Severe muscle pain in arms and legs for more than 2 days after a workout?

Severe muscle pain in the arms and legs is widespread from day 1. A day or two after training, the feeling of pain and muscle stiffness intensifies within 24-48 hours and then weakens.

But with some people, that is not the case.

It was believed that the accumulation of lactic acid in the muscle after intensive training is the main culprit for the development of inflammation. Still, today scientific views on this issue differ significantly.

Muscle inflammation occurs when we have a sudden load on the muscle. For example, if we have done an intense workout, we usually feel muscle fatigue at the end.

Acute inflammation is more about muscle fatigue with intensive training, while delayed inflammation is about real muscle inflammation.

However, inflammation is one of the most central processes required to defend cells against specific injuries or microbial infections.

Lactic acid causes severe muscle pain in the arms and legs

Every intense muscular work leads to the creation and accumulation of lactic acid.

The amount of lactate production in a muscle depends on your training degree. Also, it represents a complex balance of different physiological and metabolic factors of the muscle cell.

When we look at it closer, muscle contraction is a mechanical phenomenon that requires a certain amount of energy provided by metabolic processes in the muscle itself.

During muscle contraction, chemical energy is converted into mechanical energy. And then, metabolic processes provide the breakdown of chemical substrates (sugars and fats) with the release of chemical energy stored in the cell in the form of ATP and phosphocreatine.

So, strength training is mainly about anaerobic processes, in which you create lactic acid.

So it is inevitable.

Two types of muscle inflammation may bring you severe muscle pain in the arms and legs

1)Acute muscle soreness occurs at the end of training or immediately after exercise. You may feel muscle fatigue, moderate muscle swelling (transient hypertrophy), and mild pain. The severe muscle pain in the arms and legs at the end of training occurs due to the accumulation of acid metabolites, X ions, and swelling of muscle tissue.

Muscle swelling occurs due to the expansion of blood vessels in the muscle, increased blood flow through the muscle, increased capillary permeability, and the effect of attracting water.

All these effects result from the accumulation of metabolite products due to intensive training.

Lactic acid and acid metabolites accumulate during training, and their amount in the muscle is greatest at the end of training. Immediately after training, they begin to vanish from the muscles and metabolize in the liver.

However, muscle inflammation that occurs after a day or two must have another cause.

2) Delayed-onset muscle soreness represents muscle inflammation in the true sense of the word.

Severe muscle pain in the arms and legs occurs a day or two after intense strength training. It has been noticed that it does not depend in the first place on the intensity of work but mainly on the type of muscular work. Eccentric contractions are the leading cause of this type of muscle inflammation. Although we are doing that kind of move outside the gym, let’s see examples of eccentric exercises.

Split squat (upward motion)

Push up (upward motion)

Glute bridge (downward motion)

Dumbbell curl (downward motion)

Step down (downward motion)

Roman deadlift (using kettlebell, downward motion)

When performing eccentric contractions, far greater forces are created that act on the elastic and contractile structures of the muscles. That leads to the formation of microtrauma on the muscle fibers, which triggers muscle inflammation. In some cases, there is damage to the cell membrane of the muscle cell (fiber), but also swelling and disintegration of the muscle fiber.

However, damage to muscle fibers to a greater extent leads to the deterioration and loss of a certain number of fibers.

MUSCLE SUPPLEMENTATION – GLUTAMINE

Glutamine reduces severe muscle pain in the arms and legs.

A group of researchers used a sample of highly trained athletes to determine the effect of glutamine on recovery after intensive training with a predominance of eccentric contractions.

The research results showed that the intake of 0.3 g / kg of body weight immediately after training and 24, 48 and 72 hours after training significantly reduces the deficit of explosive power and substantially reduces muscle inflammation.

Therefore, it seems that glutamine intake significantly accelerates recovery after heavy loads. So, it is desirable to include it to improve the efficiency of the training process !!!

Our body can only produce a certain amount of glutamine necessary, but the need for glutamine increases when the body is under stress – and hard training is also a form of stress for the body. For that reason, the body will reduce the amount of muscle tissue to get glutamine and reduce the need for it, i.e., there will be catabolism—muscle breakdown.

That is why glutamine is vital as a dietary supplement for athletes who experience severe muscle pain in the arms and legs for more than 2 days after a workout.

Glutamine is one of the essential amino acids in shortening the recovery period, i.e., faster recovery.

Glutamine also has anabolic functions in the body.

For example, it helps protein synthesis within muscle cells and participates in ammonia detoxification, functions as a nitrogen source, and thus helps cellular hydration. In addition, it stimulates growth hormone production, maintains acidity, strengthens the immune system, is an important raw material for energy production, and increases glycogen production.

The experience of athletes who use glutamine is that the effects are felt very quickly. They feel better, have less severe muscle pain in their arms and legs, are less tired, have more strength, and are more ready for the next workout!!!

MUSCLE SUPPLEMENTATION – HONEY

Because skeletal muscle is the fundamental structure involved in the exercise, we explored the literature on the exercise-promoting potential of natural honey.

Honey is a natural energy-rich, low glycemic index food with various biological potentials. For example, research shows how honey corrects muscle pathology in inflammatory conditions.

Honey improves physical performance at moderate levels of activity, and it reduces the production of inflammatory cytokines and biomarkers of fatigue following strenuous exercise among athletes. This also applies to heart disease exercisers where honey combined with floral pollen improved tolerance for physical loads and corrected metabolic dysfunctions.

Therefore, the use of honey may also have the strength to increase the capacity for exercise in aged and diseased individuals. (1)

Recently, research showed how honey had decreased inflammatory mediators such as COX-2 and TNF-α inhibiting the activation of the NF-κB pathway.

It is widely known that the activation of NF-κB plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of inflammation.

Ok, ok, that sounds a bit technical, but a variety of chemical mediators from the circulation system, inflammatory cells, and injured tissue actively contribute to and adjust the inflammatory response, thanks to honey which inhibits the NF-κB pathway. (2)

How about Manuka honey?

Well, manuka honey contains one ingredient that makes it unique. Not by its presence but by its power.

Manuka honey has a more pronounced anti-inflammatory effect than other kinds of honey, thanks to Apalbumin-1.

This protein makes Manuka honey much more anti-inflammatory than almost any other honey. Thus, it helps your sore muscles ‘breathe’ again sooner. (3)

In the end …

In general, some exercisers never reach their maximum in training. One of the reasons may be that they did not pay enough attention to preparing the body for the upcoming training efforts.

So, taking a more refined approach before exercise is as important as the one after training.

Bringing your body to constant overtraining with insufficient intake of nutrients will give you severe muscle pain in arms and legs.

Increase but gradually.

Also, don’t forget the rule that you “refresh” your body at least once a week with an increased intake of “quality calories” (primarily carbs)… if not more often.

Also, you can think about “recovery” training for an hour of intensity 50-65% of maximum. This can significantly contribute to your recovery and make you feel better.

Along with a few days of rest, relaxation, massage …

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED on blog.manukanatural.com

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