Lactic acid or muscle growing, whats the deal?

[grappler]

Can someone clarify what exactly the soreness a day after the workout means? Is it lactic acid or is it the muscle growing?

[Par Deus]

It is due to muscle fiber damage. This causes the release of calcium ions, substance P, and some other things, which inflame the area, including nerves, thus causing pain.

This is very simplistic -- I think Elzi Volk outlined the whole thing on MFW long ago.

[Mr. Enigma]

I did a quick search on Elzi Volk and didn't find any article particulating on the subject. Do you know where we could find the article or articles?

[Manteca]

I think soreness shouldn't really arrive until the day after a workout. if you are really sore either during or right after a workout then you are probably doing to high a volume of training on that muslce group and the soreness is from lactic acid.

[Par Deus]

Originally posted by Mr. Enigma
I did a quick search on Elzi Volk and didn't find any article particulating on the subject. Do you know where we could find the article or articles?

It would have been an article, just a post on the MFW newsgroup.

[2demon2]

Yeah, Volk's comments were part of a loooong thread over there last summer.

[Timbo]

Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) usually kicks in about 24-48 hours after the training bout. Par pretty much wraps up the physiology in a nutshell, though it gets pretty hairy. Lactic acid has nothing to do with DOMS...and DOMS is not really a sign that the muscle is growing. Your nutritional status and recovery ability determines that. It would signify that you have done damage to the fibers, so proper nutrition and recovery time would likely lead to growth. Unaccostumed exercise and eccentric actions are the likely stimuli for DOMS.

[Mr. Enigma]

So, how do you *avoid* DOMS and still shock the muscle fibers enough to instigate further growth?

[Defiantsadist]

Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) usually kicks in about 24-48 hours after the training bout. Par pretty much wraps up the physiology in a nutshell, though it gets pretty hairy. Lactic acid has nothing to do with DOMS...and DOMS is not really a sign that the muscle is growing. Your nutritional status and recovery ability determines that. It would signify that you have done damage to the fibers, so proper nutrition and recovery time would likely lead to growth. Unaccostumed exercise and eccentric actions are the likely stimuli for DOMS.

I'm pretty interested in this subject myself, as I"m new to lifting(been lifting a year, started in school, took off from there.) I finally joined a gym and went a couple times with my step-dad, and the second day we did leg stuff which in school I never did consistently(if at all, our weight training class has a pretty bad teacher.) We did 3x8 on Squat(135pds.) and 3x8 on leg press(180lbs plus whatever the sled is.) then I finished off by doing 6 reps at 270 on leg press, then did 3x8 on a leg curl machine.

With all that being done Thursday, My legs are still sore, for the first couple days it was sore to move them, which I assumed was lactic acid, and now it just hurts to touch them(put pressure, like rub them a little firmly.) Would they hurt this much because my legs aren't used to working, and just need the proper rest in between days of working them till they're used to working consistently? Or even with them sore would it be safe to work them sooner then waiting for them to not hurt anymore? I was told doing some light leg stuff may help get some blood flowing to them and speed up cleansing lactic acid? In my mind it seems like they'd need rest no matter how many days it would be, so I don't over train them? I'm still really new to lifting so any information is greatly appreciated.

Steven

[Robboe]

I'm pretty interested in this subject myself, as I"m new to lifting(been lifting a year, started in school, took off from there.) I finally joined a gym and went a couple times with my step-dad, and the second day we did leg stuff which in school I never did consistently(if at all, our weight training class has a pretty bad teacher.) We did 3x8 on Squat(135pds.) and 3x8 on leg press(180lbs plus whatever the sled is.) then I finished off by doing 6 reps at 270 on leg press, then did 3x8 on a leg curl machine.

With all that being done Thursday, My legs are still sore, for the first couple days it was sore to move them, which I assumed was lactic acid, and now it just hurts to touch them(put pressure, like rub them a little firmly.) Would they hurt this much because my legs aren't used to working, and just need the proper rest in between days of working them till they're used to working consistently? Or even with them sore would it be safe to work them sooner then waiting for them to not hurt anymore? I was told doing some light leg stuff may help get some blood flowing to them and speed up cleansing lactic acid? In my mind it seems like they'd need rest no matter how many days it would be, so I don't over train them? I'm still really new to lifting so any information is greatly appreciated.

Steven

Lactic acid dissipates quite rapidly, it is not responsible for your soreness. To my knowledge it hasn't been 100% proven exactly what causes the soreness, but it is generally accepted to be from muscle microtrauma, and possibly macro****e activity.

Keep consistent with your weight training and the impact of the soreness will decline over time.