Fitness myths: muscle pain in the morning is a sign of a good workout

Muscle pain is almost always considered a sign of a well-executed workout - both immediately during and the next day. No pain no gain is the motto of a real rocking chair. And there is some truth in this: to get what you don’t have, you need to leave your comfort zone, and leaving your comfort zone is always stressful and unpleasant.

But beginners don’t always understand what needs to be tolerated and what not. Pain comes in different forms, some are beneficial, others are harmful, so it is better to learn to distinguish one from the other.

Is running bad for your joints?

There is always harm to joints during active physical activity. While running, the load increases. When a person places emphasis on one leg, he transfers his body weight to it. The knee joint receives a shock portion of this load - it is most actively exposed to danger.

On the one hand, a similar process occurs during walking. The body weight shifts first on one leg, then on the other, but it is running that destroys the joints faster. This occurs because the body's mass is multiplied by the acceleration force. And the faster we run, the more noticeable the negative impact will be, as the load increases.

It is also necessary to take into account that running can be different - jogging, sports, long strides, with complex elements, classic. When creating support on one leg, a person puts stress on different joints and the musculoskeletal system. The longer the step, the greater the support, the more time it takes to perform the action. This creates conditions for increased load.

The safest running is slow, in small steps. In this case, the joints are subject to less intense destruction, and the risk of inflammatory processes is reduced.

Running harms not only your knees, but also your hip joints. Other joints are subject to less stress, although in any case it will be increased, since the pressure remains always high during running.

The greater a person's weight, the more intense the load on the musculoskeletal system. A person weighing 60 kg, taking into account the acceleration force, will “wear out” their joints more slowly than a person weighing 120 kg . Therefore, for people who weigh more than average, there are alternative options for active pastime. This can be fast walking or slow running with enhanced fixation of the knees and ankles.

Why hip pain occurs when running: how to prevent pain from occurring

If your hip hurts, it’s not always joint pain.

. But such discomfort often accompanies beginning runners. Problems can also arise for a professional. Pain occurs for a number of different reasons. It could be:

• incorrect running technique;
• overworked muscles;
• the appearance of diseases of muscle or bone tissue, for example, bursitis or osteoarthritis.

If your hip hurts after or during running, then you need to understand the cause and choose the right treatment. After all, any discomfort can lead to serious injuries if you do not pay attention to it.

How is the hip constructed?

The thigh is the part of the leg that is located between the knee and pelvis. The femoral head seems to be inserted into the recess of the pelvis. This type of connection is called a hinged connection. It turns out that the leg can easily move in different directions. The thigh muscles are represented by three types. These are anterior, medial, posterior. When anything that makes up the femoral part stops functioning properly, you can forget about running.

The composition includes not only bones, muscles and joints, tendons also play an important role. They are dense fibers that hold muscle and bone tissue together. Tendons have high strength, but low elongation. It is for this reason that ruptures of these fibers are so common in running athletes.

The thigh is the strongest and most vulnerable part of the body. The athlete needs to pay a lot of attention to stretching and warming up to avoid injury. Then the training will take place safely. When you need to give yourself a big load, you need to be especially careful about the warm-up and then the cool-down, otherwise pain cannot be avoided, and this risks stopping running altogether.

What indicates illness

The following symptoms can be said:

1. The leg moves poorly;
2. When you walk you feel pain;
3. Pulling in the groin;
4. The rotation of the joint where the thigh enters is impaired;
5. If you squat and turn, you experience sharp or dull pain;
6. The thigh swells;
7. When you lift or move your leg, it hurts;
8. When you move your leg, it pulls.

How to understand why it hurts

When there is pain in the groin area or buttocks, this indicates that you may have compression of a nerve called the sciatic nerve, or that the hip joint is inflamed.

If there is stiffness where the hip attaches to the pelvis, then you most likely have arthritis. It may be rheumatoid or osteoarthritis.

If leg movement is limited, then there has been an injury or osteoarthritis.

When muscles hurt, for example, the front or back, then there was definitely an injury. This diagnosis is made for severe and acute pain. Perhaps it’s just soreness after high loads.

Why does my hip hurt?

Now the most common diseases that lead to hip pain will be given, but the diagnosis must be made by a doctor, since self-medication, at best, will prevent you from running, and at worst, you will become disabled.

So, why does your hip hurt:

• This is possible with osteoarthritis or coxarthrosis. Typically, such degeneration occurs in older people, that is, those over fifty. But diseases are getting younger, so even those who are still far from retirement should check to see if you have worn-out cartilage, which wears out not only due to age, but also due to heavy loads.
• Pain will occur with trochanteric bursitis. This is an inflammation that damages the trochanter. Usually the cause is an infectious disease, possibly injury. It hurts more often from above, the body temperature in this area is noticeably higher, the tissues swell. If the diagnosis was in the early stages, then a simple ointment will help; in protracted cases, only surgery will help.
• The appearance of dysplasia, which was diagnosed not in childhood, but in adulthood. Then there will be dislocations and subluxations all the time. If the disease was missed in childhood, it can only be cured through surgery.
• Tendinitis accompanies the hip joint. The problem appears when running and jumping when the athlete hits his feet on a hard surface. Often the athlete does not pay attention to the painful condition of the legs, which leads to a chronic form of the disease. A good sign is clicking in the joint and difficulty turning the leg.
• When muscles are stretched, pain also occurs. Regular ointment will help here. The problem arises due to poor muscle warming up before training. In this case, you should not heat the thigh; it is better to apply cold water and give it rest, limiting physical activity.

How to treat?

If your hip hurts after training, first of all, you need to give it rest. You should not hesitate to see a doctor. Since self-medication will not lead to anything good. After all, not even all specialists can immediately make a diagnosis. They usually send the patient for examination.

For example, a doctor may order a person to have an X-ray or MRI done. Only then can we talk about the final diagnosis. How long the leg should be at rest, that is, all exercise and long walks should be excluded, depends on the severity of the disease. The age and strength of the body plays a big role. In younger and healthier people, everything heals faster than in older and sicker people.

You can often get by with ointments and other conservative methods, for example, massage, physical exercise. The doctor often prescribes injections that relieve inflammation, speeding up recovery.

If the problem is more serious than first thought, surgery may be required.
Typically, this method is used when the disease is advanced. Therefore, it is better to consult a doctor at the first pain in order to begin treating the problem immediately. Author: K.M.N., Academician of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences M.A. Bobyr

Running and knee joints

As already noted, the knee joints are subject to the most active load while running. However, its intensity may vary. Let's look at the factors that influence the degree of damage to the knees while running:

Movement speed. The mass of the body is multiplied by the acceleration force. Accordingly, the faster you run, the more active the load. Low and medium speeds are less harmful to the knee joints. As a rule, running is considered to be a moving speed of 8 km/h, but the execution technique also plays a significant role, since you can walk quickly at a similar speed.

Incorrectly selected shoes . For running, you need to choose special running shoes that provide shock absorption and high-quality grip of the foot with the ground or floor surface. The purpose of shoes is to fix the foot in a certain position.

Features of the structure of joints. Some people have stronger joints than others. Some people run all their lives and experience virtually no problems with their knees, while others constantly suffer from pain. Scientists and doctors cannot say for sure what exactly are the fundamental factors affecting the structure and resistance of joint tissue to stress. According to different versions, this is the quality of water, air, nutrition, lifestyle features, and movement.

Execution technique. A lot depends on how you position your foot. You cannot “hit” your feet on the floor while running; you need to move your foot smoothly, roll your foot from heel to toe. Many people don’t even think that they increase the load on their joints only because they jump on the entire foot at once, rather than starting from the heel smoothly and gradually.

Hip pain

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Let’s imagine a situation: a young (or not so young), but very frightened patient comes to see a rheumatologist. He immediately says that he was referred by a therapist/neurologist/surgeon because his hip joint hurts and is “destroying.” As evidence, he presents x-rays/MRI of the hip joints, which describe stage 1-2 coxarthrosis.

The rheumatologist begins to ask where exactly and how it hurts, turning over in his head the causes of damage to the hip joint in a previously healthy person (spondyloarthritis? tuberculosis? aseptic necrosis of the femoral head?), but after a few minutes of conversation he exhales and calms down. Because he hears a description of the symptoms not of damage to the hip joint, but “just” the soft tissues around.

Indeed, damage to the soft tissue around the joint is the most common cause of hip pain. Typically, in such cases, trochanteritis is diagnosed - inflammation at the site of attachment of the tendon of the so-called femorotibial tract to the greater trochanter of the femur (in Latin, trochanter is trochanter, hence trochanteritis).

Trochanteritis usually manifests itself as pain along the lateral surface of the thigh, with a maximum in the most protruding part (this is where patients “feel” the hip joint, although in reality the hip joint is in the groin area). It hurts when exerting yourself: climbing stairs, walking for a long time, and most often when lying on your side.

The provoking factor is the same type of load on the thigh in combination with hypotrophy of the muscular-ligamentous apparatus (hello gymnastics!). It is treated by prescribing painkillers (local injections, oral medications) and selecting adequate physical activity. But ointments are ineffective: a sufficiently large fat and muscle layer does not allow them to penetrate to the source of inflammation.

Less often, patients encounter true damage to the hip joint, among the causes of which osteoarthritis ranks first. This is a degenerative disease characterized by damage to all joint structures, but the main factor is the “thinning” of the articular cartilage. This gradually leads to the “bringing together” of the bone surfaces to each other, the appearance of pain and limitation of movements in the joint.

Pain from osteoarthritis of the hip joint is usually localized in the groin area, can radiate to the buttock and intensifies with exercise. Often the first symptom is pain in the knee joint, since when the damaged hip joint is loaded, the pain is reflected into the completely intact knee joint.

What to do to reduce damage to your knee joints while running:

Choose the right shoes. Running shoes are sold in sports stores. They are produced by brands that manufacture sporting goods. Reliable fixation of the ankle is important, as is how well the degree of rigidity of the sole, insole, and platform elevation are thought out. Use fixing bandages, orthoses, orthopedic corsets , and other related products that will help secure the joints in the correct position. This will potentially reduce the load, reduce the likelihood of inflammation after running, and make it easier to move. Watch how you place your feet. The load should not fall only on the heel. Smoothly stand on the surface, immediately move your leg, smoothly lift it. Don't strain your knees. Follow the technique - this will help protect against inflammatory processes. Eat right , drink purified water with a high content of beneficial components. Avoid water from coolers - as a rule, it comes in the same plastic bottles, which gradually begin to release toxins into the liquid. According to many doctors, this is one of the reasons for the premature destruction of joint and bone tissue.

The effects of running on joints

Tissue destruction. One common problem is arthrosis, in which the cartilage becomes thinner. Inflammatory processes. We are not always talking about arthritis, since it has a deeper origin, but inflammation can also occur after running due to the increased impact on the tissue.

How to solve the problem of knee pain if you already have it due to running:

• use ointments that have an anti-inflammatory effect;
• drink more clean water;
• minimize the load on your legs for several days;
• breathe more fresh air;
• wear safety shoes;
• wear knee and ankle braces;
• strengthen your muscles;
• Taping also helps to recover from injuries.

Pain during exercise

Pain from stretching a muscle under load

This occurs when a muscle is stretched by weight. For example, stretched glutes and hamstrings in the Romanian deadlift. This is a dispersed pain throughout the muscle, as if it is “tearing off” from the bone (figuratively speaking). Moderate sensations are normal. Moreover, it is assumed that controlled stretching of the muscle under load is one of the additional stimuli for muscle growth. Therefore, there is even a separate type of training based on “negatives”, when the phase of stretching the muscle under weight is deliberately long.

Pain-burning during exercise

A strong burning sensation in the muscle appears when it is under load for a long time, that is, 12 repetitions or more. Somewhere in the middle of the exercise, a burning sensation appears, and then from repetition to repetition it grows until it becomes so unbearable that it is impossible to continue.

Oxygen stops flowing to muscle cells; they are acidified by the breakdown products of the main muscle fuel during training - glucose. This chemical poisoning is also one of the stimuli for muscle growth, so training until the burning sensation is effective (although there is little pleasure in it).

Joint pain

Another type of pain during exercise is a sharp, needle-like pain in the joint that quickly increases from repetition to repetition. Many people train through pain, using bandages, orthoses, bandages, warming and pain-relieving ointments. But pain is a signal that it is dangerous to continue moving.

Pain in the joint (and probable injury in the future, as a consequence) can be caused by non-compliance with the technique, potentially dangerous and simply unnatural exercises for the joints, incomplete recovery of not only muscles, but also connective tissue between workouts, poor warming up before training, and poor posture. and incorrect joint position.

Running and the hip joint

The hip joints are also subject to increased stress when running. However, the main impact falls on the knee areas. The rules that apply to running also apply to the hips. It is difficult to fix the pelvis with a bandage. It is recommended to keep your back straight and not lean to one side, back or forward.

Weak muscle tissue, not prepared for increased load, cannot withstand it and transfers it to the joint, thereby provoking inflammation and active destruction. To prevent this, it is recommended to monitor your posture, strengthen your back muscles and gluteal group - this will help minimize damage to the hip area while running.

Why do my joints hurt after running or while running?

A joint is a fluid-filled space between bones, assembled into a capsule and ligaments. The lining contains synovial fluid. It is she who is responsible for depreciation.

When a person runs, synovial fluid is used up faster. Its lack provokes active friction, which causes inflammation and destruction. The more powerful the load, the higher the risk of joint diseases. The synovial membrane becomes injured and inflamed, causing the joints to begin to ache, their functionality decreases, and wear accelerates.

Take care of yourself and run correctly!

Muscle pain after exercise

Everyone is waiting for her in the morning to evaluate how well the training was done. It seems to many: the more difficult it is to walk after “leg day,” the better for muscle growth. There is a direct connection between both. And when pain = growth, strength becomes the ultimate goal of training. But there is no direct connection, and pain is not a necessary condition for muscle growth, and in some cases it even interferes.

Why do my muscles hurt the next day?

Typically, soreness appears 6-24 hours after training and goes away within a few days. It can be very strong or barely noticeable. Most often, soreness appears if you have strained your muscles more than usual: increased working weights or returned to training after a break.

Most often, pain appears after exercises with a greater emphasis on the eccentric phase (stretching the muscle under load).

For example, during a biceps curl, the muscle contracts and becomes shorter. When you lower the barbell down, the muscle is stretched by the gravity of the barbell. In this phase, called the eccentric phase, microdamage to fibers occurs in the muscles.

Today it is generally accepted that delayed pain is the result of inflammation after microdamage to the muscle and the body’s immune response.

Sometimes you can still hear that “in the morning” muscles hurt because of lactic acid, but it is eliminated from the body within an hour after training.