Why? The Science of Athletics

CONSIDERATIONS IN RELATION TO COMPETITION 121 The alkali reserve is not inexhaustible Stiffness in even the best-trained man, and once it is drawn upon the muscle becomes acid and a condition of fatigue ensues. When this happens to an untrained man, or to an athlete in the early stages of training, a condition of stiffness._and soreness ensues. A healthy man in full training does not become stiff, but if you ask me what stiffness is, I am afraid I can only answer that I do not know, all I can do is to offer some theories as to probable causes. In the case of an untrained man, and equally with the man commencing training and going too hard at it to begin with, stiffness is probably due to some real strain or actual injury to the muscle fibres. With the man who, having trained quietly for a while, suddenly decides it is time for him to have a try-out and who feels stiff after– wards, the possibility is that the too large lactic acid content he has created- in his muscle substance may have induced a condition of slight coagulation, or if muscular contraction causes some rearrangement of the molecules, as was suggested earlier, then the fibres of the muscles may be swollen by the induction of fluid, due to the presence of new molecules in the muscle which has not been sufficiently trained to become accustomed to such changes. Such theories are certainly plausible, but my personal opinion is that stiffness is mainly due to the inability of the muscle to tolerate the amount of lactic acid set free in the tissues by violent exercise, until a sufficient alkali reserve has been established. The cure for stiffness, I am sure, is rest followed by gentle personal exercise, or passive exercise as represented by massage. This, I feel, helps to bear out the theory I have finally advanced to account for stiffness, for we have seen in earlier chapters how respiration and cir– culation, as stimulated by mild exercise, serve to carry away the waste products of exhaustion from the muscle- substance. _