. Our muscles are stiffer, we feel less agile or completely blocked.
What is a stiffness?
"A curvature is the result of a cellular fermentation due to the release of lactic acid in the muscle cell, after an effort.Lactate quantity and ionic imbalances then cause a decrease in the muscle pH and therefore muscle pain", explains Angélique A. Aalunya, sports coach.
Do not panic, aches usually occur between 12 and 72 hours after a workout and disappear after a few days, the time that the excess lactic acid stored in the muscle is evacuated.
However, be careful not to confuse simple body aches with a breakdown or a slight elongation. These are the result of poor preparation and bad heating. They occur at the time of the effort and not after. In addition, some infections such as the flu or angina can also be the cause of muscle pain. In this case, it is not the sports effort that is responsible, but the inflammation of the ganglia.
How to prevent these pains?
There is no miracle cure to remove our aches, but by adopting good gestures we can significantly reduce the pain.
A warm upstream and stretching after a session are essential. "We prefer passive stretching to body weight because they are very good at preventing muscle pain, they guarantee a better vascularization of the muscle fiber, which makes it possible to evacuate the toxins much more quickly and thus to recover more quickly, advises our expert, we must always start a smooth training and maintain a non-abusive effort, adapted to us and to our abilities ".
Between two exercises we think to drink in sufficient quantities, because the hydration is also essential to evacuate accumulated toxins.
How to relieve them when they are installed?
If stretches and hydration do not prevent the onset of muscle soreness, opt for stimulating massage such as Swedish massage. We can also turn to homeopathy or gels based on arnica , very effective in reducing localized pain. The electrical stimulation can also be a solution. It helps preserve some of its muscle capital during traumatic nervous system, or chronic pain. "Some high-level athletes use this technique during their travels," says Angélique A. Aalunya.
An intake of BCAA amino acids makes it possible to better assimilate the nutrients that we ingest, but they do not prevent the body aches alone.
Aches and convulsions
Regarding muscle pain, we hear of everything, and especially many misconceptions totally wrong. To sort and distinguish between true and false, we pay attention to what we are told.
- "Do not exercise over body aches"
It's totally wrong. Playing sports, in a reasonable way, over muscular pains makes it possible to evacuate stored toxins more quickly and thus to relieve them faster.
- "The more I have trouble my efforts have been effective"
False. Certainly, aches are the result of micro-lesions and micro-traumas in the muscle tissue. Then a muscle fiber already prepared or used to the effort will be more resistant and less affected by body aches.
Nevertheless, the effectiveness of a session should not be measured by aches, but by the ability to progress, or to resist a longer or shorter effort, or intense.
- "Athletes have less body aches than beginners"
True and false. Aches and pains are specific to each and the different activities. According to our specialist, "a professional dancer who has never done bodybuilding will undoubtedly have as much aches as a beginner in bodybuilding, and vice versa". Everything is therefore a question of adaptation and profile.
