Runners routinely blame their weak and aching muscles on the accumulation of lactic acid. But not so fast, say Allen and Westerblad in their Perspective. They discuss a study ( Pedersen et al .) revealing that lactic acid accumulation can, in fact, be beneficial by helping to restore force to weakened muscles. By altering the activity of chloride ion channels, lactic acid may actually boost the generation of action potentials and, hence, muscle activity even as the muscles begin to fatigue.
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Allen et al. (2004) studied this question.
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