As a true runner, I think you must have encountered this problem: after a high-intensity running training or a marathon, you find that your legs and feet are very sore, and even going up and down stairs becomes a torture.
In fact, everyone who participates in sports, whether professional athletes or general sports enthusiasts like us, has experienced muscle soreness caused by exercise. Many people do not understand the origin of muscle soreness and mistakenly think it is a strain or other muscle injury, thus stopping exercise. In fact, muscle soreness is not only a warning signal from the body but also a mechanism for muscles to adapt to exercise intensity.
Today, Wuyan Zu will talk to you about the issue of muscle soreness.
First, what is muscle soreness?
The root cause of leg and foot soreness after runningis:muscle soreness caused by overloading exercise.Generally speaking, muscle soreness can be divided into two types: acute muscle soreness and chronic muscle soreness.
Acute Muscle Soreness (AMS)
This refers to the soreness felt during or shortly after exercise, with the degree varying depending on the intensity of the exercise. Generally, it disappears completely within a few hours after exercise. This soreness is caused by the accumulation of metabolic products and plasma fluid components in the muscles after they contract due to stimulation, pressing on pain receptors and causing a sensation of pain.
Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS)
As the name suggests, this soreness is gradually felt a period of time after exercise, usually around 24 to 72 hours. During exercise, the contraction and elongation of muscles pull on muscle fibers, sometimes causing micro-tears, damage, slight bleeding, inflammation, and soreness.
Acute muscle soreness is actively eliminated by the body's metabolism, while delayed onset muscle soreness can be alleviated by ice packs to inhibit muscle fiber bleeding and combined with massage of peripheral muscle groups to accelerate body circulation and promote muscle fiber repair.
So, which type of soreness is the leg and foot soreness that appears after running?
The leg and foot soreness that appears after running is chronic muscle soreness.
What are the symptoms of muscle soreness?
The first symptom is soreness, and the severity of this soreness varies from person to person. Some runners may feel mild soreness, while others may feel more intense soreness, which is related to the intensity of the exercise and is proportional to it. In addition to soreness, some runners may also experience tenderness, mainly due to elevated creatine kinase in the blood, leading to muscle tissue damage.
Which runners will experience muscle soreness?
1Beginner runners or runners who have taken a long break
Due to not running for a long time, unfamiliar eccentric exercise can cause chronic muscle soreness.
2High-intensity runners
Overloading exercise means high-intensity eccentric exercise, which is also one of the causes of chronic muscle soreness.
3Trail runners
Running for a long time on uneven surfaces is more likely to cause chronic muscle soreness.
How to deal with chronic muscle soreness?
1Do you need to see a doctor?
Chronic muscle soreness is a very common injury and a valuable experience for runners. If there are no severe symptoms such as physical weakness, dark or cloudy urine, generally, there is no need to see a doctor.
2Do you need to stop running?
Whether to stop exercising depends on the severity of your symptoms. If your symptoms are mild, Wuyan Zu still suggests doing a small amount of running because, during this process, your muscles will gradually adapt, your bones will strengthen, and the severity and duration of the symptoms will decrease in future runs.
If the soreness is unbearable and even walking is difficult, it is better to rest for a few days until the symptoms lessen or completely disappear before starting to run again to avoid more serious consequences.
3How to alleviate the symptoms of chronic muscle soreness?
The main purpose of alleviating chronic muscle soreness is to help reduce the soreness. There are four main methods:
Light stretchingWhen soreness occurs, the muscles are actually tight, and appropriate stretching can reduce the tightness and relieve pain.
Muscle massageMassage can accelerate blood circulation and relieve muscle tension, thereby reducing soreness.
Hot and cold compressesFirst, apply an ice pack to the sore area for 15 minutes, then use a hot pack for another 15 minutes, and then ice again, repeating the cycle several times.
How to prevent chronic muscle soreness?
1Warm-up before running
Proper warm-up is very important as it can prepare the lower limb muscles for exercise, helping them adapt better during running.
2Practice running more often
Frequent running practice can help the lower limb muscles gradually adapt to the intensity, and as long as it is within this intensity, muscle soreness can be well prevented.
3Strengthen lower limb exercises
Appropriate lower limb strength training can help the muscles adapt to higher intensity running, which is also very effective in preventing muscle soreness.
In fact, after exercise or competition, allowing the muscles to rest for a day or two before the next training session can still be done even if there is some minor soreness. Unless the soreness is so severe that it affects your ability to complete the training and lasts for more than three days, it may be a muscle strain. In that case, Wuyan Zu suggests seeing a doctor as soon as possible to avoid delaying treatment.as soon as possible to avoid delaying treatment.Alright,
that's all for today's sharing. Finally, it's our interactive session. This issue's interactive topic is:What is your target weight?
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