Anyone who goes to the gym at least three times a week will sooner or later ask themselves the same question. Is there any point in going to the gym if my muscles still hurt? So in the next article of our Q&A series, we'll be looking at training for muscle pain, its positives, negatives and how to solve this problem once and for all.
Muscle pain vs. muscle growth
First of all, it's important to understand that muscle pain has nothing to do with muscle growth. While a very common phrase is that "when a muscle hurts, it grows.", the two processes don't have much in common. In fact, muscle growth is all about rebuilding damaged actin and myosin fibers that have been damaged by training. But these fibres are so small that we don't feel any pain when we contract, even though there are micro tears on their surface.
What causes muscle pain is the build-up of lactic acid, which builds up in the muscles due to the lack of oxygen during sporting activity. The extent of this acid build-up is then determined primarily by the type of training and your assimilation to itbut slow negative repetitions or overemphasis on muscle contraction also play a role.
If you find that your muscles ache from time to time after a workout until the next workout, it's definitely worth it to go for a workout. Chances are your performance won't be as good as usual, but the muscle will still get a stimulus to grow. In fact, under normal conditions, it grows about 45-50 hours after training.
Conclusion
If limiting muscle pain is a long-term problem, it is necessary to change your training style. You may need to cut back one workout a week, or reduce the intensity or volume of work in your workouts. If you are one of the more advanced exercisers, you may need to take an earlier noand later, you may need to start cycling your workouts into light, medium and heavy. It is also important not to neglect proper recovery (you should be concerned with drinking, regular stretching, proper timing of meals, ...). If you are more interested in this topic, you can find the full article on our website. But if muscle soreness is not the order of the day, then it is definitely worthwhile to go for a workout even though the performance will not be absolutely 100%.
If you also have any questions that you would like answered a bit more thoroughly, feel free to ask in the comments below the article or below the YouTube video. Maybe we'll answer yours in the next episodes of this series.
More articles in the "Questions and Answers" series:
- Ketogenic diet and its effect on strength? - Q&A #1
- Is soy protein a good choice?
- Does it make sense to exercise even with muscle soreness? - Q&A #3 (this article)
- Best training plan for exercising 3 times a week? - Q&A #4
- How long should a gym workout last? - Questions and Answers #5
- How to promote veining? - Questions and Answers #6
Why can you trust us?
Hey! Hey! I'm Mirek and I've been working at World Fitness almost since the beginning, except for a small break. But before that I lived only in the gym for a few years, doing deadlifts and power triathlon, going to competitions and winning a few medals.
Probably the one I value the most is the national record in the WUAP federation. But besides working out, I was also interested in food and supplements, I liked to enjoy my free timeI used to read different researches and professional books in my free time to know as much as possible.