Do you experience pain after physical activity? Lactic acid, the substance that causes pain, will then produce energy. Thanks to this energy, post-exercise pain is beneficial.

Dr. Antonela Burlacu, primary care endocrinologist: "Don't give up, that's the word. You sit for 8 hours at the office and then go home, you're tired, you eat dinner, go to bed and gain weight. There's no thyroid issue; it's your lifestyle. Metabolism rate decreases with age, and all these ads that fill the media claiming to increase your metabolism are just a lie. We are born with a certain metabolism rate! What we can change is engaging in physical activity, which boosts it. But metabolism rate—you're born with it, you live with it and it decreases with age. The more diets you follow, the more it decreases. If we don't have time, we don't necessarily need to go to the gym. You sit at the office for 50 minutes, move around for 10 minutes, climb stairs, do simple things".

Walking at a brisk pace means aerobic effort. The glucose stored in the body is burned in the presence of oxygen. This way, we produce energy, which muscles use to contract even more.

We run out of breath after a sprint. We've produced energy without oxygen, known as anaerobic effort. Simultaneously, we produce lactic acid in the muscles. Lactic acid causes muscle soreness. But from lactic acid, we can produce glucose again. With one condition:

Dr. Antonela Burlacu, primary care endocrinologist: "Like cures like: after a day of muscle soreness, we don’t lie in bed. We go to the gym or the park and train other muscles so that the lactic acid in the muscles is released and re-enters the glucose formation cycle".

The human body wants both types of daily effort: light, aerobic, and intense, anaerobic, which leaves us breathless.

Physical activity shows us that everything in the body undergoes transformation. This transformation occurs correctly when we stay active. This way, we gain energy and a good mood for the entire day. These transformations mean a good and long life if we don't give up moving.

Amino acids or proteins, transform into glucose. Fatty acids or fats, transform into glucose. Glucose produces lactic acid. Lactic acid transforms back into glucose.

During effort, drink water in small amounts. Water normally eliminates lactic acid.

Water in the blood is lost through sweat, causing the blood to become more viscous, and the heart has to work harder to pump it. This phenomenon is known as cardiac drift and is why we can't exercise indefinitely. However, the heart and all cells require effort. Daily effort!