Spending hours at the gym each week and pushing yourself with every workout yet not feeling sore? Here's why:

As we all know the old adage "no pain, no gain" is highly incorporated into almost every sport. It can be frustrating when you know that you're pushing harder and lifting heavier every week yet you fail to feel any soreness the day after. The chemical that causes this soreness within the muscle is known as Arachidonic Acid. Arachidonic Acid is an omega-6 essential fatty acid that serves as the principle building block for the synthesis of dienolic prostaglandins. These prostaglandins play an essential roll to protein turnover and muscle accumulation, increasing blood flow to the muscles (A.K.A. "pumps"), increasing local IGF-1 and insulin sensitivity, supporting satellite cell activation, proliferation, differentiation, and increasing the overall rate of protein synthesis and muscle growth. Arachidonic Acid is also responsible for the initiation of many of the immediate biochemical changes that occur during resistance exercise that ultimately produce muscle hypertrophy. Thus, this acid is a highly anabolic nutrient. In line with protein, arachidonic acid is the most integral nutrient to muscle growth as it sits upon the very center of the anabolic response. 

In 2005, the Exercise & Sport Nutrition Laboratory at Baylor University conducted a double-blind placebo-controlled study to determine if 50 days of resistance training and arachidonic acid supplementation would affect training adaptations in 31 experienced (>1 year) resistance-trained males. Every male ingested four capsules each day (one 250mg capsule of AA or placebo every four hours). Subjects ingesting the arachidonic acid added an average of 25lbs to their maximum bench press weight in just 50 days, a nearly 45% increase over the placebo group. The arachidonic acid group outperformed and out-powered the placebo group (225% > placebo). No side effects were reported during the investigation.

The anabolic activity produced by the arachidonic acid begins to display early during exercise. This nutrient is released by your muscle fibers as they are damaged during vigorous training. When this acid is released it triggers a localized inflammatory and anabolic response. This is part of the same biological process that causes the soreness within your muscle a day or two after a hard workout. With the increase of local IGF-1 and insulin sensitivity comes an increase in the anabolic action of both of these hormones allowing for a more advanced repair process. Both the level of arachidonic acid within our body and our body’s ability to produce it during exercise is extremely important in regards to the anabolic productivity of our workouts. Unfortunately, regular exercise decreases the amount of arachidonic acid that is available within our skeletal muscle tissue. The lower levels of this acid is a key reason that we find it more difficult to become sore after a good workout.

In order to experience the full effectiveness of reintegrating arachidonic acid into your system a daily dosage of 500mg-1,000mg is highly recommended. The dosage of 1,000mg daily is the most common regardless of bodyweight. Serious Nutrition Solutions produces an Arachidonic Acid supplement named X-Gels which contains 250mg of arachidonic acid per softgel. Most users experience increased strength during exercise and increased soreness post exercise from the first dosage.

- Pete M.