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Exercising to Improve Your Sleep
Studies suggest that exercise helps to promote sleep for individuals with insomnia. Below are some of the benefits exercise provides :
- Adrenaline is released, increasing the heart rate and metabolism, naturally fatiguing the body.
- Brain...
Intelligence of cats part-2
Cats can learn dozens of activities. It is not necessary to train a cat to use litter box because mother cats train their kittens to use litter box. Cats can also be trained for using toilet. A kitten can learn to use toilet at the age of just three...
Interval Training - The Best Weight Loss Exercise
Weight Loss Exercise Principles
If you have read the article called Exercise: Essential , then you can skip down to the next section, called How to do Interval Training. Read on if you need a reminder of the basic principles of exercise for...
Review of Curves
Review of Curves by Renee Kennedy Overview: According to their web site, Curves is the largest fitness franchise in the world. Curves offers a 30 minute circuit training course. They have 13 pieces of equipment. All of the equipment is hydraulic,...
Why Chair Yoga
Isn't Yoga just for young "hard bodies," like you would see on the cover of a magazine? Don't you have to turn your body into a pretzel, to practice Yoga? These are, a few of the many, questions I am asked about Yoga and Chair Yoga.
Any idea that...
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5 Little Known Facts About Lactic Acid
Everybody knows that lactic acid accumulates when we exercise at a high intensity, but there is much more to lactate than that. It plays an integral role in many of the body’s metabolic processes.
1. Lactic Acid is Always Present
It’s always being produced. At rest your lactic acid levels will be about 1 millimoles/liter (mmol/L). As exercise intensity increases so does the production of lactic acid. It’s not until you pass your anaerobic threshold that it reduces your efficiency. For most people this is approximately 4 mmol/L, or 70-80% of their VO2max.
2. Not Just Oxygen Deficiency
It is commonly thought that it is the lack of oxygen that causes the increased production of lactic acid. Whilst it is a contributing factor, it is the absence of the “carrier molecules” NAD (nicotinomide adenine dinucleotide) and FAD (flavin adenine dinucleotide) that have a much greater effect. They play the important role of transporting hydrogen into the cells for use in the production of energy. If they are not around, the hydrogen joins with pyruvate to produce lactic acid.
3. Lactic Acid as Fuel
Lactic acid is usually removed from the muscle tissue within 30 minutes after exercise. It is used by liver, heart, and kidney as a source of energy. The liver can also convert it back into glucose, where it is released into the bloodstream for muscle use. It can also be converted into glycogen for storage.
4. Fatigue and Lactic Acid
Most people know that increases in lactic acid causes a
decrease in your ability to perform but few actually know how this occurs.
Firstly, you’ll have a decrease in energy. The increase in hydrogen reduces the production of ATP (energy) by inhibiting key ezymes involved in its production.
Secondly, your muscles won’t be able to contract as often or with as much force. For a muscle to contract we need calcium to attach itself to binding sites within the muscle. The more calcium attached, the more forceful the contraction. The problem occurs because hydrogen competes with calcium for bindings sites.
5. Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS)
Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness is the pain you feel in the muscle 24-48 hours after exercise. It was once thought that lactic acid caused this but it has now been proven wrong.
It’s the excessive mechanical force which results in damage to the muscle or connective tissue. The body responds by repairing it and this stimulates sensory nerve endings which results in pain. This is why it usually occurs when you first start an exercise program, or when you train at an unusually high intensity.
About the Author: Ray Kelly has a degree in Exercise Science and has worked in the fitness industry for 15 years. For more information on health and fitness, go to http://www.free-online-health.com
Source: www.isnare.com
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