Muscle fatigue and contractures

When you exercise or exert yourself continuously, your body can become weak: you lack energy, your stamina wanes, or you may even suffer from musclecramps. This weakness is known as muscle fatigue, which is the total or partial loss of your physical ability to continue performing a given action. Your muscles are unable to move because they lack the strength to continue functioning.

When this happens, the muscles have inadequate levels of calcium, glycogen and water, which are necessary for efficient muscle contraction and relaxation. Failing to return to a relaxed state and a build-up of lactic acid in the muscle lead to muscle soreness, contractures and muscle injuries.

Types of contractures

Muscle contractures are a continuous involuntarycontraction that causes the muscles to remain constantly under tension, resulting in swelling and hardening of the muscle tissues, commonly known as “knots”.

There are different types of contractures, depending on how they originate:

• Contractures during exertion. These occur when the body is unable to clear the metabolites that are produced during exertion. As a result, these accumulate and cause pain and inflammation in the affected muscles, leading to contractures.
• After exertion. These occur after heavy exertion, when the muscles are exhausted, lack nutrients and are unable to return to a relaxed state.
• After an injury.  These are caused by the protective function of the muscles. During an injury, whether it be a bone fracture or sprain, thesurrounding muscles tend tocontract for a prolonged period of time to protect the area. Once the injury has been treated and healed, the muscles are unable to relax again, resulting in contractures.

How to prevent muscle fatigue

To preventmuscle fatigue and contractures, it is important to:

• Avoid overexertion by planning your training, organising your workouts and getting plenty of rest.
• Warm up and stretch. Before any activity or physical effort, it is important to prepare your body for the exertion it is going to be subjected to. It is also necessary to stretch when you finish exercising to help the muscles return to their relaxed state.
• Keep well hydrated. Hydration is essential for health, as it helps to keep muscle fibres in proper tone, which will prevent muscle fatigue and any contractures.
• Diet. Following a balanced diet tailored to your lifestyle is necessary to meet your nutritional needs and to keep your body functioning. To avoid musclefatigue,carbohydrates (pasta, rice or cereals) are required to provide glycogen and energy; proteins are necessary to promote muscle recovery and tissue regeneration; and so are fat, vitamins and minerals, which can be found in fruit, vegetables and nuts.

To obtain adequate levels of these nutrients, you can add natural food supplements to your diet. Keriba Sport, one of the supplements in our Keriba range, is specially designed for athletes. It contains fresh pomegranate extract, magnesium and vitamin B6, and it helps to reduce tiredness and delay fatigue, while also improving physical performance. This supplement is extremely efficient because its ingredients are highly concentrated and it is 100% natural, with no organic solvents or chemicals.

• Rest and sleep well. Muscles recover and are built during the night, whilethebody is at rest. So it is important to get enough rest and sleep to allow your body to recover after exertion.
• Avoid stress, because when we experience highly stressful situations our muscles tend to involuntarily tense up too much repeatedly, leading to contractures.
• Have a good posture. Having a healthy posture helps to maintainthe optimalelasticity of your muscles, preventing contractures from developing.
• Massage before and after exercise or physical activity, especially when you are prone to soreness or contractures.
• Use hot and cold contrasts, which you can do with the water in the shower, to improve blood circulation and muscle tone and elasticity. This will also help you to relax. If you have an injury, applying ice to swollen areas will help the affected muscles to recover and repair themselves.