We all love a good workout. You feel invigorated and refreshed. But exercise takes a toll on your body and you get that burning feeling. That’s the cause of lactic acid. While it’s not bad for your body, eliminating it quickly will help you recover faster. Here’s how. Tips on Faster Recovery How Lactic Acid Affects You Lactic acid is released into the muscles when normal energy stores have been used up. Small amounts of lactic acid act as a temporary source of energy which helps to prevent fatigue while still exercising. However, high lactic acid levels leads to an increase of acidic levels in the muscles. This can create burning sensations and intense pain in the muscles which can slow down or completely stop exercise activity. Often muscle soreness and stiffness is experienced 2 to 3 days after a hard workout. This is mainly due to the build up of lactic acid. Painful muscle cramps may also occur after exercise, partly because of acid build up and partly because of a low magnesium level. Sports Drinks, Friend or Foe? Sports drinks claim to replace fluids and electrolytes during lost during heavy perspiration while exercising. Some of them have been shown to improve performance during exercise, but the downside is the high sugar levels and flavouring agents in them. Most of them also contain colorants and nasties like aspartame. The sugar content can immediately start eating away at your tooth enamel and aspartame is a known carcinogen (causes cancer) so avoid this at all costs. Tips on Faster Recovery -Eat a meal high in good quality protein and carbohydrates and low in fat immediately after workout. Consuming protein before bed and in the morning also helps recovery. -Drink plenty of alkaline water during and after exercise. Alkaline water will help to neutralise lactic acid built up in the muscles so you’ll be able to train for longer as your muscles will not start to burn as quickly. -Take turmeric. Turmeric is one of the most powerful anti-oxidants and anti-inflammatory spices you can find. Exercise causes inflammation in the body and the quicker you can eliminate it the quicker you can recover. -Take a cold bath after your workout. This can also help reduce inflammation and soreness and speed up recovery. -Get ample sleep to allow your body to heal and repair. For more natural health tips visit our blog at: http://www.alkalife.com.au/blog.
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