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Sunday 22 January 2012

Lactic Acid Build up

I went snowshoeing yesterday with some friends. We had planned to take a leisurely stroll through the woods and admire mother nature. We started out on an uphill climb thinking that once we get to the top it would level out. After about 20mins of climbing, we quickly realized that this wasn't going to happen. Whats worse is that my leg muscles were already sore from the previous days events. I had done a hardcore spin class, leg weights, and gone out dancing for 4 hours. Suffice it to say I was feeling the burn 10 fold!

At about 2 hours in I felt like I was gunna die! My legs were building up with lactic acid and every step up felt like it would be my last! Somehow I managed to keep going (it must have been sheer will!).

If you're not familiar with lactic acid build up in muscles, here's the down-low. When we exercise, our bodies need to deliver oxygen as fast as possible to our muscles. As a result, we start to breath faster and more deeply. Our nostrils flare wider than usual and we start to breath through our mouths to allow as much air in as possible. Our bodies prefer to use aerobic methods (meaning with oxygen) to generate energy, but sometimes it needs oxygen faster than this method can deliver it. When this happens, our bodies switch over to anaerobic methods (meaning without oxygen) of producing energy. As a side effect, lactic acid (or lactate) accumulates to high levels which increases the acidity of the muscle cells.  This is what causes that burning feeling during strenuous exercise. Once you slow down, oxygen becomes available again and lactate levels decrease which allows your body to revert back to aerobic methods of producing energy. This is when you start to recover from the strenuous exercise.

As a side note, many people believe that lactic acid build up is responsible for muscle soreness, but this is actually a myth. The soreness is actually due to micro-tears in the muscle itself as a result of pushing it past its strength boundary. This is a good thing because these micro-tears will be repaired and your muscle will be stronger for it!


Image Source: bredeson, vastfitness


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4 comments:

  1. Unknown22 January 2012 at 18:58

    I'm thankful for your informative and easy to understand explanation of how lactate acid works. I've often wondered about the burning feeling during exercise or just following it and now I can understand the process even though I'm not a science person like yourself. Nice pic of you and your friends enjoying snowshoeing on the Coastal Mtns.

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    Replies
    1. Unknown22 January 2012 at 19:21

      Thank you. I'm glad it was useful and informative for you :)

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    2. Anonymous23 January 2012 at 16:12

      Seems to me you might want to take it more easily! Can't you get hurt if you push yourself too hard?

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    3. Unknown23 January 2012 at 16:42

      Yes you can get hurt if you over train. In an earlier post (The Adjustment Phase), I discussed the importance of listening to your body. It's definitely a balancing act because you need to push yourself in order to keep improving, but you want to make sure you you don't push too hard so as not to cause injury. Each person is different and only you can know your limits.

      That being said, I was completely fine the following day (besides feeling a little more tired than usual) so I would say that I pushed myself just enough.

      Thanks for the concern though :)

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