How to Prevent Lactic Acid Build Up

When the muscles in your body are performing some physically strenuous activities like running or lifting heavy objects, then you tend to breathe fast in order to supply more and more oxygen to the muscles. This oxygen is then utilized to burn the glucose and thus, energy is obtained for performing various activities.

Sometimes, when too much of heavy weight is lifted or the aerobic exercises are continued for a long time, then energy has to be produced at a very fast rate than the body can actually supply oxygen. In this condition, energy is produced with the help of glycolysis process where carbohydrates and sugars are broken down in the absence of oxygen.

During this metabolic process, a component named pyruvate is formed. If sufficient amount of oxygen supply is there, then this pyruvate is removed. Whereas, if there is lack of oxygen, pyruvate gets converted into lactate.

As the level of lactate goes higher, it reacts with other chemicals in the body to form lactic acid. This chemical reaction causes burning sensation in the muscles, muscle ache, soreness and discomfort.

Lactic acid build up does not cause any harm to the body. Rather, the body tries to indicate that its muscles are overworked. You can prevent recurrence of lactic acid build up with the help of the following instructions:

The muscles need to be stretched both before and after the workout. Proper warm up exercises involving all the muscles of the body are a must in order to fully prepare them for the strenuous activities. Hold each of the warm up stretches for 10 seconds. After the training, you must allow the muscles to relax with proper stretching.

This helps in prevention of lactic acid build up. The duration of stretching for removal of lactic acid build up should be longer than the warm up stretches and you should hold each of these stretches for at least 30 seconds.

During anaerobic exercises, you must train all the muscles of the body and not focus only on some specific set of muscles. For instance, if you are a body builder, you should work upon the leg muscles as well.

As you change your workout to suit various muscles, the other muscles on which you have already worked, get the chance to recover from lactic acid build up. This will minimize the build up in those muscles.

There are a number of vitamins and minerals that have proved to be helpful in the prevention of lactic acid build up. Magnesium rich foods like tofu, nuts and seeds can keep the level of lactic acid low.

Essential fatty acids obtained from salmon and mackerel enable the body to use up glucose more efficiently which in turn lessen the chances of lactic acid build up. Besides, vitamin C from citrus juices, potassium from banana and kiwi and B vitamins from meat, low fat dairy products, etc., are useful nutrients needed for this purpose.

Drink plenty of water to keep your body hydrated which in turn will flush out the excess of lactic acid quite easily. This way, you can prevent too much of lactic acid accumulation in the muscles. You should drink 8-10 glasses of water in a day. Moreover, sports drinks are also good for decreasing lactic acid build up.

Baking soda is nothing but sodium bicarbonate, which is an alkaline substance. When it is taken before an intense workout session, it can neutralize the lactic acid and thus, lower its level in the muscles.

Dissolve one teaspoon of baking soda in a cup of water and drink this solution 2-3 hours before the training session. Many athletes have found it highly beneficial but there are some who have faced side effects like indigestion. So, if you experience any such side effect, you should not take it.

If you are dealing with the problem of lactic acid build up right now, then I would like to tell you that there is no need to stop the workout completely. Rather, you should train your muscles with low intensity exercises to develop a better endurance.

Later on, once you recover from the soreness of the muscles, you can increase the intensity as usual and at the same time, alter the workout so that the already overworked muscles get some rest.