Why Do Your Muscles Hurt After a Workout?

 

Whenever I work out I know the next day I am going to feel it. I have always considered this feeling good because it mean you are getting somewhere. I have recently learned that your muscles ache because of a reason that some people might find disturbing. Some people might also find this reason amazing, and I am left to wonder what else is there about the body that I don't know? Either way here is a simple explanation about why your muscles ache after a good workout.

All of the 639 muscles in the body are made up of muscle fibers. All of these muscles are different shapes and sizes, and they are all fastened to the bones in your body. Muscles are what keep us moving, and without them we would not be able to live. The heart is a muscle itself.

Muscles contract when we work out a lot more than they do normally, and muscle contractions produce an acid. This acid is a "lactic acid", and it is like a poison (Leokum, 1986, p. 123). You may be wondering why would working out poison your body, but your body has a good reason for it. The muscle produces lactic acid in order to make your "muscle feel tired" (Leokum, 1986, p.123). This happens so that your body will know when it is suppose to rest. Without this chemical your muscles would keep on working, and you would end p hurting yourself.

Your body produces many toxins when it works, and these toxins are what make you feel sleepy. These toxins are "carried by the blood through the body by the blood," and they make the entire body and the brain exhausted. It is amazing to me that the tired feeling you get when you work or exercise is because your body is poisoning itself, but this is its way of making sure you relax. In order to remove these toxins you must rest. When you rest "waste products are removed, the cells recuperate, nerve cells of the brain recharge your batteries, and the joints of the body replace their lubricants;" this process allows you to wake up feeling recharged and ready to go (Leokum, 1986, p.124).

The body is an amazing thing, and I am always astonished to see how it works so efficiently. Exercise is good for your body, but rest is just as important, and if it takes poison to get that point across so be it.

Leokum, A. (1986). The Big book of tell me why. New York, NY: Grosset and Dunlap.