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Should You Skip the Post-Race Massage?
Posted on May 26th 2010 3:00PM by Deborah DunhamFiled Under: Fitness
Delightfully Mundane, Flickr
It's a common misconception, but many athletes blame lactic acid build-up in their legs as the culprit for muscle soreness and fatigue and seek massage therapy as a way to work it out of their muscles. However, scientists have proven that soreness is not caused by lactic acid and now say that massage is an ineffective way to rid the muscles of that acid.
Researchers from Queen's University in Ontario, Canada put 12 healthy males to the test to measure their post-exercise lactic acid levels. Following two minutes of isometric handgrip exercises, participants allowed their muscles to recover in one of three ways: passive recovery (doing nothing), active recovery (continuing with light exercise) and massage.
After measuring the lactic acid levels in all three scenarios, the study, which was published in the June 2010 issue of Medicine & Science in Sports and Exercise, concluded that massage impairs blood flow to the muscles, thus preventing the lactic acid from leaving the muscles as quickly as passive or active recovery.
Lactic acid is the body's way of converting extra energy into the muscles -- a process that happens with vigorous exercise when the muscles feel like they're burning. And that's not a bad thing. In fact, researchers have found that lactic acid does not make muscles tired, but rather, it makes them contract more efficiently, which could increase endurance in the long run.
And because lactic acid is typically worked out of the muscles naturally within 60 minutes after exercise, the more accurate explanation for an "exercise hangover," or post-workout soreness, is micro-tears to the muscles brought on by overuse or vigorous exercise -- a situation where massage therapy would be effective.
Want to increase your lactic acid threshold? Learn how.
