who do your mussels get stiff???

Question: who do your mussels get stiff???
- Keywords:
  muscle,
  respiration,
  sport
Asked by siobhanb to Jen, Jill, Mel, Phil, Stef on 14 Mar 2013.
- Phil Rice answered on 14 Mar 2013:
  
  Good question. Thinking off the top of my head (!), I suspect it has something to do with lactic acid buildup during intense exercise and the inflammatory response it might induce; it is a way of the muscles saying “no more work please”, so that the fibres can get a rest. This is likely to be an adaptation, but the molecular and cellular mechanism – no idea I am afraid.
- Jennifer Paxton answered on 15 Mar 2013:
  
  good question! There are a few reasons I think. As Phil said, lactic acid build up was often thought to cause muscle stiffness but recently some sports physiologists (my friend is one! – there’s something else you can do with science!) have shown this not to be the case! They suggest it is actually micro-tears in the muscle and the inflammation following this that gives us sore muscles. I dont know if anyone really knows for sure yet!

Question: who do your mussels get stiff???