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Does stretching affect lactic acid build up?

absolute hardgainer

absolute hardgainer

New member
Does stretching affect lactic acid build up?

We all know that stretching after and/or during a work out assists muscle repair and recovery, but does it actually directly affect lactic acid build up?

Please quote any studies on this.
 
This is definitely an interesting question. I guess if stretching can increase blood flow to the target area then it should accelerate the flow of lactic acid out of the muscle. Does that make sense?
 
what Nathan said sounds right. I always stretch before, in between, and after all workouts. Helps a whole lot, i see many guys at the gym not doing it at all. :confused:
 
Good point Nathan, I was thinking along similar lines, but I'm not sure whether increased blood flow helps reduce lactic acid build up, I have read that massage for example does not affect it.

Crackerot: No, I mean the amount of lactic acid build up in your muscles after exercise.

hardgainer (!)
 
lactate's removed during a warm down at low intensities.

As for stretching, i dont think so, but im not to sure about that.
 
many people claim that they are not as sore or stiff they day after if they stretch...now i stretch alot..im very flexible..but im sore and stiff no matter what i do...so your question interest me to..hopefully we will get some good answeres
 
i did a quick search and found a lot of articles that reference these studies, but not the studies themselves... is it possible that they are urban myths???? or that they're just buried so deep since they were done so many years ago and are now considered "mainstream knowledge..."

i'll try to dig up more information on this soon...
 
My brother has a problem when he playes soccer. He has lactic acid induced cramps which force him to leave the pitch. He was informed by the teams physio to stretch every time he gets a chance because the lactic acid is removed when a muscle is streched.

He had some little book that im trying to find....but im not having any luck.

But everything i have ever heard has been based on heresay and "common knowledge" with no scientific back up. (like the girl at the health food shop i fancy "stretching to remove lactic acid is like sqeezing a sponge to get rid of liquid")

My brother said the stretching helps and he can play a full game. It hasent got better though he always has the cramps at one point or another(out side of soccer).....so its not a permanent repair, just relief
 
I STILL haven't found the "studies" that are referred to, but i think that, in the case of bodybuilding, lactic acid is really irrelevant... it goes away within an hour or two of working the muscle... and i did find numerous studies that provide that Lactic Acid had no relation on DOMS...

now, Hardgainer, i remember you saying you were/are a sprinter, so i can see how that would make a difference for you (an hour is an eternity for a sprinter :) , but i'm still at a loss for this study... i'll ask a few of my friends that are in med school and see if they can dig something up for me...

haven't forgotten about ya though :)
 
Phenomena - go to a site such as Medline or pubmed and type in the name of the study.

Personally, I don't think stretching will have much of an effect. If a large amount of ATP production was required to perform an exercise (anaerobic glycolysis mechanism) then light activity would be of benefit because it would require the body to use some of the lactic acid to fuel the light activity which means less lactic acid in the muscle. This activity must be light enough not to involve any anaerobic mechanisms of energy production as this would only serve to further deplete ATP in the muscles prolonging the recovery period.
 
Cackerot69 said:
Phenomena - go to a site such as Medline or pubmed and type in the name of the study.

Personally, I don't think stretching will have much of an effect. If a large amount of ATP production was required to perform an exercise (anaerobic glycolysis mechanism) then light activity would be of benefit because it would require the body to use some of the lactic acid to fuel the light activity which means less lactic acid in the muscle. This activity must be light enough not to involve any anaerobic mechanisms of energy production as this would only serve to further deplete ATP in the muscles prolonging the recovery period.
Click to expand...

i'd love to search for the study, but i don't know the name of it!!! :( All i can find is quotes that say "According to studies... blah blah blah"

i'll keep looking though
 
Phemomena said:


i'd love to search for the study, but i don't know the name of it!!! :( All i can find is quotes that say "According to studies... blah blah blah"

i'll keep looking though
Click to expand...

Because, more often than not, the studies say nothing of the sort. "creative intepretation" seems to be the rule, here.
 
Belial said:


Because, more often than not, the studies say nothing of the sort. "creative intepretation" seems to be the rule, here.
Click to expand...


yeah, this has been my concern since the beginning, but hey... it gives me something to do when i'm supposed to be working :)
 
Phenomena, lactic acid isn't irrelevant to bb. I think it has immediate effects on increasing cortisol levels in the body but positive longer term effects (elevates other hormones beneficial for muscle growth) that might outway the negative immediate effects. I think that's right. But bottom line is it does play some role in hormone levels.
 
Nathan said:
Phenomena, lactic acid isn't irrelevant to bb. I think it has immediate effects on increasing cortisol levels in the body but positive longer term effects (elevates other hormones beneficial for muscle growth) that might outway the negative immediate effects. I think that's right. But bottom line is it does play some role in hormone levels.
Click to expand...

didn't know that... i was just trying to debunk the myth that it is lactic acid that causes DOMS.... thanks for the info, learn something new every day :)
 
Phenomena, et al:

First, I am not a sprinter. You must have mistaken me for somebody else, but my 100 metre dash would certainly not outrun anyone faster than a drunk, three-legged hippo. I do kickboxing and MA, and yes lactic acid build-up is a crucial element of fatigue here.

Now, what I have found so far is that "massage" not stretching has significant effects on DOMS and circulation but no effect, or only minimal effect on lactic acid build up.

From personal experience I have found that heavy stretching does reduce DOMS.

Thanks for looking into this matter.

hardgainer (still looking)
 
I remember my lecturer saying that some felt that stretching helped them overcome the effects of doms but there was no scientific proof of this, as for lactate being affected by stretching who knows.
 
Hmmmm, I am beginning to think you may be right. Perhaps there is NO answer. Now that would really suck, I hope some smart sports-physio-scientist guy or gal figures out a conclusive answer for this one and writes a detailed study about it.

hardgainer (pump)
 
absolute hardgainer said:
This thread is going to get bumped until I get a friggin' answer!

hardgainer ( :mad: )
Click to expand...

uh oh... he's getting mad... sorry, i forgot that i was going to keep looking into this... personally i'm curious too, i hate it when i can't find the answers to things... i'll keep looking and you keep bumping, maybe i'll find the answer or someone else will take pity on us and help us out????

(i'm starting to think that the answer is no and that the studies quoted are urban legends... but i will NOT give up, just yet at least)
 
It's ok Phenomena, the :mad: was meant humorously. Thanks for looking into this anyhow, I am not sure if there are any actual 'studies' in existence on this issue.
If you can find something please share it.

hardgainer (will continue looking)
 
here's a quote from this article

"Remember it is very important to stretch before any strenuous exercise in order to warm the muscles so that you will not damage them and cool down afterwards to stop the build up of lactic acid in the muscle and so cut down on muscle stiffness"

(from http://www.tenosce.com/nervous.html)

but maybe this is because by stretching, you're allowing more blood flow and thus more oxygen, and with more oxygen ur less likely to produce lactic acid? been a while since phys ed so i'm probably off mark.
 
I've come across a few articles that state that stretching between sets has been shown to increase anabolism but nothing really yet on lactic acid. I can quote the articles if you like.
 
Thanks for the article succession, interesting. However I assume that the statement on lactic acid build up is nothing more than an educated guess.

hardgainer (still looking)
 
Thanks Phenomena, some good articles there I think.

I am leaning towards the conclusion that whilst stretching does help reduce DOMS it doesn't actually have any affect of the level of lactic acid in your muscles.

hardgainer (still looking)
 
You know, this is a very good question.

My opinion: It would actually add to lactic acid build-up because lactic acid is a product on muscular contraction. Even though stretching isn't really a contraction (i.e. shortening fibers), it does cause contractile acticity albeit eccentric.
 
Dammit, just as I was leaning in one direction you come up with a very good point. Now that you mention it, I wonder if long periods of stretching could actually significantly add to lactic acid build up. From memory, when I was doing martial arts sessions that involved a lot of stretching, say for about 60 minutes of leg stretching. This did not apparently reduce lactic acid - but I have to consider that the stretching would take place after hours of hard physical work, like kicking and sparring, which already fatigued the legs.

hardgainer (let's keep this bumping)
 
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