While lifting weights, you may experience muscle pain. It is important to differentiate between muscle pain as a natural response to placing your muscles under healthy stress and the pain as a response to an injury that has occurred during your workout. Consult a health care professional if you experience any muscle injury during exercise.
Muscle Pain Resulting From Injury
When you lift weights, stress is placed on your skeletal muscles. If you use improper form or lift weight that is beyond your capabilities, muscle injury is more likely. When a muscle becomes injured during weightlifting there is a physical disruption of the muscle fibers. This can occur either in the muscle belly itself, or where the muscle attaches to the tendon. Any sudden, sharp shooting pain radiating down a muscle is one of the first indications that an injury has occurred. This is sometimes, but not always, associated with the sound or sensation of a pop or pull around a joint and is usually followed by swelling, tenderness, and a weakness in the surrounding muscles. Any loss of mobility around a joint is also an indication of muscle injury.
Muscle Strains
Muscle strains are usually caused by an indirect stretch-induced injury. These injuries can be quite painful and are the most common muscle injury that occurs while lifting weights. Muscle strains can severely hinder your ability not just to work out, but to perform daily tasks as well. The most common muscle strains occur in the lower extremities, especially in the hamstrings and the muscles of the lower back. However, any muscle in the body can be strained or torn.
Grades Of Muscle Strains
Muscle strains are classified on a scale of one to three. A grade one muscle strain consists of a minor degree of microscopic tearing resulting in no permanent damage to the muscle. A grade two muscle strain consists of an incomplete disruption of muscle fibers. Grade two muscle strains are also called partial muscle tears. Grade three muscles strains are the most serious. A grade three strain is a complete rupture of the muscle associated with a complete, or nearly complete, loss of muscle function. In a grade three strain, the muscle will usually retract, spasm, and shorten drastically.
Muscle Burn
The burning sensation you get while lifting weights is not to be confused with muscle injury. Instead, the muscle burn is a natural result of your muscles being placed under stress. When you lift weights, your muscles produce lactic acid as a byproduct of the energy producing metabolic pathways in the muscle. Higher levels of lactic acid in a muscle increases its acidity causing pain best described as a burning sensation. This acts as a protective measure for your muscles. Lactic acid levels will build up in your muscles to intolerable levels, signaling your brain that the muscle is being worked near the point of injury. The pain signals your brain to want to stop or decrease the activity that is stressing the muscle. When you lift weights, this burning sensation is expected and can actually be beneficial for your muscles so long as you don't push them to the point of injury.
References
- "Scientific American"; Why Does Lactic Acid Build Up In Muscles? And Why Does It Cause Soreness?; Stephen M. Roth; 2006
- "Physiology Of Sport And Exercise"; Jack H. Wilmore and David L. Costill; 2004
