WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU EXERCISE?
Regular exercise increases vigor and promotes a general sense
of well-being. If done in moderation, it can help relieve the effects
of stress, and has been linked to decrease in psychological depression.
The fun of sports and physical activity is one of the "healthy pleasures,"
and greatly improves the quality of life.
Regular exercise produces positive physical results like increased
muscular strength and endurance, more efficient heart and respiratory
functioning, and greater flexibility. Exercise, along with a healthy diet,
also results in less body fat and greater lean body mass. These are
the components of health-related fitness.
These positive physical changes occur as the body gradually
adapts to the greater demands put on it by regular exercise.
The body improves its functioning to meet the challenges placed
on it. Conditioning has been described as a process of pushing
physical limits (tearing down), recovery, and then building up to
meet the new demands. Recovery is often overlooked, but is
essential for the rebuilding phases, and to realizing the benefits
of a conditioning program.
The "tearing down" phase of the adaptation process often
involves stiffness and soreness, especially when the amount
of movement is significantly increased from what the body has
been used to in the past. Referring to post-exercise soreness,
people often comment about finding muscles "I didn't even know I had."
Delayed muscle soreness (24-48 hours after exercise) may be
caused by any of a number of different factors. Some possible
causes are minor muscle or connective tissue damage, local
muscle spasms that reduce blood flow, or a build up of waste
products (metabolites) from energy production.
Trigger points or stress points may also cause muscle
soreness and decreased flexibility. These points are specific
spots in muscle tendons which cause pain when pressed,
and which may radiate pain to a larger area. They are not
bruises, but are thought by some to be small areas of spasm.
Trigger points may be caused by sudden trauma
(like falling or being hit), or may develop over time from the
stress and strain of heavy physical exertion or from repeated
use of a particular muscle.
Heavily exercised muscles may also lose their capacity to
relax, causing chronically tight (hypertonic) muscles, and
loss of flexibility. Lack of flexibility is often linked to muscle
soreness, and predisposes you to injuries, especially muscle
pulls and tears. Blood flow through tight muscles is poor (ischemia),
which also causes pain.
