• Question: why do we ache the morning after exercise?

    Asked by leeromecarlisleunited to Helen, Jenni, Mark, Martin, Stu on 20 Jun 2011. This question was also asked by reess09, limey5298.
    • Photo: Mark Burnley

      Mark Burnley answered on 20 Jun 2011:

      This is because the muscle fibres have been damaged, and as your body starts to repair that damage the muscle becomes inflammed. This inflamation causes pain receptors to send impulses back to the brain, and this is what you feel as pain. This is also why you don’t ache straight after exercise, and why it may take a day or two to stop aching.

    • Photo: Jenni Tilley

      Jenni Tilley answered on 20 Jun 2011:

      We used think this was due to lactic acid buildup in the muscles, but it’s now thought to be due to ‘microtears’ in your muscles. As you push your muscles to do more, you cause tiny little tears in your muscles which the body then repairs to make your muscles stronger.

      This raises interesting questions about how to prevent muscle ache after sport – having a nice hot bath helps your muscles to relax, but also increases blood flow to the damaged muscles increasing the rate of repair but also increasing inflamation

Comments