Trying To Build Muscle? Pain Killers May Be Stopping You!
It has always been a common practice to reach for a bottle of ibuprofen, tylenol or naproxen when we get a headache or have other pains in our body due to inflammation. These over the counter drugs may give us temporary relief from pain and or inflammation, however, if your trying to build muscle these drugs can be your worst enemy! This is why: When you train hard and feel soreness in your muscles or if you have an injury like a strained muscle for example, the reason why you feel pain is due to hormones that are released in your body when your body has been subjected to some sort of physical stress or injury. These hormones are called prostaglandins. Prostaglandins are actually cell signaling hormones that are released when we’ve trained hard or have been injured and play a vital role in our body’s ability to activate protein synthesis, recover, heal, and grow. Prostaglandins, when released, trigger the necessary biological functions to put our body’s in an anabolic state, and stimulate nitrogen retention , protein synthesis , growth and repair. The problem is that when we take those over the counter pain killers, though they do provide pain relief, they do so by reducing the level of prostaglandins in the body which reduces inflammation, but also stops protein synthesis and or muscle growth dead in it’s tracks. If post workout soreness and or pain is bearable then do your best to cope with it so you get the most out your bodybuilding. If the pain is so extreme that it’s killing you to the point that you cant sleep at night then that’s a different story. In such a case you may have to break down and take pain killers but don’t expect much muscle growth if any at all. Only you can decide for yourself if it’s absolutely necessary to take pain medications. Hopefully this information can help some of you out. Best of luck to all!
May 6, 2008 at 9:48 pm
Indeed. Best remedies for me are a little coffee to combat the DOMS and a good hot epsom salt soak followed by a big glass of water. After that, if I’m not still a little bit sore then I know I didn’t hit ‘em hard enough!
On the other hand, studies on seniors is initially claiming that asprin helps develop muscle tissue. The study wasn’t nearly as in depth as it should have been I think and probably just allowed the participants to train a little bit harder. Lotta initial hype, but I think it’ll die off soon. Though, makes you wonder since the good ‘ol Ephedra/Caffeine/Asprin stack still works great, too. Everyone’s body is unique, I suppose.
Bottom line, lift smarter and you shouldn’t need pain killers.
May 7, 2008 at 10:22 am
Thanks for that insight - havent really used pain meds as I am a true sucker for pain - live for it.
May 7, 2008 at 4:41 pm
I was just reading about this in Muscle & Fitness!! Awesome!!
June 5, 2008 at 4:43 pm
I’ve read the same thing about painkillers and muscle recovery. I always felt a little pain in life is a good thing..
December 9, 2008 at 8:38 pm
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February 27, 2009 at 12:02 am
Thanks for this post, this really helps for the body builders.