PHS students pushed themselves to their limits in this week’s fitness challenge – they were in pain the next day – but that’s not muscle damage but muscle growth!
When muscles are required to work harder than they’re used to, or in a different way, the muscles become sore and stiff. This can happen after exercise and sometimes lasts for up to 3 days.
This feeling can be strange for people who are new to exercise. Feeling pain in their bodies can stop young people from wanting to exercise. However, the discomfort they are feeling will decrease as muscles get used to the new exercises.
These new pains in their muscles led some students wanting pain killers and were even taken to see doctors! The soreness is part of the body’s process of developing stamina and strength as the muscles recover and grow. This is what the PHS students felt after their fitness challenge.
Just think of it as muscles adapting to a new activity, whether it be press ups, sits ups, running or jumping. The next time students perform the same activity, or exercise for a long period, there will be less muscle tissue damage, less soreness, and a faster recovery – and fitter healthier students!
So don’t reach for the tablets if your child is feeling discomfort after exercise, think of it as their body getting stronger. But one way to help ease the soreness is to increase their protein intake (milk, eggs, nuts, cheese, chicken, lentils) which will help the inflammation of the muscles.