Do muscles get weaker after repeated strenuous exercise?

We perform exercise to help us get fitter and stronger. We perform exercise for quality of life and to reduce our risk of serious illnesses. We perform exercise for our well-being and social interaction. But like anything; is there such a thing in exercise as too much of a good thing?

It is well documented in the evidence that too much too soon can have deleterious effects. We have discussed this in articles in the past, you can read these here

A recent study by Wollin et al (2018) investigated muscle strength after vigorous exercise. It must be said that their focus was on young, professional footballers and hamstring strains, yet I feel that some of the findings can be transferable to the general public.

What the researchers established was, after 2 football games within 3 days, there was a significant difference in hamstring strength between pre match and post match. Furthermore, the researchers found that not only were the hamstrings weaker 1 day post match, the muscles were even weaker 2 days post match. This would suggest that we need to reconsider our day on, day off approach when giving out rehabilitation advice. Additionally, the researchers also identified that not only were the hamstrings weaker, the players suffered from reduced movement of the knee too before the players felt pain.

Why is this important to the general public? Professional sports people are deemed to be extremely fit and at the top of their game. They are expected to be in the peak of physical condition. It can therefore be said that their muscle strength is superior to those of the general public. If this new piece of evidence has been able to identify that professional, elite athletes muscles are weaker 2 days post strenuous exercise, the same can be said and perhaps more for the lay person.

This supports the premise of the general public not overdoing things, or repeated working to one's maximum capability regularly. As we have discussed in previous articles, the human body needs sufficient time to rest and recover. To perform strenuous exercise daily vastly increases your risk of an overuse injury. Perhaps this study poses additional questions; how long should we rest between episodes of strenuous exercise? (The study didn't divulge results for day 3+ post match)

This - graded exercise Not this - repeated excessive exercise

There is a lot to be said for listening to your body. If you are feeling particularly tired, or sore or whether you can't put your finger on it, then listen to your body. It will be telling you something. Your body probably is tired if you have done too much too soon and you could be heading directly for the injury bench. It is always better to take one or two days rest, in favour of several weeks of injury. Makes sure you are keeping up to date with all of the latest evidence in Physiotherapy by liking and following our Facebook page.