Muscle Recovery Article

I found this article when looking for information on muscle recovery. It is primarily for runners but could be used of martial artists who train hard.

New Study Points to Importance of
Muscle Recovery for Runners

By PoweringMuscles.com
A new study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research points to the importance of post-race muscle recovery in runners.

The study was performed at the Ball State University Biomechanics Laboratory and involved 10 experienced male distance runners.
The runners performed a 10K race at maximum effort. Before, immediately after, and 48 hours after the race, the runners engaged in a pair of leg strength tests. They performed 50 repetitions of a knee flexion exercise and maximum torque at three angles was recorded by an isokinetic dynamometer.

They also performed a vertical leap, and height was recorded.

Performance in the knee flexion exercise was significantly lower immediately after the race and remained well below baseline 48 hours after the race. Vertical leap was unchanged immediately after the race but fell substantially below baseline at 48 hours.

The researchers concluded that the runners' hamstring muscle group had not not recovered full strength and power within 48 hours of completing the 10K race.

It is fair to surmise that hard workouts also reduce hamstring strength and power in runners, to a lesser extent. If recovery is not completed within 24 hours, runners must perform their next workout with diminished hamstring strength and therefore cannot perform to full potential.

Clearly, if this scenario is often repeated, the overall quality of the runner's training will suffer.

Runners therefore need to do everything in their power to accelerate muscle recovery after exercise. First, in the first two hours after completing each workout, they need to take in water, carbohydrate, electrolytes, protein, and antioxidants.

This will promote rapid rehydration, replenishment of muscle and liver glycogen, and muscle tissue repair, and will reduce delayed-onset muscle soreness.

Runners should also stretch their running muscles immediately after each workout, as this accelerates the removal of metabolic wastes from the muscles and prevents tightening of the muscles.

And finally, at some point prior to the next workout, runners should engage in self-massage to reduce tissue swelling, increase bloodflow, and relieve muscular adhesions and trigger points.

By taking post-race and post-workout muscle recovery seriously, runners can shorten the interval of diminished muscle strength that is normal after intense running.

Copyright 2002 by Poweringmuscles. Published with permission. For cutting-edge sports nutrition info, visit www.poweringmuscles.com.

Breath work - Running Part 1

In qigong there are basically three or four types of breathing. The first is natural breathing. Observing this breath with awareness is one of the most beneficial forms of meditation. Other breathing techniques include the tonifying breath, dispersing breath, diaphragmatic breath, and reverse breath.
In meditation/neigong the following descriptions do not apply. For a scientific analysis (with references) of breathing physiology follow this link.

Tonifying breath: Longer inhale than exhale. Used to energize the body.
Dispersing breath: Longer exhale than inhale. Used to get rid of toxins and nervous energy.

After practicing diaphragmatic/dantian breathing for a number of years I thought I had the breathing thing down. But one of the first things I noticed about my breath when running is that I was still not taking a complete breath. The belly was filling up but the top lobes of the lungs were not. I was not getting the maximum amount of oxygen possible to feed the body.

Another interesting component of breathing is with regards to mouth vs nose breathing. Mouth breathing stimulates the fight or flight aspect of the nervous system. When this happens blood pools in the core of the body. As a result, less blood is flowing through the lungs to exchange CO2 for O2. Performance decreases. In contrast, nose breathing activates the rest and repair response of the nervous system causing more blood to flow through the body and lungs. Also the hormone response is more beneficial. (Source)

Half Marathon Training - 4th week

Training is moving along. One thing has improved...sleep.
Times are still pretty much the same. Running around a 10 minute mile or so. I spend more energy getting my stride right.
This week i have been focusing on pulling through and lifting with the hamstring. Calf's still sore and have not completely acclimated to running stride changes. Did 5 miles last weekend. That was the first time since I did a triathlon age 19. It was fairly easy.

Also working on harvesting the kinetic energy from the bounce when the foot/body hits the ground. For you Internal Martial Arts guys this is a lot like fajin training. The body relaxes as the foot strikes the ground. The elasticity of the body causes a rebound effect. If the body is relaxed it is possible to use that energy more efficiently than if you are holding the body in a rigid running position. Holding the body rigid wastes energy that could be spent running. It also causes way to much shock to absorb into the bones, tendons, and ligaments. There is also a "detoxifying effect" on the internal organs.