All people have to sometimes use pain relievers. Find out how they affect athletic performance and should you include them in your diet? All were faced with the need to use pain relievers. They are presented in a wide range in the pharmacies of our country. For many athletes, the use of these remedies has become the norm for relieving muscle soreness. It may seem that this is a completely justified step, because they effectively eliminate pain in the muscles and the athlete gets the opportunity to continue training. But you should take a closer look at the effect of pain medications on weight gain in bodybuilding.
Mechanisms of muscle pain
It should be noted right away that scientists have not yet fully disclosed all the mechanisms of the onset of pain in muscle tissues after training. Today it is believed that they are the result of micro-damage to the fibers. According to this hypothesis, under the influence of powerful physical activity caused by resistance training, damage is formed on the surface of the sarcolemma (surface membrane) and contractile elements.
They create favorable conditions for the release of calcium from cells, which leads to imbalance at the cellular level and leads to more serious damage to muscle fibers. This is the reason for the appearance of local pain and stiffness. Also, the situation can be aggravated by edema that appears inside the fibers, which puts pressure on the nerve endings.
Pain relievers eliminate pain due to the inhibitory effect on cyclooxygenase. This substance belongs to a group of enzymes that have the ability to accelerate the conversion of arachidonic acid into anti-inflammatory prostanoids.
Scientists have been able to establish that prostanoids are at least to blame for the pain that occurs in the muscles. By reducing the rate of synthesis of prostanoids, pain relieving medications reduce the discomfort that occurs after intense training, and make it possible to conduct comfortable exercises. In turn, the inflammatory processes, which we have just talked about, are one of the mechanisms of muscle adaptation to stress. The same prostanoids are involved in anabolic processes and stimulate the production of protein compounds. Since pain relievers reduce the rate of synthesis of prostanoids, we can talk about their negative effect on weight growth. Several studies fully support this assumption.
Although it should be said that these results turned out to be somewhat contradictory. At first, it was proven that when using painkillers, protein synthesis was reduced by about half, but subsequent experiments did not confirm this fact. In contrast, in one study, its participants even managed to gain muscle mass.
At the same time, this fact cannot mean that pain medications can promote the growth of muscle tissue. To begin with, the results of research on the rate of protein production provide food for thought, but they should be considered as one factor in muscle growth. The rapid production of protein compounds is by no means a guarantee of muscle gain in the long term. It should also be said that ordinary people, not athletes, took part in almost all experiments. Everyone understands that the ability to adapt muscles in a trained person and an ordinary person differ quite significantly.
The greatest number of questions when talking about the effect of painkillers on weight gain in bodybuilding is their effect on satellite cells. As you know, they are muscle stem cells and are located around the fibers. They are inactive until the body needs to regenerate tissue after training.
The main feature of satellite cells is their ability to increase the number of nuclei in muscle fiber cells. This in turn leads to an increase in the ability to synthesize protein. Under the influence of strength training, the usual rate of protein production is no longer enough and satellite cells come to the rescue.
Under stress, they begin to divide and, as a result, merge with the fibers of muscle tissue, accelerating the synthesis of protein compounds and thereby causing fiber growth. Scientists suggest that without the participation of satellite cells, hypertrophy would be impossible. Let's go back to pain medications. We have already said that they have the ability to inhibit the synthesis of prostanoids, which in turn accelerate the division of satellite cells. As a result, we can speak. That the use of pain relievers in the long term can have a negative effect on weight gain.
We can safely say that if you do not use painkillers regularly, then you have nothing to fear. Another thing is, if these drugs are used often, then you should think about the expediency of this step.
Little is known about the effects of pain medications on weight gain in bodybuilding today, as few studies have been conducted. This fact does not make it possible to fully assess the effect of drugs on the process of tissue hypertrophy. The research results that have already been obtained should be treated with caution. This is due to the fact that ordinary people and, in most cases, old age participated in them.
Knowing the effect of pain relievers on satellite cells, it should be assumed that, with long-term use, they may have a negative effect on hypertrophy. In certain situations, it will be difficult for you to do without pharmacological support and pain relief, but this is often not worth doing.
For more information on the effect on the body of pain pills, see this video:
