Is the more painful the burn, the better? No pain no gain?
Burn = good?
- Thread starter nickorette
- Start date
You should be pushing yourself hard, not so hard that it is causing injury or 'pain' per say, but not so light that at the end of your workout you could have taken it all up a notch.
well I mean a painful burn, nothing more than what causes slight stiffness the next day...
I'm talking hold exercises like leg raises and planks
I'm talking hold exercises like leg raises and planks
Lactic Acid
The expression "lactic acid" is used most commonly by athletes to describe the intense pain felt during exhaustive exercise, especially in events like the 400 metres and 800 metres. When energy is required to perform exercise, it is supplied from the breakdown of Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP). The body has a limited store of about 85 grms of ATP and would use it up very quickly if we did not have ways of resynthesising it. There are three systems that produce energy to resynthesise ATP: ATP-PC, lactic acid and aerobic.
The lactic acid system is capable of releasing energy to resynthesise ATP without the involvement of oxygen and is called anaerobic glycolysis. Glycolysis (breakdown of carbohydrates) results in the formation of pyruvic acid and hydrogen ions (H+). A build up of H+ will make the muscle cells acidic and interfere with their operation so carrier molecules, called nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+), remove the H+. The NAD+ is reduced to NADH that deposit the H+ at the electron transport gate (ETC) in the mitrochondria to be combined with oxygen to form water (H2O).
If there is insufficient oxygen then NADH cannot release the H+ and they build up in the cell. To prevent the rise in acidity pyruvic acid accepts H+ forming lactic acid that then dissociates into lactate and H+. Some of the lactate diffuses into the blood stream and takes some H+ with it as a way of reducing the H+ concentration in the muscle cell. The normal pH of the muscle cell is 7.1 but if the build up of H+ continues and pH is reduced to around 6.5 then muscle contraction may be impaired and the low pH will stimulate the free nerve endings in the muscle resulting in the perception of pain (the burn). This point is often measured as the lactic threshold or anaerobic threshold or onset of blood lactate accumulation (OBLA).
The process of lactic acid removal takes approx. one hour, but this can be accelerated by undertaking an appropriate cool down that ensures a rapid and continuous supply of oxygen to the muscles.
The normal amount of lactic acid circulating in the blood is about 1 to 2 millimoles/litre of blood. The onset of blood lactate accumulation (OBLA) occurs between 2 and 4 millimoles/litre of blood. In non athletes this point is about 50% to 60% VO2 max and in trained athletes around 70% to 80% VO2 max.
Reference: Disposal of Lactate during and after Strenuous Exercise in Humans, Journal of Applied Physiology, Vol 61(1), pp338-343, 1986
Lactic acid - friend or foe?
Lactic acid (lactate) is not:
responsible for the burn in the leg muscles when exercising very fast
responsible for the soreness you experience in the 48 hours following a hard session
a waste product
Lactate, which is produced by the body all day long, is resynthesized by the liver (Cori Cycle) to form glucose that provides you with more energy. Sounds like a friend to me.
The expression "lactic acid" is used most commonly by athletes to describe the intense pain felt during exhaustive exercise, especially in events like the 400 metres and 800 metres. When energy is required to perform exercise, it is supplied from the breakdown of Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP). The body has a limited store of about 85 grms of ATP and would use it up very quickly if we did not have ways of resynthesising it. There are three systems that produce energy to resynthesise ATP: ATP-PC, lactic acid and aerobic.
The lactic acid system is capable of releasing energy to resynthesise ATP without the involvement of oxygen and is called anaerobic glycolysis. Glycolysis (breakdown of carbohydrates) results in the formation of pyruvic acid and hydrogen ions (H+). A build up of H+ will make the muscle cells acidic and interfere with their operation so carrier molecules, called nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+), remove the H+. The NAD+ is reduced to NADH that deposit the H+ at the electron transport gate (ETC) in the mitrochondria to be combined with oxygen to form water (H2O).
If there is insufficient oxygen then NADH cannot release the H+ and they build up in the cell. To prevent the rise in acidity pyruvic acid accepts H+ forming lactic acid that then dissociates into lactate and H+. Some of the lactate diffuses into the blood stream and takes some H+ with it as a way of reducing the H+ concentration in the muscle cell. The normal pH of the muscle cell is 7.1 but if the build up of H+ continues and pH is reduced to around 6.5 then muscle contraction may be impaired and the low pH will stimulate the free nerve endings in the muscle resulting in the perception of pain (the burn). This point is often measured as the lactic threshold or anaerobic threshold or onset of blood lactate accumulation (OBLA).
The process of lactic acid removal takes approx. one hour, but this can be accelerated by undertaking an appropriate cool down that ensures a rapid and continuous supply of oxygen to the muscles.
The normal amount of lactic acid circulating in the blood is about 1 to 2 millimoles/litre of blood. The onset of blood lactate accumulation (OBLA) occurs between 2 and 4 millimoles/litre of blood. In non athletes this point is about 50% to 60% VO2 max and in trained athletes around 70% to 80% VO2 max.
Reference: Disposal of Lactate during and after Strenuous Exercise in Humans, Journal of Applied Physiology, Vol 61(1), pp338-343, 1986
Lactic acid - friend or foe?
Lactic acid (lactate) is not:
responsible for the burn in the leg muscles when exercising very fast
responsible for the soreness you experience in the 48 hours following a hard session
a waste product
Lactate, which is produced by the body all day long, is resynthesized by the liver (Cori Cycle) to form glucose that provides you with more energy. Sounds like a friend to me.
So BUZZ, is it a good thing or a bad thing to go past the anaerobic threshold?
I only feel what could be described as a burning sensation when doing leg exercises. Specifically, when I am doing resistance training of the calves. I feel it during the last 1/3 of repetitions, and it fades as soon as I rest.
Well, you can raise your lactate threshold level by training at or above - i.e to " go past ' - your current threshold level by using different cardio training protocols. When you continue to do that, you decrease the amount of lactic acid you produce at high intensities and improve the ability to buffer whatever amount of lactic acid you do produce. So, as you improve, you can handle more and more lactic acid without before feeling that burn. This is a " good thing " .
Also, as you do lactate threshold training, you'll likely see benefits in optimized fat loss ( i.e intervals ) and improved aerobic performance as well - another " good thing " IMO.
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