Why Do Our Muscles Ache After Exercise?

The skeleton forms the framework and it is the muscles which come in various different shapes and sizes which moves the parts of the body that are able to be moved.

The muscles make up the flesh of the body and without them a person would not be able to live and function as it would be impossible to eat, breathe, talk and our heart would stop because its beating is actually a muscular action.

All of the cells in the connective tissue can contract or tighten up and in some parts of the body these particular cells can contract to the point where they can transform themselves into muscular cells.

It is at these points in the body where muscle cells are used frequently that they multiply and join together to form a single smooth muscle which is composed of many fibres.

The fibres of 'smooth muscles' are generally strong but slow and help many of our organs to function such as it is the smooth muscles which contract and dilate our eyes, regulate our breathing and make our intestines function.

When the body requires rapid movement the body has developed the fibres of the smooth muscle into a higher form called 'striated muscle'.

The only muscles in our body that we are able to move are the striated muscles and these make up the muscles which are fastened firmly to the bones of our skeleton and make our limbs move.

When a muscle is stimulated into action it needs to be able to react quickly.

A muscle contracts when the brain sends a message to the muscle cells that make up each muscle and although a muscle contraction may only take less than one tenth of a second, before it has had time to relax, another message from the brain comes along so it contracts again and again and so on.

All these muscle contractions take place so quickly that they become fused into one action with the result that the muscle performs a smooth, continuous action.

When a muscle contracts it produces an acid known as Lactic Acid. This 'lactic acid' is considered by some to be a 'poison' or a 'fatigue toxin' because the effect of this lactic acid is to make you feel tired and fatigued, by making your muscles feel tired and fatigued.

If the lactic acid is removed from a tired, fatigued muscle, chances are that it will stop feeling tired and can go right to work again. But of course, lactic acid is not removed normally when you exercise or work.

In addition, various toxins are produced when muscles are active and they are carried by the blood through the body and they cause tiredness, not only in the actual muscle/s, but in the entire body, especially the brain.

So feeling tired and fatigued after muscular exercise is really the result of a kind of internal 'poisoning' that goes on in the body.

The body makes us feel tired and fatigued so that we will rest because it is during this rest period that the toxins and waste products are removed, the cells recuperate, the nerve cells of the brain recharge their batteries, the joints of the body replace the supplies of lubricant that they have used up, and so on.

So whilst exercise is very important and good for our body and our muscles and should be part of our daily routine, it is also important that we take time out to rest and recuperate as well.

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