Does Vitamin C help with Muscle Soreness?

Now here is another debatable subject in the health & fitness genre...  Does the antioxidant properties of the beloved Vitamin C really have much impact when concerning muscle soreness?  I suppose the best answer may be:  "It couldn't hurt."

Before we go any further, there are now major debates and issues with what causes muscle soreness.  Yeah, can you believe that?  Ha!  But seriously, now that many trending scientific articles say that lactic acid isn't to blame for that delayed soreness you feel after an intense workout the next day or even the day after the next, things have gotten a bit complicated and, uh, stupid.

Of course lactic acid buildup would actually cause soreness, but since the lactic acid is said to leave the area quickly after your moments of exertion, they are blaming it mostly on microscopic muscle tears.  This sounds cute and all, but why can you simply get sore from an odd movement, prolonged flexing, or even cramps, for example?  Does that involve microscopic tissue tears?  LOL! Muscular acidosis can occur any time your oxygen is depleted in a certain area of your muscles, but that's another subject.

Before anybody gets their panties in a wad, of course a lot of the soreness comes from muscle tears and strains, whether it is micro or macro in size.  However, to sweep lactic acid under the rug while ignoring all of the other metabolic byproducts that occur at the scene of stress during strenuous exercise, is a bit ignorant to say the least.  At any rate, let's just drop the whole "what causes muscle soreness?" debate, and quickly move right through this Vitamin C craze.

In a thumbnail, Vitamin C can help pull out some of the acid buildup and byproducts that puddle around the strained muscles in question.  It is no miracle cure or anything, but there is some evidence that shows it could help.  The inflammation and tissue damage that occurs is a good thing, though, if you plan on building bigger muscles.  As you should all know, your muscles grow while resting, not when getting worked and/or stripped down during intense exercise. I've read some scientific evidence before that states that taking too many anti-inflammatory substances to combat muscle soreness may actually hinder the recovery process.  Hey, what's that old adage again: "No pain; no gain!"  Anyway...

Vitamin C can also help build collagen, which is very important for the repair of connective tissues, muscles, etc.  In fact, if you don't believe me, perform a quick web search with the keywords "collagen helps build muscles" or "how exercising produces collagen" or "vitamin c helps build collagen," and so on.

I may have slightly gotten off topic here, but the point is, Vitamin C definitely doesn't hurt anything when concerning muscle soreness and the recovery process. 

Image Credit/Source:
http://health-fitness-guru.blogspot.com/2014/12/grapefruit-is-not-good-for-detox-or.html

End of Post "Does Vitamin C help with Muscle Soreness?"

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