When you work out really hard and your muscles burn, the buildup of lactic acid might help your muscles refill energy faster—but after lifting weights, less lactic acid means slower recovery.

After a short, super-hard workout, your muscles refill their energy stores way faster than after a long, slow one—even if you eat the same amount of carbs.

Lifting weights refills muscle energy slower than sprinting or HIIT, maybe because you don’t build up as much lactic acid and your muscles get more sore from stretching under load.

When trained men do certain types of weightlifting workouts, their bodies produce more lactic acid compared to other workout styles, which means their muscles are working harder and under more stress.

If you wear tight bands around your arms or legs only when you're resting between weightlifting sets, your muscles will produce more lactic acid afterward than if you wear them while lifting or not at all—but that extra burn doesn’t make your muscles grow bigger or stronger.

Even when eating almost no carbs after a race, athletes who’ve been on a high-fat, low-carb diet for months can still rebuild their muscle sugar stores just as well as those eating lots of carbs.