Lactic pain is not gain! This is what I have noticed: I have no lactic pain on the days where I get up and out without hesitation. It really doesn't matter how hard I work out or what I do; there's just no lactic pain. Then there are the days where I can barely peel my eyes open, and when I do, I try to avoid the mirror because I am intimately familiar with the disaster that will gaze back at me. These days usually follow nights when Matt and I stay out past respectable hours (say, after 3am), during which time consumption of wine or dirty martinis has occurred. Actually, the dirty martinis are just me. Matt's drink is vodka. Okay, martinis are vodka, too, but I see them as a whole different animal, probably because of the pretty glass and the blue cheese stuffed olives. Matt and I are also fond of getting a burger on the way home. You see where I am going with this...
Anyway, the lactic pain from that day's workout (you thought I was going to say hangover) is bad and lasts for days. I find it neither helpful, nor proof of progress. It just gives me an excuse to do less. Lighter weight, shorter run, taking it easy on the heavy bag — screws my whole week up.
Here's what I'm thinking.
Dehydrated, overly toxic body with overworked filters (liver, kidneys) = lactic pain. Even my use of proteolytic enzymes as a preventative measure fails (I take three before every workout to speed healing of torn muscle tissue). I'm gonna try something new and see if it works better — making sure I am well hydrated before I hit the gym (the stats are that up to 70% of athletes start their workouts dehydrated), and taking plenty of ionized minerals to replenish my elecrolyte balance. I'll let you know how it works out...
looking forward to the results! I wish the only time i had pain is after to many drinks and a burger at 3AM! How are the AM workouts going??
ReplyDelete“There is no gain without pain” as the saying goes to get people psyched up. People tend to work out harder so they can reach their gains faster but this we know is false. Your body needs rest so the muscles can heal themselves. If you haven’t worked out in a while you will feel the pain regardless of how hard you workout. As for me when I worked out on a regular basis I only felt the hurt when I worked a particular body part “extremely hard”. If I didn’t feel the pain I felt I wasn’t fulfilling my objective which was to gain muscle mass. The pain was no fun but thanks to Twin Lab’s, Phos-Fuel [a lactic acid buffer] it helped me. Psychologically the pain feels good and gives a sense of accomplishment but it is by far going to help your gains. As for alcohol, it dehydrates the body and that does not do anything except maybe help to forget about the pain, at least for a little while.
ReplyDeleteJohn, thanks for the insightful comment. You've hit upon some interesting points. Lactic acid, as widely believed, is not the true cause of post-workout pain - the real culprit is the tearing of the muscle fiber. It is, however responsible for the burn during a workout. Lactic acid enhances performance once the muscles' resources are exhausted and oxygen utilization is no longer optimum. It does this by optimizing the electromagnetic energy within the muscle by lowering the flow of chlorine ions.
ReplyDeletePhos Fuel is a nutritional product that provides some, though not all, of the minerals and vitamins necessary for athletes. One of the reasons it works, is because many athletes are nutritionally deficient. Although the emphasis is always on glucose, the truth is that a nutritionally deficient body simply cannot perform at an optimum level and takes longer to recover.
Proteolytic enzymes decrease inflammation and speed healing of the muscle tissue. An athlete who is well-hydrated, nutritionally sound and in good health, would experience minimum post-workout pain, especially when using proteolytic enzymes and homeopathic remedies.