Muscle pain (myalgia) is a pulling, sometimes painful or spastic muscle pain: The term myalgia is composed of the Greek words Myos muscle and Algos pain. Muscle pains can be localized both in a certain area of ​​the body, and radiate or be diffuse. In principle, pain can occur in any of the more than 600 muscles in the body.

Muscle pain (myalgia) occurs most often in the area of ​​the shoulders and neck in the back. About 75 percent of adults in Europe suffer from back pain, one way or another of muscular origin. Muscles are divided into skeletal and smooth. Skeletal muscles include muscles that provide human movement and connect bone structures. Quite often, the pain is caused not by skeletal muscles, but by smooth muscles (for example, problems in the smooth muscle of the heart can be a source of pain in the chest). Smooth muscles are located in the walls of the hollow organs of the body, such as the stomach, bladder, and blood vessels, and play a large role in the normal function of organs. The cardiac muscle, which forms the heart, is responsible for pumping blood throughout the body.

Muscles respond to commands from the brain and nervous system or other stimuli, such as reflexively when a neurological examination is performed with a hammer. Muscles contract when stimulated and relax after contraction. Muscles can become a source of pain due to various diseases and conditions, including infections, injuries, autoimmune diseases, neurological and muscle diseases, malignant tumors (cancer), and even after taking certain medications. Muscle pain can also involve ligaments, tendons, and fascia, which are soft tissues that connect muscles, bones, and organs.

The person can feel muscle pain in certain muscles of the body, such as the muscles of the back or muscles of the legs, or the pain may be diffuse in all muscles, such as with the flu. In a patient with chest pain during an angina attack, pain is due to problems in the myocardium. Menstrual pain is pain caused by the smooth muscle of the uterus. Temporary skeletal muscle pain often occurs due to muscle tension due to awkward movement or excessive exercise. This type of pain often affects one or more muscles and is usually sharp and intense. Abstinence from the activity that caused the pain, rest, topical cold, and anti-inflammatory drugs usually help to reduce pain associated with overuse of the muscles. Muscle pain can be caused by serious conditions such as fibromyalgia, infections, or dermatomyositis.

Muscle pain can be a symptom of a serious medical condition, such as a muscle tear or infection. Therefore, you should immediately seek medical help if muscle pain is persistent or worsens.

Not only muscle pain, but any pain is an important signal for the body. Various stimuli can cause pain, such as heat or cold, pressure or shock, as well as electrical stimulation and chemical substances. So-called pain receptors are responsible for transmitting these stimulating sensations. Pain receptors are free nerve endings that are located both on the surface in the skin and in depth - in muscles, tendons and ligaments, as well as in various organs. When pain receptors are stimulated, the signal from them goes to the central nervous system, where the signal is analyzed and a protective response occurs, which is aimed at preventing further damage.

Symptoms

Muscle pain can occur along with other symptoms, which vary depending on the underlying disease. For example, muscle pain that is caused by an injury may be accompanied by bruising and swelling around the injury. Additional symptoms that may accompany muscle pain include:

• depression
• Diarrhea
• Symptoms of acute respiratory illness (fever, chills, sore throat, fatigue, headache, cough)
• Concentration disorder
• Loss of appetite
• muscle cramps
• Numbness, tingling, or burning (called paresthesias)
• Trouble walking
• Sleep disorders
• Swelling at the site of injury
• Sudden weight loss
• Vomit

Serious symptoms that may indicate a life-threatening condition

In some cases, muscle pain may occur in association with other symptoms that may indicate a serious or life-threatening condition, such as a heart attack (heart attack) or meningitis. You need to see a doctor immediately if you have any of these symptoms:

• Changes in consciousness or attention, such as loss of consciousness or severe memory impairment
• Changes in mental state, such as impaired perception of the environment
• Chest pain radiating to the arm, shoulder, neck, or jaw
• Difficulty breathing, shortness of breath
• Inability to move in any part of the body
• Violation (loss) of vision
• Lack of urine
• Progressive weakness and numbness
• seizure
• Stiff neck with high fever

Cause of pain

Skeletal muscle pain is most often caused by direct trauma or trauma resulting from muscle strain or muscle strain. muscle tension occurs when there is damage to several muscle fibers, while when a muscle is torn, a large number of muscle fibers are torn. A torn (torn) tendon can also lead to muscle pain. Muscles and tendons have the ability to regenerate, but with a severe rupture of a muscle or tendon, prompt restoration of the integrity of the damaged structures is required. Muscle pain can be caused by cramps that occur due to overload or abnormal nerve impulses that lead to excessive muscle contraction. In some cases, muscle pain can be a symptom of a serious or life-threatening condition such as a heart attack, meningitis, or cancer.

Traumatic causes of muscle pain

Muscle pain can be associated with any injury, including:

• Blunt hit
• Muscle strain or tear
• Excessive or repetitive movements
• Nerve compression (due to disc herniation, spinal stenosis)

Neuromuscular diseases and conditions

• Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, Charcot's disease) is a severe neuromuscular disease that causes muscle weakness and leads to disability.
• Brain or spinal cord injury
• Dermatomyositis (a condition characterized by muscle inflammation and skin rash)
• Lyme disease (an inflammatory bacterial disease transmitted by ticks)
• Multiple sclerosis (a disease that affects the head and spinal cord and causing weakness, impaired coordination, balance and other problems)
• Muscle breakdown (rhabdomyolysis)
• Muscle infections such as an abscess
• Parkinson's disease (brain disease leading to impaired movement and coordination)
• Polymyalgia rheumatica (a disease characterized by muscle pain and stiffness)
• Polymyositis (inflammation and muscle weakness)
• Stroke

Other possible causes of muscle pain

Muscle pain can be caused by a variety of other diseases and conditions, including:

• Depression
• fibromyalgia
• Angina pectoris or myocardial infarction
• Hypothyroidism
• Flu or other respiratory diseases
• kidney failure
• Electrolytic disorders (impaired levels of potassium or calcium in the blood).
• Pregnancy
• Systemic lupus erythematosus
• Vitamin B12 or vitamin D deficiency

Medicines and substances that can cause muscle pain include:

• ACE inhibitors (used to lower blood pressure)
• Cocaine
• Statins (drugs to lower cholesterol levels)

Questions that help find the cause of muscle pain include:

• Are there other symptoms such as sore throat or fever?
• Do you feel pain in one specific area or throughout your body?
• How long does this state last?
• In what parts of the body is the pain localized?
• What reduces pain or increases pain?
• What medications are currently being taken or have been taken recently

Potential Complications of Muscle Pain

Complications associated with muscle pain depend on the underlying disease or condition. For example, muscle pain associated with fibromyalgia or degenerative disease can lead to reduced motor activity and related complications. Many skeletal muscle pains, however, respond well to treatment. However, if muscle pain prolonged and associated with systemic disease, it can lead to the following complications, including such as:

• chronic pain
• Immobility and related complications (such as bedsores and blood clots)
• Persistent pain resistant to treatment
• Amyotrophy
• Muscle contracture
• Permanent muscle or nerve damage (most often due to nerve compression), including paralysis.
• Decreased quality of life

Diagnostics

Diagnosis of muscle pain (myalgia) is primarily based on the history of the disease and symptoms. Most muscle pain is due to muscle tension (for example, due to incorrect posture or a sedentary lifestyle) or injury (for example, sprains, bruises, or muscle soreness during sports). Instrumental research methods, such as ultrasound or X-ray, CT, MRI, help confirm or differentiate cause of muscle pain.

Medical history (anamnesis).

The doctor will be interested in the type of pain, localization of pain and the intensity of muscle pain. This information can be key to finding out what causes leg pain. Information about the presence of muscle injuries, the presence of bruises, factors that lead to an increase or decrease in muscle pain, or the pain is persistent, for example, with a herniated disc, the time of occurrence of pain (day or night), is very important.

Inspection. Examination by a doctor can determine the presence of painful areas, the presence of changes in skin color, range of motion in muscles or joints, muscle strength, local tenderness in the tendon area, or the identification of trigger points (for example, with fibromyalgia). In addition, reflex activity, sensitivity and other neurological tests are important, which can detect the presence of neurological disorders. The time of occurrence of pain in the muscles is also relevant, as, for example, with osteoporosis or Bechterew's disease. Alcohol or drug abuse can be possible cause pain in the muscles and information about this is important for finding out the causes of pain in the muscles. Some medicines may also have side effect muscle pain.

Laboratory research methods.

Blood tests allow you to determine the presence of an inflammatory process or infections, autoimmune processes; biochemical analyzes allow to determine dysfunctions internal organs(eg liver or kidney).

Ultrasound examination (ultrasound). This research method allows you to visualize the presence of inflammation of the muscles (myositis), ruptures of muscles, tendons.

Research methods such as CT or MRI are needed to visualize problems in deep muscles, where ultrasound examination is uninformative or, if necessary, visualization of neurological conditions or traumatic injuries. Electrophysiological research methods (EMG or ENMG) allow you to determine the presence of inflammatory or degenerative muscle diseases or impaired conduction along the nerves due to compression of the nerve roots or other neurological diseases.

Muscle biopsy is usually used as last step for the diagnosis of muscle diseases, and only if there are clear signs of such diseases.

Treatment

Treatment for muscle pain depends on the cause of the symptom. Therefore, the most important factor in determining treatment tactics is an accurate diagnosis. For example, if muscle pain is caused by taking certain drugs, then in such cases it may be enough to stop taking these drugs or replace them with other medicines. Medical treatment for muscle pain can include both NSAIDs or analgesics, and even opiates.

Acute muscle pain

In acute muscle pain that occurs after an injury, it is necessary to ensure rest and unloading, in some cases, immobilization. In addition, a good effect in such cases is local cooling with ice wrapped in a towel, which reduces swelling, inflammation, and pain. In addition, it is necessary to stop the load that led to muscle pain. It takes a lot of time to treat muscle injuries, since early restoration of normal loads can lead to chronic pain syndrome and lead to excessive scarring of muscle tissue, and in severe cases to the development of myositis ossificans.

Chronic muscle pain

Treatment for chronic pain may include thermal treatments as well as other therapies such as:

• Acupuncture and acupressure
• Electrotherapy (therapy through electricity)
• Electromyostimulation
• Physiotherapy
• Manual therapy

Systematic exercises (exercise therapy) are especially relevant when chronic pain is caused by degenerative diseases of the spine, such as osteochondrosis, spondylosis, and disc herniation.

Surgical methods of treatment are used for severe traumatic muscle injuries or in the presence of compression of the nerve roots.

Prevention of muscle pain consists of the following rules: healthy lifestyle life, sufficient physical activity, balanced diet, the correct ergonomics of the workplace, the exclusion of alcohol abuse, smoking.

The question that worries most amateur athletes and beginners in this matter is what to do if muscles hurt after a workout?

Often such people do not need records and big victories.

They choose sports for the sake of health and maintaining good external data, therefore important point training is comfort, pleasure and moral relief.

Muscles hurt after training - the norm and pathology

Unpleasant sensations after physical exertion are an absolutely natural phenomenon, however, if they are associated with any injury, you should not leave the situation unattended.

E natural causes of muscle pain after exercise

Discomfort may appear already in the process of training, most often one that forces a specific muscle group to perform the same type of work for a long time. Many people call this pain a burning sensation, the sensation of which disappears at the end of the exercise. With a properly selected training program, burning is explained by the inclusion of muscles in the work and does not pose any danger.

On the second, and sometimes the third day, new unpleasant pains appear. This happens due to microtraumatism of the muscles. Tolerable, not causing any particular hardship sensations speak of quality work in training. But if the pain is unbearable, it is worth reconsidering the intensity of the classes and reducing it a little. You need to increase the load smoothly, after the body gets used to the given norms, and the pain ceases to manifest itself so clearly.

These two causes are a natural physiological process that disappears after a few days and is not dangerous to humans.

When a sharp and sudden pain occurs, it can indicate injury to any human systems.

Particular attention should be paid to the following symptoms:

1. Swelling of the legs

After classes active species sports, edema of the extremities may appear. The workout itself is not the cause of fluid accumulation - it can cause low activity during the day. When the usual way of life cannot be called mobile, high-intensity and infrequent physical activity is strictly prohibited. In this case, you need to give preference to training of moderate strength.

If during the day a person moves quite a lot, but the problem with swelling after training still remains, it is likely that water retention is the cause of one of the diseases:

Violation of the work of blood vessels;

Joint diseases;

Availability overweight.

2. Joint discomfort

Joint pain most often visits those who are engaged in performing heavy loads with numerous repetitions. Repeated exercises lead to the erasure of cartilage tissue, inflammation and pain.

3. Sharp pain during exercise

Constraining, acute pain may be associated with an untreated injury or the emergence of a new one, with an incorrect technique for performing an exercise, or incorrectly selected anthropometric parameters of the simulator. In addition, it appears in people who neglect the warm-up and work with extreme weights.

Any type of pain should not be left without the attention of specialists and doctors.

Muscles hurt after a workout: what to do - nutrition and regimen

The recovery period is very important, because training is a stress for the body, resulting in muscle tears. The main thing that you can do if your muscles hurt after a workout is to follow a nutrition plan and regimen.

In the first half hour after training, the protein-carbohydrate window is activated in the body. At this time, you need to replenish the expended energy, restore injured muscles. To prevent catabolic processes, you need to eat food containing a sufficient amount of proteins and carbohydrates. Since fats inhibit the absorption of other substances, their use is not recommended.

If the main goal of training is to burn fat, then the first meal should be 2 to 3 hours after physical activity.

To save muscle mass To prevent severe muscle pain, you can take vitamin supplements such as Omega-3, BCAA, creatine, glutamine, and amino acids.

Equally important is sleep - its total duration should be from 8 to 12 hours a day. Only then the muscles will fully recover and the pain will not be so obvious.

Muscles hurt after training: what to do - procedures, external remedies

Procedures that will help relieve muscle pain after a workout include:

1. Massage

Sports massage, as well as other types of massage, supplies oxygen to the muscles, increases their performance. It has a positive effect on the joints, restoring their mobility. Massage is used to increase endurance and general physical condition, to disperse blood throughout the body, to combat fatigue and muscle pain.

2. Stretch

Stretching helps to increase the elasticity of muscles, their relaxation. It accelerates the process of removing damaged cells from the body, increases the efficiency strength training improves athletic performance, increases strength and flexibility. In addition, stretching brings pleasure, allows you to relax and reduce the overall level of stress.

3. Sauna

Due to the release of endorphins, the sauna reduces muscle pain, eliminates toxins and toxins, relieves joint problems and constant fatigue. A systematic visit to a warm room improves microcirculation and removes lactic acid from the muscles. In addition, the sauna is an element of hardening, because the body is forced to switch to work at an unusual temperature for it.

4. Hardening of the body

Such a system of procedures helps the body to better adapt to changes in external conditions. Its result is strengthening of immunity, improvement of thermoregulation, metabolism and blood circulation, stabilization blood pressure, increased endurance and performance, normalization of the emotional and psychological side of a person, fast recovery after intense workout.

Muscles hurt after training: what to do - procedures, external agents, medications

In addition to restorative procedures, there are external methods that relieve muscle discomfort - special sprays, soft dosage forms for external use containing capsaicin, methyl salicylate and menthol.

by the most in a simple way to relieve pain is to take painkillers. Medical professionals who specialize in sports medicines advise using drugs such as Aspirin, Ibuprofen, Ascorutin, Tylenol, Supradin.

Still, you should not get carried away with them - medicines can significantly affect the process of muscle self-healing.

For beginners, muscle pain is a natural occurrence. The main thing is to be able to distinguish discomfort from the occurrence of microcracks and pain from possible injuries. With proper recovery, a properly selected diet and training, pain will pass over time and will manifest itself only as a result of unusual loads or if they increase.

Patients come to the doctor with various complaints. Among them, there may be muscle pain. Probably, many are familiar with this unpleasant sensation that limits daily activities. But why it occurs, only a specialist can determine.

Pain in skeletal muscles can be of a different nature: physiological, metabolic, inflammatory, traumatic or otherwise. First you need to deal with those situations that do not inspire fear. If muscles hurt after intense physical exertion in an untrained person, this is a completely expected phenomenon that cannot be attributed to pathology. Normal fatigue is often accompanied by body aches, but it disappears after proper rest. This is due to the deposition of lactic acid in the tissues, which does not have time to be quickly utilized in conditions of oxygen deficiency and causes muscle pain.

But we must not forget that the cause of this phenomenon is often pathological changes in soft tissues or in the whole body (metabolic, autoimmune, toxic, and others). Then the origin of unpleasant sensations is most likely related to one of the following phenomena:

1. Local inflammation of the muscles (myositis).
2. Mechanical injury (bruise, sprain, rupture).
3. Infectious-inflammatory pathology with intoxication.
4. Connective tissue diseases (dermatomyositis).
5. Lactic acidosis (with diabetes mellitus, renal failure, alcohol intoxication).
6. Neuropsychiatric disorders (neurosis, depression).
7. Fibromyalgia.

These are perhaps the most common causes of muscle pain that are encountered in clinical practice. The list of possible conditions is quite extensive, and therefore their high-quality differential diagnosis is required from the doctor.

Why muscle pain occurs is not always easy to answer. But an experienced doctor will always deal with the problem and give the patient the correct diagnosis.

Symptoms

Clinical symptoms are the basis for a preliminary conclusion. According to complaints and objective signs, it is just possible to assume probable conditions, whatever they may be: physiological or pathological. The doctor will have to pay attention to the anamnestic data and conduct a physical examination. If there is an indication of a previous physical activity, and there are no other symptoms, except for body aches and fatigue, then there can be no questions regarding the physiological origin of all sensations. Otherwise, you have to think about pathology.

Myositis

After hypothermia, prolonged exposure to uncomfortable positions or infections skeletal muscles may become inflamed. This local process is called myositis. In the affected area, aching pains are felt, which are aggravated by movements and palpation of soft tissues. Swelling and redness are observed over the area of ​​inflammation. Further development process leads to weakness in the inflamed muscles.

Injuries

Mechanical damage is another condition in which pain is provoked by local disorders. From the anamnesis it becomes known that immediately before this there was an injury (domestic, sports, professional). With bruises soft tissues swell, they are painful on palpation, abrasions are visible on the skin. Stretching is accompanied by pain during movement, and the gap is at rest. The latter can be seen from the defect and hemorrhage (hematoma), and the muscles do not perform their function.

Infectious and inflammatory pathology

Infections and acute inflammatory diseases are accompanied by an intoxication syndrome. And that, in turn, is often manifested by aching muscles. In the clinical picture there will be other symptoms indicating the toxic effects of microbes or inflammatory substances on the body:

• General weakness.
• Malaise.
• Increased fatigue.
• Headache.
• Decreased appetite.
• Fever.

An increase in body temperature is the main symptom that indicates inflammation or infection. But the primary focus of the pathology can have a different localization: in the ENT organs, the respiratory, digestive or urogenital tract, meninges, etc. Therefore, the doctor also pays attention to the local symptoms of the disease:

• Runny nose, ear or throat pain.
• Cough, shortness of breath, chest pain.
• Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain.
• Cramping when urinating, back pain, changes in the urine.
• Meningeal signs, severe headaches, etc.

All this will point to the source of the problem and confirm the intoxicating nature of body aches. But after all, accompanying conditions also cannot be completely excluded.

With ENT pathology and diseases of the respiratory tract, muscles can hurt due to intoxication syndrome.

Dermatomyositis

A harbinger of dermatomyositis can be pain in the limbs, skin rashes, Raynaud's syndrome. The disease begins gradually, the symptoms may increase over the years. Based on the localization of the affected muscles, the clinical picture may include the following symptoms:

• Weakness in the neck, proximal limbs.
• Speech disorders.
• Swallowing disorders.
• Decreased pulmonary ventilation.

Due to the decrease in muscle strength, patients cannot get out of bed, hold objects in their hands, and even move around. In addition, the skin is affected: swelling around the eyes, a rash on the face, back and over the joints, peeling of the palms, brittle nails. The characteristic signs of the disease are pigmentation disorders, dilation of small vessels (telangiectasia), increased keratinization (hyperkeratosis) and atrophy of skin areas.

Other signs of dermatomyositis include inflammation of the mucous membranes (stomatitis, pharyngitis, conjunctivitis) and polyarthritis with lesions of various articular groups. The systemic nature of the process also confirms the involvement of internal organs: the heart, kidneys, lungs, digestive tract, nerve fibers and glands.

lactic acidosis

Excessive accumulation of lactate (lactic acid) in the blood due to metabolic disorders becomes another cause of muscle pain. At the same time, the acid-base balance is disturbed with the development of acidosis. In the clinical picture there will be other signs:

• Pain behind the sternum and in the abdomen.
• Dyspeptic disorders (vomiting).
• Increased breathing.
• Drowsiness or insomnia.

Further development of the pathology leads to cardiovascular insufficiency, neurological disorders up to spastic paresis. Consciousness is oppressed up to coma, noisy breathing appears (Kussmaul), DIC develops.

fibromyalgia

Constant pain in the muscles can be a sign of a pathology such as fibromyalgia. Its origin has not yet been fully understood, but various theories have been suggested: genetic, vascular, mental, hormonal, toxic. In this case, the pain sensations will be symmetrical and cover the entire body. And additional signs that allow confirming the diagnosis are:

• Increased fatigue.
• Stiffness in the morning.
• Numb feeling.
• Sleep disturbance.
• Seizures.

The pain and stiffness of fibromyalgia continues for at least 3 months. And signs indicating another pathology (rheumatic, endocrine, tumor, etc.) are not detected.

Fibromyalgia is a disease of unknown origin that affects the muscles of the entire body.

Neuropsychiatric disorders

Another condition in which there are no organic changes in the body is neurosis or depression. In such cases, pain may appear in various parts of the body. But upon examination, they do not find any physical confirmation. Patients visit doctors of many specialties, but only a psychiatrist (psychotherapist) is able to establish their source. In addition to purely subjective signs, patients have various functional disorders:

• emotional lability.
• Anxiety and irritability.
• Insomnia.
• Frequent heartbeat.
• Difficulty breathing.
• Dizziness.
• Decreased libido, etc.

Patients with depression have a sharply reduced mood, obsessive thoughts, including suicidal ones, occur. Therefore, the problem cannot be left without due attention.

Additional diagnostics

It is difficult to understand the question of why muscles hurt without a full examination. According to the results of the clinical examination, the patient is sent for additional diagnostics:

1. General blood tests (leukocyte formula, ESR) and urine (protein, formed elements).
2. Blood biochemistry (acute phase parameters and rheumatic tests, urea and creatinine, glucose and electrolytes, lactate and bicarbonates, antibodies to own tissues).
3. Ultrasound of soft tissues.
4. X-ray of the joints.
5. Electromyography.
6. Muscle biopsy.

Only after receiving all the information about the state of the patient's body can a final conclusion be made about the nature of the symptoms that have arisen. The identified pathology will require adequate treatment, and its complete exclusion will become best result diagnostics.

Why do muscles still hurt after a workout? Why do they hurt the next day? Should something be done about it? Is it necessary to do something if on the contrary - they do not hurt?

Anyone who has ever had a good frolic with iron, noticed that the muscles hurt. especially after the first workout. And usually the next day, but it happens that the maximum pain is achieved even on the second day after training. Why do muscles hurt? Is it normal? Is it normal if, on the contrary, they do not hurt? Should something be done about it? - Zozhnik decided to correctly put the answers on the shelves.

delayed muscle pain

If you rest well on simulators or with free weights, the last repetitions in the exercises cause a burning sensation. Lactic acid is to blame for it, which accumulates in the muscles at the time of exercise, as a by-product of physiological processes. With each subsequent contraction of muscle fibers, the concentration of lactic acid increases, which increases pain and burning. After the barbell is thrown onto the platform, the blood quickly flushes lactic acid out of the muscles. The burning sensation quickly passes (and, as if nothing had happened, returns with the next approach, of course).

The second type of pain, in honor of which this text is written, usually occurs the day after training and lactic acid has nothing to do with it. This pain is called delayed muscle pain.

It is most often experienced by beginners or, for example, “oldies” who have changed their training plan. In general, those who received unusual loads and, as a result, delayed muscle pain.

If you explain in human language: during training, muscle micro-ruptures occur, in fact, with serious loads, you inflict micro-traumas on yourself. Most often, the body reacts to these tears with pain.

Actually, the healing of muscle fibers after such injuries provides an increase in strength and volume. There is an active release of hormones and protein synthesis, which is the building material for muscles. As a result of such recovery processes, the muscles increase their weight and volume.

This is what your well-damaged muscle looks like.

Why do they hurt not immediately, but the next day or even the second?

Micro-tears are the cause of local micro-inflammations that appear after some time, usually the next day. This means that the body is actively working on the damaged area. If there are a lot of breaks, inflammation can peak on the second day after training. There is nothing wrong with this inflammation for your health.

Should I endure or fight this pain?

You can be patient, happy for yourself that you did a good job in the gym, but if the pain is unbearable, you can do something about it.

Various sources recommend various warming-massage-type procedures: a bath, a warm shower, a warm (but not hot) bath with sea salt, massage, light warm-up recovery workouts. It is also recommended to do a warm-up and a hitch and stretching (stretching) after a workout.

All these actions are aimed at improving blood flow in the muscles, which contributes to their speedy recovery and reduction of pain.

Is it possible to train if the pain has not yet passed?

If the muscles have not recovered and you have suffered them to be torn again with an iron with a heavy load, this may have Negative consequences. If the body receives new injuries without having time to recover, this can cause a state of overtraining. This means a lack of progress in terms of weights and volumes, poor health and psychological state, and in general, you will not just waste your time, but will be harmful to your health.

Muscle pain is not an indicator of growth in muscle size or strength. Pain is a sign that you have done a good job, that the muscles have received a significant load for them. But muscle growth, development of strength, endurance depends on recovery. If you do not allow the muscles to recover, there will be no progress.

Should I skip going to the gym if my muscles hurt? No, don't. And here there are two main options for action: split training (load during the week of different muscle groups) or light warm-up recovery workouts after a heavy load.

Physical activity can not only damage muscles that hurt, but vice versa - help recovery. The only question is the extent and nature of the load.

Exercise improves blood flow and speeds up metabolism, and, accordingly, muscles recover faster. But the load should not be extreme and not the next day. Roughly speaking, if you squat well, you don’t need to storm new records in a couple of days, when the pain has not yet passed, but warming up the quadriceps on a treadmill can help them recover.

Am I doing the right thing if there is no muscle pain at all?

There is a well-known motto in strength sports: NO PAIN - NO GAIN ("No pain - no growth"). And, roughly speaking, this is exactly the case, unless of course you want an increase in strength and muscle volume. If there is no pain, then this usually means that either the load for your body was weak, too familiar.

Over time, belated muscle pain dulls, the body gets used to it, and it is a sign of getting enough exercise. But this pain does not disappear completely.

After 2-3 weeks, delayed muscle pain will not cause significant inconvenience, and most will even begin to like it. The pain will also return when changing training plans, mastering new exercises, which is necessary for progress. Some adherents of the jock sect even have a principle - that training should never be repeated.

However, there are exceptions everywhere: occasionally there are people with well-trained muscles and powerful recovery systems, who may not have pain even after significant loads.

In addition, if you do not plan to increase the strength or mass of your muscles, do fitness with a light load, do stretching, or just exercise, then with moderate loads, the muscles may not hurt at all. And that's okay too. It all depends on your goals.

Good day, my dears! If you are reading this article, then you are familiar with such a phenomenon as muscle pain after a workout. I will say right away that many consider pain to be the most important indicator of muscle growth and a quality workout. Like it or not, we have to figure it out today.

So, in this note, we will find out whether the muscles should hurt or not, how to distinguish the right pain from the wrong one, and what techniques can help you recover faster and return everything to normal. So take your seats, it will be interesting.

Muscle pain after training: two sides of the same coin

I don’t know who and when blurted out that if there is no pain in the muscles after a workout, then it was of poor quality and there can be no talk of any growth. However, the fact remains, and the phrase: “it hurts, it means it grows” has become almost an eminem proper name. Beginners (and not only them) it happens that they come after the gym and cannot move either their arms or legs, thinking that they have swayed well and powerfully stimulated the muscles to grow. But not everything is so simple, and often pain is not an indicator of quality work in the hall, but a banal non-compliance correct technique doing exercises and working with the wrong weights. Therefore, it is necessary to clearly distinguish where lies (probability of injury) and where is the truth (stimulus to development).

Well, let's figure it out.

For many advanced athletes, the best gift after a hard workout is not sports nutrition, a trip to the sauna or a bowl of oatmeal, namely muscle pain. They strive for it by hook or by crook and understand that for them it is the cherished key to the desired body composition. Beginners also try to keep up with their more experienced iron brethren and earn their pain by working with exorbitant weights, neglecting correct technique implementation and elementary safety rules.

Muscle pain after training: the main types

It should be understood that those and others - different types muscle pain. The first - anabolic, the second - physiological. To understand where it is and in general - what's what, you need to understand that there are the following types of pain:

No. 1. Normal moderate muscle pain after exercise

Most often, this type of pain is experienced by most people after intensive training. (for example, working with ) with burdens. The mechanism of its occurrence is considered to be microfractures and microtraumas of muscle fibers, as well as an excess (lactate) in the muscles.

Those. well trained, in the blood of an athlete (for several days) the content of muscle cells increases. The pain appears due to the fact that the destroyed muscle tissues enter the bloodstream and stay there until the body removes some of them and restores some.

Note:

Many people think that it is “milk” that causes pain in the muscles, but this is not so. Lactic acid is excreted during 30 minutes after a workout, but lactate is the cause of the "burning" of the muscles during exercise.

This is the so-called correct, good muscle pain, which does not interfere with their functions. On average, it takes about 2-3 days for beginner athletes and about a day for advanced ones.

This pain serves as a “litmus test” of the fact that you have worked your muscles well, given them a serious load, thereby creating decent stress. When the next day after class in the gym you do not experience moderate pain. this means only one thing - your body has adapted to the load and needs to be shocked in some other way.

The next type of pain is...

No. 2. LMP (retarded muscle pain)

It is named so because it really “slows down” and occurs only a few days after training. (most often on 2 day). ZMB prevents full muscle contraction. It usually occurs when you have changed yours or started to "bump" in a more intense manner. Its term is from 1 before 4 days for an advanced athlete and up to a week for a beginner.

How to deal with it? Very simple.

Instead of ditching the workout and not going, do your usual volume, but with a reduced load weight in all exercises for 50% . For example, if you do 12 with a weight on 100 kg, then do the same 12 squats, but with a weight of 50 kg. Do not work to failure, even if you still have strength, because the main goal of such a workout is muscle recovery + growth.

Next in line…

Number 3. Muscle pain from injury

The complete opposite of the above pains, which has nothing to do with them. This is aching, constricting pain, which is aggravated by even the slightest load, especially with sudden movements. Very often, the symptoms of such pain are redness, swelling and general malaise. They appear most often immediately, in rare cases - the next day. An athlete who has received such an injury cannot fully train and often he has to either give up training altogether for a while, or engage in a “sparing” mode, excluding all kinds of loads. (ranges of motion) to the damaged area.

The most serious representative of this type of muscle pain is muscle tear. Here, for sure, no “compresses” and brilliant green will help, everything is extremely serious, surgical intervention may even be required. To avoid this kind of injury, you should not “show off” in the gym and pull exorbitant weights, use periodization (cycling workout settings) and follow the technique of performing exercises.

These are the so-called main types of muscle pain after a workout.

Now a few words about whether you need to bring yourself to muscle pain. Most beginners have probably heard from their more experienced fellow bodybuilders that muscle growth does not come without pain. However, this is not quite true. In the time of Arnold, it was the ability to create and, most importantly, to endure pain, that was your pass to the world beautiful body and large volumes. Therefore, in the “golden” age of bodybuilding, everyone sought to lift more and more weight from workout to workout. After all, it is much more difficult for the muscles to overcome the load and, therefore, pain was provided to them for everything. 100% . This so-called natural muscle fatigue occurs due to the accumulation of lactic acid lactate and the formation of microtraumas. Thus, it was previously believed that pain is the main trigger mechanism for triggering growth-stimulating muscle processes. However, the last Scientific research they say that muscle growth is possible without pain.

Note:

Many bodybuilders (particularly Ronnie Coleman) muscles are able to recover and adapt to loads very quickly, and therefore for them pain is not an indicator of lack of growth.

I won’t say that you don’t need to listen to the advice of the “great ones”, but I don’t think it’s worth purposefully bringing yourself to muscle pain. If working weights grow, then the result in the form of muscle growth will not be long in coming.

In general, in a word, you should not tear your hair out and beat your head against the wall :) if you didn’t wait for muscle pain after the next workout. Humble yourself and repent and just continue to train effectively, trying to constantly progress in the working weight.

So, we talked about the pain component of training, but more importantly - recovery processes and methods that allow you to reduce pain after training. Here we will talk about them further.

How to Reduce Muscle Soreness After a Workout

Of course, any pain (and if they are still constant and aching) affect the condition of the athlete. Therefore, to reduce pain, you must adhere to the following tips.

No. 1. soda before workout

This tip will be useful for those who want to minimize their pain in the muscles during the training process. Drink a glass of water before exercising or exercising 1/2 a teaspoon of soda. Thus, you will reduce the acidity of the blood, and the pain threshold of the muscles will become higher. You can easily avoid the habitual burning sensation.

No. 2. Proper nutrition

Oddly enough, but many neglect this holy rule and include completely wrong products in theirs. You should consume about 2 grams of protein per 1 kg of weight, from 2 before 4 grams of carbohydrates (depending on metabolic rate). You should also not forget about fats, they should be 15-20% of total calories.

Number 3. Beta-alanine and ascorbic acid

Start taking ascorbic acid (near 1 g after training) and beta-alanine (natural amino acid).

No. 4. Water

It is she who removes all toxins and toxins, thereby creating favorable conditions for starting recovery processes. Drink enough, if you don’t know how much you need to “lap”, then use the formula: your weight * 0,04 = X liters per day.

No. 5. Hitch

Before training, perform, and after it - a hitch. Stretch your muscles well and relax and catch your breath properly.

No. 6. Pleasant treatments

Bodybuilding or fitness is not only sweat and metal grinding. Give your body a quality rest after exercise. In particular, you can take a contrast shower (40 seconds under cold water, 1 minute - under hot), go to the sauna or pool, you can also put yourself in the experienced hands of a massage therapist. All these activities will increase blood circulation in your body and relieve muscle pain after a workout.

No. 7. Omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids

Take in enough (300 mg/kg weight) essential fatty acids, they have anti-inflammatory properties. As their sources, you can choose: linseed oil, fish oil, different kinds nuts (almond, walnut).

No. 8. Periodization and training time

Periodization is very useful for athletes who train hard and constantly. It is important for them to “play” with training parameters such as reps, weights, rest time, muscle attack angles, intensity, and more. Also, do not “sit up” in the hall for more 60 minutes, because it is after such a time that the level of the main anabolic hormone decreases, and cortisol (stress hormone)- increases.

No. 9. Gels and ointments

For some, warming gels and ointments can be the lifeline that a drowning person needs to relieve pain and muscle fatigue. You can try to “smear” with Ben-Gel balm, Viprosal or “42 gel balm”. There is also a good horse ointment, however, I don’t remember the name.

No. 10. Dream

Of course, healthy sleep- this is the basis of the basics, so try to sleep on 7-8 hours. If you can't sleep, take a warm shower and drink a glass of milk. You can also buy earplugs at the pharmacy - earplugs, an indispensable thing if you decide to relax, but the neighbors still won’t calm down.

Here are some tips that will definitely help you beat muscle pain after a workout.

Well, actually, that's all I wanted to talk about today.

Afterword

Another article has come to an end. I hope you got a lot of useful information from it. The main experience that needs to be endured is that muscle pain after a workout is not always (and not for everyone) an indicator of a quality workout. Do not chase pain, work correctly, progress in weight, and the muscles will come, they will not go anywhere!

Until we meet again, my dears. Do not forget to subscribe to updates and then you will always be in the subject, bye!

PS. If you can (and I have no doubt about that), master a couple of three comments and ask your questions, I will be glad to answer.