Is Post Exercise Inflammation Good or Bad?
If you have done any sort of intense exercise you have most likely experienced muscle soreness the next day or even the day after (DOMS – delayed onset muscle soreness). This is because when you exercise you stress the muscles beyond their current capacity causing micro tears and damage to the fibers. Your body responds with inflammation creating stiffness and swelling around the area.
What is inflammation?
“Inflammation is an immune system response to tissue damage. Its purpose is to remove cellular debris from the site of damage and initiate repair. There are three phases of the inflammation response.
First, blood accumulates at the site of damage, which causes the classic symptoms of swelling, heat and stiffness that are associated with inflammation. Next, specialized white blood cells called neutrophils migrate to the injured area and absorb the debris of damaged cells.
Finally, other cells known as macrophages accumulate at the site of damage to complete the clean-up process and stimulate tissue regeneration.”
(Source: https://www.active.com/articles/is-inflammation-holding-you-back)
Not too long ago it was thought that reducing inflammation after exercise was good practice to help speed repair the micro tears in your muscles that occurred from your workout. Ice baths were the rage. Also, athletes took medications like Ibuprofen, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug, after workouts and even before hard workouts and races to supress inflammation.
“A multitude of studies have found mostly detrimental effects of supplementing anti-oxidants or anti-inflammatory drugs in young exercising individuals, as this blunts the inflammatory signal for muscle repair and thus reduces muscle growth and performance gains.”
“In addition to repairing everyday muscle damage from exercise, inflammation promotes training adaptations such as satellite cell proliferation, an essential step in the development of bigger, stronger muscle fibers.
Inflammation even makes you more resistant to muscle damage in the future (a phenomenon known as "the repeated bout effect").
Studies have shown that untrained individuals become more resistant to exercise-induced muscle damage after just a single workout. It appears that the inflammation response triggered by the first workout increases the activity of neutrophils in the next workout, protecting the muscle fibers from excessive damage.”
(Source: Matt Fitzgerald)
This is why DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness) happens when you do a new workout. However, the next time you do the same workout you usually do not feel as sore as long as the intensity of the workout did not increase substantially.
We also have heard that antioxidants are the natural way to protect yourself from muscle damage caused through exercise. Adding blueberries to you post workout smoothie or Acai is supposed to be a natural way to reduce damage and increase recovery for your muscles post workout.
“Although antioxidants are an essential part of any diet, evidence is mounting that antioxidant supplements should be avoided in the hours around training time. It may also be wise to avoid daily very-high-dose antioxidant supplements if you’re aiming for maximum muscle growth.”
(Source: https://examine.com/nutrition/antioxidants-muscle-building/)
Note some of the research indicated that in older athletes that antioxidants (examples, vitamins A,C,E) could be a benefit because of the general higher levels of inflammation present. Therefore, I would still recommend them for athletes over 50.
The consensus now through various research papers, though the test groups are small, is that we should live with the discomfort of the inflammation brought on by our workouts. It is a good thing! Cut out the ice baths, skip the blueberries in your post workout smoothies and stick to bananas, peanut butter, and protein and you will make faster gains and reach your goals quicker.