Why am I still sore? Can I do anything to decrease the soreness?

Question

I am doing a one week cheerleading camp which I have never done before, and I'm really really sore when I come home, even though we cooled down and stretched out to get rid of the soreness before we left camp. We do cheers, motions, jumps, and stunting with only 3 five-minute breaks for 4 hours, and we're all really really sore, even after warming up and stretching out for 30 minutes. It's hard for us to walk and it's affecting my toe touches and herkies. Why am I still sore? Is there anything I can do to decrease my soreness before tomorrow so that I can perform full out and get my backhandspring down before camp is over?

BTW, there's 3 days left of camp.

Thanks in advance.

Yes, I have posted this in Health and Fitness but I thought I might get more answers in this area.

Answer 1

Lactic acid. You have a lot of it, all your muscles are so tired . Lactic acid is the end product of exhaustive activity.
Some coaches will ask you to do warm ups and cool downs, get the right food before and after any major events you are participating in.
Have a blood test done. Normally the lactic acid should have gone by now. You may have a problem clearing it out of your system.

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Why the test is performed:

This test is usually used to see if lactic acid accumulation is causing acidosis (acidotic body state) symptoms.

Lactic acid is an intermediate product of carbohydrate metabolism and is derived mainly from muscle cells and red blood cells. During exercise, lactate levels may increase. However, the liver can normally metabolize more lactate than is produced and can return lactate levels to normal within a few hours.

Answer 2

Yeah... its just b/c ur body isnt use to all of that stuff... ur gonna be sore, but the good thing is that ur getting in better shape. The only way to get rid of the pain is to keep on doing what ur doing. Try taking a hot shower or bath, it'll loosen up all of ur muscles and allow the lactic acid to flow away. It makes u feel alot better for about 30 minutes. Then the pain will come back... but it's the best thing u can do. Good luck! ;o)

Answer 3

No offense, but you're probably sore because those muscle groups aren't in the greatest shape. The intense workouts you've been doing agitate the muscles. The pain, while an inconvenience, means that your muscles are growing and gaining endurance. As for an overnight fix, you can try eating foods with a lot of protein (nuts, red meats) because protein aids in muscle rebuilding. I don't know how much it will help in just a day or two though.

Answer 4

Yep, you are new to this and aren't used to it all yet. It is mostly because of that and your bones too.nTake it from someone who has experienced this once too many times before, take cooling baths, showers, put ice/ice paks on the sores right when you get home (that'll hopefully help the sores get a bit more soothed), and you can take it even farther with skin/sore relaxing cream. You might also want lots of rest, that sure helps alot for sure (i hope!). Hope this helped! Feel better!

Answer 5

You are sore because you are utilizing your muscles more than you have done previously...similar to when I was in football. Once we went into double days, my body took a while to get used to the extra exertion. If you continue to work as vigorously as you do now...you'll get into better shape. the soreness just means you've worked your muscles more than they are accustomed to and will eventually go away. The stretches and cool downs help you to prevent muscle pulls which are damaging and considered a muscle injury.