Muscle Fatigue Explained

Miguel Garcia, FitnessLife Kings Magazine's Cardio Expert, is a distinguished…

What is muscle fatigue and reasons why your muscles get exhausted? When you start a task or a workout, you feel strong. Your muscles respond to every need, and your performance is top-class.

However, this performance has a limited time span. After a while, you start feeling tired, and your muscles do not respond as briskly. This muscle fatigue limits the amount of workouts you can do.

What is Muscle Fatigue?

Muscle fatigue is a condition when your strength, your ability to do something, is lessened because of tiredness or weakness of your muscles. It is a normal accompaniment of heavy work or exercise.

Conversely, if you feel fatigued at the beginning of the day, when you are just starting work, it is abnormal muscle fatigue. Long-term overwork causes such weakness and fatigue, but it may also be the symptom of an underlying disease.

Why Do Muscles Fatigue?

Muscles’ strength and their ability to perform depend on energy supply and production. Your muscles need various sources of energy, such as glucose and adenosine triphosphate (ATP), to work efficiently.

Poor nutrition or a reduced blood supply to the muscles can reduce the supply of nutrients and energy chemicals. Consequently, you may feel muscle fatigue sooner.

Fatigue can be acute or chronic. Acute fatigue happens after a period of exertion and is reversed by rest. In contrast, chronic fatigue is with you for a long time and is not relieved by rest.

Diseases can also cause unusual muscle fatigue. Viral fevers, endocrine disorders, dehydration, heart disease, and any chronic illness will make you frail. Your muscles will fatigue early.

Steps to Prevent Muscle Fatigue

Build up your stamina. Your body has a limited capacity. You can increase this limit by exercising regularly. Walking or running every day will improve your endurance and avoid tiredness.

Increase your strength. If your muscles are strong, they have to use only a small proportion of their power for any task. You won’t feel muscle fatigue soon.

Improve your nutrition. Eat a good, balanced diet. Your muscles must get a plentiful supply of nutrients and energy-giving substances.

Take care of micronutrients, too. Minerals and vitamins do not give much energy themselves. Nevertheless, they’re vital for your muscle cells to generate energy from nutrients.

Reversing Muscle Fatigue

Acute muscle fatigue is simple to reverse. You should rest for a while, and your muscles will recover. The chemicals generated during heavy exertion will be removed by the blood and nutrients will be replenished.

Chronic fatigue is more complicated. Your body feels chronic muscle fatigue when you have overworked it for a very long time, or you have a disease.

It’s important you don’t ignore signs like chronic muscle fatigue. It’s a signal that you need to get help. For example, if you have a thyroid deficiency, you will only feel right after thyroid hormone supplementation.

Meet your doctor, who will test you for any disease. If no diseases are found, they will suggest lifestyle and nutrition changes to return you back to your normal, vigorous self.

Machines work indefinitely if connected to a power supply or fed petrol. Your body has finite limits, and muscle fatigue will occur after a heavy workout or a day of hard work. Nevertheless, if you are feeling constant muscle fatigue, take it seriously and get medical help.