How do you drain lactic acid from your muscles?

It used to be thought that lactic acid was the reason why muscles hurt after working out. It isn’t. Lactate is another chemical that has a role. But the causes of pain and muscle burn are more complicated. Muscle relaxation and hydration may be beneficial.

You’ve undoubtedly experienced the tremendous muscular burn that frequently accompanies high-intensity interval training or other comparable forms of intensive exercise.

Lactic acid accumulation is commonly blamed for this burning feeling. Athletes, both recreational and competitive, have long believed that reducing lactic acid in the body is necessary to improve performance. However, this idea is untrue.

This article explains everything you need to know about exercise, lactate, and lactic acid, including their functions, how they are made, and if eliminating lactic acid is required or feasible.

What tests are used to diagnose lactic acidosis?

Tests to diagnose lactic acidosis include:

• The Comprehensive Metabolic Panel (CMP) is a type of blood test. This standard blood test measures various factors in your blood to find out basic information about your health.
• Your healthcare provider will perform a blood lactate test. In addition to routine measurements taken in the CMP, your healthcare provider will specifically measure your blood lactate levels.
• The test is known as the anion gap blood test. This test measures the pH balance and electrolyte balance in your blood based on values from your blood panel.
• The test is known as the Arterial blood gas test. This test measures the oxygen saturation in your arteries, as well as pH balance and electrolyte balance in your arterial blood.

Is lactic acid the cause of muscle burns and fatigue?

The answer, in short, is no.

Muscle burn and fatigue were traditionally attributed to lactic acidosis, which was thought to be the overabundance of lactic acid building up in the muscles when oxygen was low, such as during intense bouts of heavy exercise.

Researchers have since discovered that lactic acid doesn’t actually exist in our bodies because our blood pH level is too high

Instead, within metabolic processes, the lactic acid molecule is separated into two parts: lactate and a singular hydrogen ion (also known as a proton)

Is it necessary (or possible) to get rid of lactate?

Your body naturally processes lactate in your liver and kidneys.

As mentioned, high-intensity exercise that exceeds your body’s aerobic capacity will cause lactate to build up.

When you stop exercising or reduce your exercise intensity, your body will continue clearing lactate, which typically dissipates the burn and fatigue caused by a pH drop.

If you’re generally healthy, there’s no need to get rid of lactate by doing anything special. Your body has a well-tuned mechanism for processing lactate.

Basic health advice such as staying hydrated during exercise will help keep your body functioning optimally.

During recovery periods such as between sets, or even during your set, taking deep breaths can increase the oxygen delivery to your blood, potentially increasing lactate clearance.

Finally, stopping exercise and allowing lactate to clear is the surefire way to get rid of excess lactate.

How to prevent lactate buildup

While there’s no secret to getting rid of lactate, it is possible to increase your lactate threshold.

Regardless of your fitness level, once you surpass your lactate threshold, your ability to maintain that effort quickly diminishes. Conversely, exercising below the lactate threshold allows you to sustain energy for a very long time.

You can train your body to perform at a higher intensity without the buildup of lactate and increase your lactate threshold. However, this approach requires you to improve the efficiency of your aerobic system.

While this procedure is not technically “preventing” the buildup of lactate, it does mean that you can run faster and longer before you reach the point of that muscle burn.

In fact, the goal of aerobic training for competitive and performance purposes revolves around increasing your lactate threshold.

For example, a competitive runner maintaining a 6-minute mile pace over multiple miles will be primarily using the aerobic system.

A less conditioned person may run the same 6-minute mile pace, but because their aerobic system is not as efficient and trained, they will rely on anaerobic energy to maintain the pace, which results in increased lactate and burning and fatigue due to metabolite buildup.

If this second person continually trains at or near their current lactate threshold, they may eventually be able to run at a 6-minute mile pace without using anaerobic energy, and this will eliminate the associated lactate buildup.

Regardless, once you hit your lactate threshold, you are subject to all the effects associated with lactate buildup and there’s little you can do apart from take a rest and breathe deeply.

Conclusion

Lactate is an important component of energy metabolism. Although it has historically been blamed for muscle soreness, it’s not responsible for this effect and is, in fact, a fuel for many organs of your body.

However, lactate does occur as a byproduct of intense exercise, and the buildup of hydrogen ions that occurs when it’s produced is thought to be responsible for the fatigue and burn you feel during this type of activity.

Your body has a natural process for clearing lactate that relies on proper kidney and liver function and oxygen. There’s not much you can do beyond keeping yourself healthy and hydrated to increase your baseline lactate metabolism.

Metabolic dysfunction-induced blood lactate increases present a unique challenge. If these occur, you should address them with a healthcare professional.

Through exercise training, you can improve your lactate threshold, which will mean you can work out harder or run faster before you reach the point at which lactate starts building up and your muscles become fatigued.

With that in mind, do not overly concern yourself with lactate or lactic acid. If you’re still sore days after your workout, consider remedies appropriate for DOMS.

In the meantime, train hard, drink water, and embrace the burn.