OnFitness Magazine - September/October 2018 - 46

WWW.ONFITNESSMAG.COM | VOL 19 NO 2 | 2018 46
Smart Training
WHYMYMUSCLES
ARE SORE
Phil Campbell
" My muscles are sore! " What should this
statement mean to fitness professionals who hear
this over and over again? Many clients and
trainers have read that lactic acid causes
soreness. In fact, " lactic acid causing soreness "
was preached as 100 percent accurate science for
years. Trainers couldn't pass a certification test
without knowing that " lactic acid causes soreness. "
Then 1 day, trainers had to say, " Oops, we were wrong about
lactic acid. "
Now professional trainers can answer this question with more
detail. " The research has matured and we now know that lactic acid
is reprocessed by the body very quickly and actually burned for fuel
much like a ventless fireplace in your home. " At least this is the
answer that seems to make sense to exercise enthusiasts.
Researchers report: it was long believed lactic acid and muscle
spasms caused soreness. They don't. Lactic acid dissipates from
muscle shortly after exercise and is not present when muscle
soreness develops.
" Well, what does cause soreness? "
I loved the old, back-in-the-day " lactic acid " answer because it was
so simple and easy. But this incorrect science and its application led
to the development of poor training protocols that took professional
trainers in the wrong direction.
Why do we still use extended cool-downs today? Back when we
thought that lactic acid caused soreness, we used extended cooldowns
to dissipate lactic acid because it helped eliminate soreness,
which was viewed as negative.
We now know that this is not true, yet many programs on cardio
units today still have extended cool-downs. This is a perfect example
of professional practice taking years to catch up with the research.
Building exercise protocols based on the erroneous assumption
that soreness meant lactic acid buildup and poor training methods
has led to many mamzy-pamzy exercise protocols that have lessened
exercise intensity over the years. The old-school thinking behind
soreness attacked exercise intensity because soreness was seen as
negative.
Soreness was innocent all along but was convicted of a crime
that led to bad exercise protocols like the wimpy and non-productive
" be more active, " and statements from trainers like " stop when it
burns or you'll get sore. " We're paying the price for lessening
exercise intensity today with an obese nation full of people with selfinduced
diseases like metabolic syndrome and adult-onset diabetes.
The truth about soreness is that minor soreness can show clients
that they have trained their muscles with the intensity necessary to
achieve the best adaptation possible. The reason we train muscle in
the first place is to create micro-tears in the muscle fiber, so when we
sleep, the muscle heals back bigger and stronger.
During this training/recovery process, minor soreness after
training can be positive, while major soreness may mean excessive
micro-fiber tears. The 10 percent rule of training (increase training
intensity by no more than 10 percent per week) seeks to
progressively increase intensity within common-sense limits to avoid
injury.
Major soreness means the muscle is as much as 50 percent
weaker and leaking protein from inside the muscle cells into the
bloodstream, and ranges all the way up to a structural pull or tear
injury. In essence, soreness is a signal from the built-in barometer in
your brain telling you that your muscles cannot generate their
normal strength until they have time to fully recover.
The art of training
Now that you know the science of soreness, it's time to apply the art
of training. The art of training means balance: not stability ball
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OnFitness Magazine - September/October 2018

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