Why does Lactic Acid build up in muscles? And why does it cause soreness?

Why does Lactic Acid build up in muscles? And why does it cause soreness?

Have you ever had a burning sensation in your muscles during intense exercise?

When our bodies perform strenuous exercise, we start to breathe quicker as we attempt to shuttle more oxygen to those working muscles. The body prefers to generate most of its energy using aerobic methods, meaning with oxygen.

As we work harder and harder, our muscles require energy production faster than our bodies can adequately deliver oxygen. In these cases, the working muscles generate energy anaerobically.

This energy comes from glucose through a process called glycolysis, in which glucose is broken down into a substance called pyruvate through a series of steps. When the body has plenty of oxygen, pyruvate is shuttled to an aerobic pathway to be further broken down for more energy.

But when oxygen is limited, the body temporarily converts pyruvate into a substance called lactate, which allows glucose breakdown—and thus energy production—to continue.

The working muscle cells can continue this type of anaerobic energy production at high rates for one to three minutes, during which time lactate can accumulate to high levels.

At this point your body is being deprived of oxygen - and lactic acid is being created. When your body produces lactic acid, it splits into two ions; lactate ions (lactate) and hydrogen ions (H+) .

The hydrogen ions (H+) is the acid in lactic acid. Intramuscular Acidosis – The pH (acid) is not due to lactate but rather the production of these hydrogen ions (H+) which is part of the process of energy released from the breakdown of glucose.

As hydrogen ions (H+) are released, intramuscular pH goes acid leading to fatigue and creates the burning feeling in your muscles during intense exercise. 

This painful sensation gets us to stop overworking the body, thus forcing a recovery period in which the body clears the lactate and other metabolites.

Our Xendurance Lactic Acid Tablets have been designed to buffer and delay the onset of Lactic Acid build up - over the last decade, 12 clinical studies have proven the benefits. Two of those studies are Gold Standard, double blind, placebo controlled, published studies. The results of those studies show a reduction of soreness, improvement in stamina and an accelerated recovery.

You can read the last study here from the Journal of Athletic Enhancement.

We prefer the reviews from real customers, these are taken from Wiggle.com

Put the work in and get the results - "I have been using Xendurance now for over 2 seasons and compete at a high level in time trialing and triathlon. If you want to get that extra performance you have longed for after all the long hours of training, then this is the product i would recommend over anything else. If taken correctly and also regularly it will definitely give you the edge over your competition."

Game Changer - "Recommended these from sponsorship on a podcast and was dubious, then read some reviews and decided to go for it! Now can't live without them! My legs are thanking me every day! Constant training and racing, and not having sore legs, not struggling to walk up and down stairs is a god send. These really do work! Really stop those muscle aches the day after a race or a tough training session!
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