Muscle Fatigue Research Paper
Muscle Fatigue
By Jaclyn Mullick B.S.
The onset of muscle fatigue has hindered many athletes from achieving their maximum performance. Over the years we have been taught that it is the build-up of lactic acid that is the downfall of muscle fatigue and soreness. This is only partially true; there is a little more to it than what we have been told. I hope that this article provides you with a possible short-term remedy and does not confuse you more but rather makes you more aware of what is going on when your muscles become fatigued. During short term (anaerobic) exercise, ATP and creatine phosphate (CP) are used up within the first 7 seconds of training. This signals the metabolism of glycogen to produce energy for your body. …show more content…
The breakdown of CP releases energy, which catalyzes a reaction to produce ATP. The production of more ATP allows movement of the muscle to continue. Lactic acid is a product of glycolysis created by the breaking down of pyruvate. Lactic acid is then disassociated to produce lactate. When lactic acid (C3H6O3) releases a hydrogen ion (H+), the remaining compound binds to a sodium ion (Na+) or a potassium ion (K+) to form a salt. It is this salt that is lactate. Now the cell contains a lactate compound and a free H+ for each compound of lactic acid that is produced. It is this increase in cellular H+ that causes the pH to decrease, becoming more acidic. The acid in the muscle causes the fibers' calcium-binding capacity to decrease, thus limiting muscle contraction. This is the cause of muscle fatigue. Some of the lactate seeps out of the cell into the bloodstream where it is sent to the liver to be used to synthesize glucose. The remainder of the lactate must be eliminated in the cell. Oxygen and cellular lactic acid act together to resynthesize ATP via anaerobic metabolism. The question many athletes want answered is how can I prolong my muscle fatigue? Theoretically, if you can decrease the amount of acid build-up produced in …show more content…
In an attempt to kick start the body's natural bicarbonate process, some sprinters will try hyperventilating shortly before a race with the hope that it will help reduce acid build-up. This increases the pH of the blood slightly, making it better able to deal with the short-term build-up of lactate and acid during the sprint. According to Mc Naughton et al. (1997), research found that the consumption of sodium bicarbonate in athletes competing in short events (1-7 minutes) improved their performance by 1-2%. This means that if you were Kevin Herlihy of the UCSB men's swim team and you increased your performance in the 200m freestyle (1:40.81) by 2%, you could potentially decrease your time by about 2.02 seconds. The effective dose of sodium carbonate is 135mg/lb of body weight (0.3g/kg of body weight). Doses above 20gm have been shown to cause vomiting and diarrhea. Athletes who have performed in the experiments (Mc Naughton et al. (1997)) took the bicarbonate substance 60-90 minutes before exercising. Not everyone reacts the same to supplementation, and it is for this reason that the research on sodium bicarbonate is conflicting. For every study done that gives positive results there is another
The onset of muscle fatigue has hindered many athletes from achieving their maximum performance. Over the years we have been taught that it is the build-up of lactic acid that is the downfall of muscle fatigue and soreness. This is only partially true; there is a little more to it than what we have been told. I hope that this article provides you with a possible short-term remedy and does not confuse you more but rather makes you more aware of what is going on when your muscles become fatigued. During short term (anaerobic) exercise, ATP and creatine phosphate (CP) are used up within the first 7 seconds of training. This signals the metabolism of glycogen to produce energy for your body. …show more content…
The breakdown of CP releases energy, which catalyzes a reaction to produce ATP. The production of more ATP allows movement of the muscle to continue. Lactic acid is a product of glycolysis created by the breaking down of pyruvate. Lactic acid is then disassociated to produce lactate. When lactic acid (C3H6O3) releases a hydrogen ion (H+), the remaining compound binds to a sodium ion (Na+) or a potassium ion (K+) to form a salt. It is this salt that is lactate. Now the cell contains a lactate compound and a free H+ for each compound of lactic acid that is produced. It is this increase in cellular H+ that causes the pH to decrease, becoming more acidic. The acid in the muscle causes the fibers' calcium-binding capacity to decrease, thus limiting muscle contraction. This is the cause of muscle fatigue. Some of the lactate seeps out of the cell into the bloodstream where it is sent to the liver to be used to synthesize glucose. The remainder of the lactate must be eliminated in the cell. Oxygen and cellular lactic acid act together to resynthesize ATP via anaerobic metabolism. The question many athletes want answered is how can I prolong my muscle fatigue? Theoretically, if you can decrease the amount of acid build-up produced in …show more content…
In an attempt to kick start the body's natural bicarbonate process, some sprinters will try hyperventilating shortly before a race with the hope that it will help reduce acid build-up. This increases the pH of the blood slightly, making it better able to deal with the short-term build-up of lactate and acid during the sprint. According to Mc Naughton et al. (1997), research found that the consumption of sodium bicarbonate in athletes competing in short events (1-7 minutes) improved their performance by 1-2%. This means that if you were Kevin Herlihy of the UCSB men's swim team and you increased your performance in the 200m freestyle (1:40.81) by 2%, you could potentially decrease your time by about 2.02 seconds. The effective dose of sodium carbonate is 135mg/lb of body weight (0.3g/kg of body weight). Doses above 20gm have been shown to cause vomiting and diarrhea. Athletes who have performed in the experiments (Mc Naughton et al. (1997)) took the bicarbonate substance 60-90 minutes before exercising. Not everyone reacts the same to supplementation, and it is for this reason that the research on sodium bicarbonate is conflicting. For every study done that gives positive results there is another