Run-Down Forums

[ZeKe]

What exactly is Lactic Acid, and what are effective ways of removing it after a workout.

I was readinag about bath salts. :question: :question:

Traditionally I've been told that taking a cool-down can be beneficial.

[Dan]

I'll let one of the guys that reads provide a definitive answer, but I'll throw massage on the table.

Dan

[Distance_Guru]

Lactic Acid is nothing more than Pyruvate molecules (fuel for the muscle) with an extra hydrogen ion attached. In english lactic acid is actually fuel that could not be used aerobicly becuase of lack of oxygen, and through the chemical reactions that go on in your body had a hydrogen ion attached to it making it acidic.

To remove it after a workout is simple stop running. Once your body is able to gets back to a level that it can supply enough oxygen to function lactic acid is neutralized. In other words five minutes after you stop running you will not have any realavent amount of lactic acid in your body.

The soreness, muscle knots and stiffness that are often attributed to lactic acids actually have very little to do with it at all. All these things are generally caused by the small tears in the muscle caused by the same exercise that produced the lactic acid. In oder to prevent or at least reduce these negative after affects of working out hard the best things to do stretch, cool down well, and drink plenty of water. Messages and icing down can also help. The idea is to do things that realine the sarcomeres (the smallest contractile units in skeletal muscle) in the muscles that have been worked. Which will speed up the healing process for these muscles.

I knew all those hours spent reading and in lectures would pay off
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