Experienced weight lifters are aware of that painful, sluggish feeling that can follow days after a session. In fact, pain is also a healthy sign of progress and proper exertion. Swelling, loss of strength and lack of mobility are all considered normal. Muscle twitches are far less common, but they do occasionally happen in weakened muscles.
Definition
A muscle twitch is defined as a fine, involuntary convulsive movement of the muscle fiber, encompassing only a small area. Twitches can appear in any muscle of the body as either a rapid flutter or a slow movement. Pain is not typically associated with muscle twitches, but they can easily be felt.
Function
According to Medline Plus, muscle twitching is caused by minor muscle contractions or the uncontrollable twitching of a muscle group served by a single motor nerve fiber. In other words, twitches may be the product of either an involuntary physical movement or misfiring nerves embedded in the muscles. But even twitches that are neurological in origin can still be caused by weight lifting.
Cause
Muscle twitches may be the result of a lot of things, but exercise is actually one of the more prosaic and normal causes. There are a number of pernicious causes, such as nervous system disorders and drug side effects, but if a muscle twitch is accompanied by muscle pain, transient loss of strength and all of the other effects of exercise or weight lifting, then it should be considered a normal response. You should only consult a doctor if you suspect that something more significant is wrong.
Muscle State
Weight lifting can cause muscle twitches due to the attenuated, or weakened state of the muscles after exercise. A paper in the journal Medicine and Science in Sports found that weakened muscles can cause impairment in the contractile mechanism, which are the muscle filaments, and the transmission mechanism, which includes the neuromuscular junction that transmits the signal to contract.
Calcium Flow
Muscle damage following exercise isn't completely understood, but a paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences recently discovered that the calcium flow inside muscle cells is one major problem. Calcium normally controls muscle contraction, but when muscles grow tired, small channels within the cells begin to leak calcium, weakening contractions and stimulating enzymes to destroy muscle fibers. This is a reason for much of the unintended post-exercise malaise and muscle problems such as twitching.
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