Why do they feel more pain after two days of training than the next day?

You go to the gym for the first time in a long time. You try not to overdo the weight you lift to avoid injury, but you do put in some effort to keep the muscles working. You hydrate, stretch before and after your workout, and do all the tricks you’ve been told are helpful. to prevent soreness. The next day the muscles hurt a little, but not much. It seems your tricks have worked and you can declare victory. But no, you couldn’t. And the real pain comes not the next day, but two days after training.

Many of us have lived this story at some point, each with our own. slight variations. Sometimes we think that the pain from a new exercise was not so severe, but after 48 hours we find that it has not yet reached its peak. But why? What happens in our muscles for soreness to reach full strength after two days?

It is also amazing that After three days they almost disappear.. After this peak there is usually a fairly rapid recovery. There is an explanation for all this, but before we see it, we must start from the beginning.

What are laces?

The soreness was previously thought to be pain caused by glass crystals. lactic acid which are formed as a result of physical exercise. However, today we know that this is not the case. In fact, lactic acid is absolutely necessary.

In fact, we feel sore after training. micro tears which are produced in muscle fibers. During the process some inflammationfurther intensifying the pain. But fortunately, this is a discomfort that does not last long, because since these are very minor injuries, the muscles recover quite quickly.

Why do they get worse after two days?

When we exercise, muscle protein metabolism occurs. This combination of synthesis and destruction of muscle tissue. One part is damaged, as we have already seen from the micro-tears. But, in addition, under the influence of effort, new muscles are formed. The goal is to have a positive balance. That is, more muscle is created than destroyed. But while this is happening, especially during decomposition, free radicals are formed. These are unstable molecules that have lost an electron from their outer shell and must steal one from another atom or molecule to become stable again. This electron theft is known as oxidation.

Oxidation is a natural process in the body, but if it occurs in large quantities, it can cause harmful effects such as cellular aging or certain diseases such as cancer. That’s why they are so necessary antioxidants. In the case of free radicals generated during the metabolism of muscle proteins, they are not dangerous, but are annoying because, by oxidizing molecules in muscle cells, they cause a feeling of fatigue and increase soreness.

These metabolic processes develop about 48 hours. Therefore, on the second day, it is likely that more free radicals have accumulated and, therefore, the pain will be stronger.

In addition, after two days our muscles become completely cold if we do not continue to exercise, so the pain is felt much more intense. However, on the third day, these metabolic processes have already completed, and the pain begins to subside.

If you go too far, you’ll end up with problems worse than pain.

Soreness occurs due to small tears in the muscle. This is not a problem at all. However, if the large muscle is overstretched, much deeper tears can occur. they release much more proteins into the bloodstream. At this point, the liver and kidneys begin to metabolize them, but there are so many of them that they can’t cope. If you do not receive treatment to remove excess protein, the consequences can be very alarming. This phenomenon is known as rhabdomyolysis, and in the most severe cases it can even cause kidney failure or serious cardiac arrhythmia.

Therefore, if symptoms last more than two days and the pain is much worse than usual, making it difficult to move muscles, you should seek medical help as soon as possible. This is only the worst case scenario. If we don’t push too hard, everything will be fine. Although the second day of pain slightly discourages me from returning to the gym.