what happens inside the body when athletes get a “2nd wind”?
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Your body doesn’t want to exercise. Your body gets whiny and says, “We’re tired, let’s go lie down under a tree and take a nap.”
Then you push through and your body says “Fine, if you’re going to be that way, let’s go nuts! Let’s really kick those glycogen fires up, let’s throw some fat on there too.”
Now you have a timer running. That time is your glycogen stores. You only have so much until your muscles are out for a while. That means you can only burn fat which is piss-poor for intense energy.
That’s where you “Bonk”. You feel it when your muscles kind of start to feel limp and week, you’re a little nauseous, and you could eat all the pancakes in the world. It’s the pancake thing that gets me.
Now you’re done with anything like sprinting or high intensity for a while. You can keep pushing but it takes time for your muscles to rebuild glycogen. Eating lots of carbs before and during the workout helps.
There’s a few things that can happen.
1) Recovery after anaerobic exercise.
A person can perform feats that use up energy faster then the repository system can bring in oxygen to use. That uses up the energy stored in their muscles and builds up a lot of fatigue products in their blood and muscles. Afterward, ‘gassed out’, they are weaker and slower. But they might recover very quickly if they can breath and rest for a few moments. The body removes the fatigue products and replenishes the spent glucose, and the athlete has a ‘second wind’, able to perform at a higher level again.
2) Stress hormone response.
A person that feels tired, overheated and weak can seem to recover very quickly if the body releases epinephrine and endorphins. These can rapidly allow a person to ignore aches and pains, catch their breath and cool down.
3) ‘Kick’
A person that is in a sport or task where you’d normally perform it aerobically, like distance running, but has husbanded their energy may have the energy left near the end of the task to push themselves into anaerobic efforts. This sudden burst of speed/energy can get called a ‘second wind’, but really it’s a final push. Most people that have been exercising aerobically hard then finish with a burst of anaerobic exercise will end their workout feeling wiped out.
In running we also say “never believe the first mile”. What I experience is there it takes a while for the body to truly warm up and you feeling okay. The sweet spot between being warmed up and getting exhausted is one’s second wind.
There was a study looking at fatigue in muscles. A frogs leg muscle was extracted and placed between electrodes that pulsed, causing it to repeatedly contract. Eventually the muscle stopped contracting. When lactic acid was added to the muscle, it started contracting again.
Lactic acid seems to increase facilitate longer muscle action, so a buildup of lactic acid may give rise to a second wind.
Screw athletes: explain it for kids. Mostly how I can stop it lol.
Source: both kids been sick all weekend and it’s an hr past their bedtime and they are bouncing off the walls with no end in sight. I early applied Tylenol too early!
Maybe it’s something to do with the part of your body that says it’s tired being too tired to tell you about it? That’s a thing I’ve heard about staying up late at night, the “2nd wind” there- given they’re different types of fatigue it may not apply though.
It’s motivation usually causes by morale. This can come in different forms.
One is inspiration – a new purpose, or revelation. This can come from seeing a winning strategy that you didn’t see before or a sudden realization that losing is not an option.
Another is morale. In a losing situation, gallows humor can really boost morale and result in unpredictable or reckless behavior that can route a solid formation of movement once plans of settled. You see this most frequently in warfare.
Then there is also biological. After a certain amount of exhaustion or stress, your body taps into its reserves and starts burning those rapidly. Wits become sharp, muscle become strong, and propose becomes established. You see this in an individual under extreme stress and exhaustion has taken hold. It can’t last long, but it’s absolutely terrifying when you see it. They become akin to a demigod.
Here in Australia I used to work with a man who man it to the big time in our Rugby League completion. He only played 3 games in the big time but still that’s more than most.
He was a little guy in half back position which is similar to NFL quarterback role.
His first game was against the defending title winners from the previous season. An injury 10 minutes in meant he pretty much went straight on the field non stop for 30 minutes until half time.
At half time in the room he told his coach he was so exhausted and out of breath he didn’t think he could go back out for the second half. At the point the coach said to him don’t worry! It’s just your nerves. You’ll get a second wind very soon and you’ll be fine and he was
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