Hey yall…got a ?..what causes lactic acid…and dont tell me working out hard…duh…i mean chemically…can anyone out there break it down for me…i am really interested…also WHAT CAN I DO TO PREVENT IT or GET RIDE OF IT?
Lactic acid is simply a by product of anaerobic respiration. After a glycolytic cycle, if oxygen is present, pyruvate will be used in oxidative phosphorylation. Without oxygen, pyruvic acid will be converted into lactic acid. Accumulation of lactic acid inhibits glycolysis and therefore your ability to contract muscle tissue.
It’s a waste product from anaerobic exercise. Um, that’s all I know. Being a former rower I should know a lot more than I do.
Creatine supplementation will increase the amount of time that you can rely of the phosphocreatine energetic pathway before you hit anaerobic glycolysis and start creating lactic acid. As for learning how to deal with it, the best option is to do high intensity interval training, where you go all out for 30-120 seconds and take 30-240 seconds of rest or light activity between intervals. This produces a lot of lactic acid if you really go all out and thus your body will adapt by learning how to use or clear the lactic acid produced. The actual equation has slipped my head, so I’ll post the energetics monday when I get to work and have access to most of my texts. BTW, some people consume sodium bicarbonate which makes the blood more alkaline and thus you can buffer more lactic acid, but it usually causes stomach irrations and it is not the best option. What are you training for?
Hey thanks for all responding so far…Jason I am not training for a specific sport, just started weight lifting after almost a month layoff and i hit legs hard on thursday and still barely can move today(sunday)…i am just interested in learning how the body works…i have a decent grasp of it…but i need help in some departments…i just want to learn as much as possible and after getting this soar it just came to me…so i thought i would post it. Have you all ever heard of the cream called Traumel?..i have heard its great for relieving soarness…also i hit legs as i said thursday and monday is my back day and i like to hit deadlifts but my legs are so soar i still have a hard time walking…thats why i need to learn how to get the soarness out so i can hit deadlifts on monday.
baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) works, but you gotta be careful to take the right amount. too much can give you stomach problems.
Whats the reason for taking baking soda?
Baking soda increase the amount of bicarbonate (HCO3-)in the blood which will bind with the acidic hydrogen ion (H+) given off by the lactic acid (HLA for short). The equation is as follows: HLA → H+ + LA- then H+ + HCO3- → H2CO3 then H2CO3 → H2O + CO2. We can use the water and then breathe out the C02. One word of note on this topic is that sodium bicarbonate and creatine don’t prevent lactic acid but allow you to do more work before lactic acid build-up limits work output. Lactic acid is not a bad thing and is probably not the culprit when it comes to delayed onset muscle soreness. Soreness is highly individual but can be minimized by building up your work capacity and GPP, periodized training, proper nutrition, proper post-workout nutrition and active recovery techniques such as heat, cold, massage, etc.
For rob - Glucose + O2 --(non-oxidative glycolysis)--> 2ATP + 2Lacate. The lactate is in a constant state of equilibrium with pyruvate. Pyruvate combines with H+ ions from NADHH in the presenche of lactate dehydrogenase and forms lactic acid. Although, we often like to dismiss lactic acid as a waste product or end-product metabolite with no inherent use other than to make our muscle burn that is not the case. The carbon skeletons of lactate and pyruvate can be used to form glucose by the Cori cycle. But that is for another day. Anyway, this may be more than you wanted to hear and I would like to cite Brookks, Fahey and White (Exercise Physiology 2nd Ed, 1996) and McArdle, Katch and Katch (Exercise Physiology, 4th Ed, 1996) for providing some of this information. Hey, I can't remember everything.
Lactic acid is not a bad thing(besides it burns), it actually causes GH release and means your working hard. To prevent soreness make sure your getting enough glutamine, cool down after your workout(to flush away lactic acid), and do light “recovery” workouts a couple days after you hit a muscle hard.
Thanks jason i copied what you said and pasted it in my info files on my computer…gotta keep learning…and it really meant alot to me for the research thanks…thanks to others as well