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.

Training Progress

Now three weeks into Hal Higdon's Half Marathon schedule. My muscles, bones and joints are starting to get used to the training. On his cross training days, i do my martial arts training focusing on Traditional Strength training, kf yoga, or fast walking.

Currently focusing on getting the figure four in my stride and maintaining the forefoot strike. The lungs are getting stronger.

Also working on the IMA principal of "Blurry The Vision". This cuts a lot of negative self talk and encourages mindfulness in movement. I will write more on this later. It is a fascinating aspect of running that I find to help out in many ways. Definitely more of an inner aspect of physical training.

Other mechanics that I am working on are:
Keeping the hips tucked, Chin tucked, Central Channel straight, relax all the is necessary to maintain pace instead of struggling to maintain.

Heel Strike VS Forefoot Strike

Running - Pose technique

Here is a short youtube vid that explains some of the concepts I am shooting for when running.

Running the Half Marathon

This post is for the friends that I have that follow this blog. But some of you know that I am training for the half marathon. A long distance running event is something that I have always wanted to do. Hal Higdon has a novice schedule that seems to be working well. It has been relatively easy increasing the miles.

Running has never really been my thing. It has always been hard for my frame to deal with...that is until I discovered some of the natural movement people out there. Later I want to add some links to a few sites that I draw inspiration from.

These natural movement principals are found throughout the martial arts that I teach and practice. Applying them to running is just something that I never thought of before.

Instead of a chore that hurt my back and was difficult to do, running has become A LOT easier. My back does not hurt and the knees are pretty much pain free as I build up the miles.

My favorite alternative running technique is the Pose technique.
I changed my stride to fit more of that model instead of a classic heal strike that sent pain into the back. Also, I incorporated a lot of the standing principals from Sun style Hsing I Chuan that have helped make running more effortless. Now the only thing that is holding me back is the conditioning of the lungs/O2 uptake.

Later, i am going to write on my experiments using the breathing techniques from the internal martial arts that I have been using to help me get in shape.

Although my personal martial arts practice is taking a back seat at the moment I still get to learn about my art by applying the principals to another form of exercise.

Talk soon,
Chuck