Without movement or exercise, the muscles are weakened and deprived of a steady supply of blood, oxygen and nutrients. This, in turn, can lead to muscle pain.
Less serious causes of abdominal pain include constipation, irritable bowel syndrome, food allergies, lactose intolerance, food poisoning, and a stomach virus. Other, more serious, causes include appendicitis, an abdominal aortic aneurysm, a bowel blockage, cancer, and gastroesophageal reflux.
According to Stephen Henry, D.O., an assistant professor of sports medicine at University of Miami Miller School of Medicine in Florida, muscle soreness without exercise could be caused by one of the following: Bacterial or viral infection. Chronic conditions such as Lyme disease or fibromyalgia.
A feeling of tightness in a person's abdomen is usually the result of digestive or hormonal issues. A person may feel like their stomach is in knots, but this sensation typically resolves independently. However, underlying health conditions may cause a person to feel stomach tightness for extended periods.
Hourglass syndrome (HS) is a term that refers to habitual stomach gripping or sucking in of the abdominal muscles. There are various potential causes of HS. Examples include abdominal pain, poor posture, and body-image concerns that may cause pressure to achieve the appearance of a smaller waist.
“Genetically, some people may have more pronounced grooves than others, but you'll notice in the photos of these models, who are very lean, they don't actually have very developed abs,” says Orbeck. “They just have the groove, which means they are leaner than they are stronger in their core.”
Electrolytes play an important role in muscle relaxation. When electrolyte levels are imbalanced from dehydration, it can cause muscle cramps, spasms, and overall discomfort in the body. Furthermore, dehydration can lead to increased muscle fatigue and decreased endurance during physical activity.
In fact, there's very little evidence to show that muscle soreness is a reliable indicator of muscle damage, or that being sore means faster muscle growth, or that a lack of soreness means that your workout wasn't effective.
Simple remedies for soreness include using an ice pack, massages, stretching, and most importantly, rest. Muscle soreness should not last longer than five days. Seek medical attention if the pain doesn't subside after a week, the injured area feels numb, or you are unable to walk or move your arms or legs.
Delayed-onset muscle soreness is a normal response to working your muscles. Usually, it peaks 24 to 48 hours after a workout before gradually easing, then disappearing entirely in another day or so. But if you experience sudden, sharp, or long-lasting pain, check with your doctor.
If you are experiencing intense pain in your abdominal region that comes on suddenly or persists over a prolonged period of time, as well as a high fever, you should seek immediate medical care.
Almost everyone has pain in the abdomen at some point. Most of the time, it is not serious. How bad your pain is does not always reflect the seriousness of the condition causing the pain. For example, you might have very bad abdominal pain if you have gas or stomach cramps due to viral gastroenteritis.
"The sore muscles you feel after a workout are a byproduct of the muscle healing process, and this soreness is called delayed onset muscle soreness, or DOMS, since it doesn't happen immediately," says Murray.
The most common causes of muscle aches and pains are: Injury or trauma, including sprains and strains. Overuse including using a muscle too much, too soon before warming up, or too often. Tension or stress.
"But, if you have localized pain that is sharp, limits your mobility, changes your gait, affects your range of motion or is accompanied by significant weakness, it could be a sign of a serious injury that needs treatment."
But to answer the question - no, sore muscles do not burn fat directly.
Water plays a crucial function in encouraging muscle gain because it delivers the materials required for constructing protein and glycogen structures, the body's main sources of energy. Not only does it allow better freedom of movement, but also helps you build muscles good enough for flexing them.
Your Abdominal Muscles Aren't Thick Enough
If you have a trim waist and minimal body fat and you still can't see your abs, then you need to work on getting the Rectus Abdominis (your 6 pack muscle) thicker. You will never be able to see your abs if the muscle bellies there are weak and small.
The body fat percentage needed to see your pack of abdominal muscles falls somewhere around 14 to 20% for women and 6 to 13% for men.
Physically, this line results from a fibrous line of tissue, called the linea alba, that runs down the middle of your abdomen. The different ab muscles anchor to this tissue. People naturally have linea alba of different widths. If you're lean enough, the skin dips into this divot.