How do sleep and nutrition effect recovery?

So here we are, part 5 and the final segment of the Recovery Series. Having already covered Ice Baths, Massage, Compression Clothing, and Active recovery, we are now left with two of the most important aspects of performance and recovery – Sleep and Nutrition.

Let’s get down to it.

To begin I’m going to talk about hydration. It’s often spoken about how important it is to stay well hydrated, yet people will often let this be the first thing to slip when they start to focus on other things. It often seems to drift into the back of their mind as soon as they have something else to think about.

 

Well hydration is damn important. So drink some water people! It can help aid you in fat loss, keeps performance high both mentally and physically¹, and when recovering it is essential to replace the fluids you lose when sweating – so try to make sure you get a good amount of water in as soon as you can. I know that after a good game of club rugby on a Saturday all you want to do is sink a pint of Irish black gold, and believe me that would be my first thought too, but before you get yours hands on that beautiful well deserved pint get some water in.

(Alcohol in general is obviously not good for performance, or for recovery, but I’m just being realistic here – especially now that “Dry January” is over.)

 

Nutritionally speaking the best way to explain it is through a very cliché quote;

“You wouldn’t put diesel in a petrol car”.

And it’s true, when practicing a sport or exercising, your body is the car. And for that engine of yours to work at its best it needs to be adequately fuelled.

 

Now there is a huge amount of information about nutrition out there on the Internet, and within that there is contrasting advice and endless different diets. Honestly, it’s a bit of a pain in the arse. Wouldn’t it just be amazing if there were one way that fits everyone? In my opinion it would. But that isn’t the case, and there is a reason. Different people react differently. For instance some people have food intolerances, some react better to carbohydrates, some better to fats, some can work well eating the majority of their carbs late at night, others would get fatter by doing the same thing.

 

So it can take a bit of time to find out what works for you. Trial and error, and not just trialing for something for one day and saying it doesn’t work. You have to try it, allow time for adaptation to occur, and then make a decision based upon results. This goes for weight gain, maintenance, and loss.

 

That being said – there is some basic information that can be very transferrable, and that should be put into place when trying to improve recovery.

First off – you need to eat! Even if you were lay in bed doing absolutely nothing but breathing and thinking all day your body would still burn calories. This is called your basal metabolic rate. The amount of calories you would burn doing the absolute minimum. So if you’re not eating, you will gradually lose weight and your everyday bodily functions will start to suffer if not properly fuelled.

What foods do we need? Well the obvious answer first up is to look at your macronutrients – Carbohydrates, Protein and Fats.

When you consume carbohydrates, the body can break it down into glycogen, which then is utilised for energy production (I’m putting it simply – its much more complicated than that in real life, but for that stuff go read a text book).

Protein is made up of amino acids, these are the building blocks for muscle repair. So to make sure you maintain muscle or build muscle, you need to get protein in from somewhere such as meats, eggs or supplements.

Fats – oh here we go! So fats get a lot of stick in the press. Low fat this, low fat that. That’s great, well done, but the body needs fat. Simple. Fat can also be used as fuel for the body, as well as insulation. Different fats that we get through food can also be used to help keep our joints healthy, and keep our brain functioning.

 

So how much of each should you be eating? Unfortunately it all depends on you. Protein should be a mainstay. If you are a sports person, or if you train regularly, you will need more than the average person as your muscles are being used on a regular basis. Carbohydrates can fluctuate, for me personally I feel like crap if I eat loads of carbohydrates, but equally if I eat a low amount I feel rubbish too. So I rotate them so I eat more on hard training days to fuel my workouts and replenish afterwards, but less on off days as I don’t need that fuel. I then rotate fat consumption to balance my carb intake.

 

If you feel like you are always tired, or you’re losing weight or strength, you probably need to eat more. If you’re gaining weight, but are having no performance improvements and just getting fat, you probably need to eat less. But finding something that works for you takes time. My advice would be find a balance, try it for 6-8 weeks, then change if necessary.  Eat more carbohydrates when you’re training hard, plenty of protein every single day no matter whether you’re training hard or resting, and get fats in through good sources such as nuts and fish.

 

One last thing on nutrition – eat your vegetables! ^{(Nutrition references 2-5)}

 

The final section of this article is my personal favourite, and the most important. Sleep. Everyone needs to sleep. It is absolutely fundamental to performance, and to general health. Lack of sleep not only leads to tiredness (obviously), but it can screw up your hormone balance, which will lead to performance changes.

There are plenty of people who aren’t getting where they want to be in sport or business, and they will give an extra 2 hours a day training or working in the office at the expense of sleep, and this will then just pile on top itself to manifest into something bad. If they had an extra hour or two each day, their concentration throughout the day would actually increase, and likely their productivity.

For those of you wanting sporting gains, our muscles repair when they are resting. And we get a boost of naturally occurring growth hormone when we sleep. Combine those two statements and you should realise that you need sleep.

 

So there we go. A little bit longer than my usual articles, but we have covered a lot in this one. I’ve put a few references together at the bottom, including a couple of podcast episodes which are fantastic for understanding the importance of sleep, so have a flick through them if you want.

 

As I mentioned at the start, this was the final part of the Recovery Series. I hope you have enjoyed reading them, and please share them around as much as you can. It would be great if these could reach more people, as a lot of athletes don’t understand the importance of recovery to their performance.

 

Next week we will be looking into something new, so I’ll leave you hanging on to find out.

 

Thanks again for reading, and feel free to get in contact.

 

Rob Nitman. BSc. ASCC.

 

References:

 

1.      Gibson-Moore, H. (2014) Hydration and Health. Nutrition Bulletin, 39 (1).

2.      Dr. Israetel, M. (2014). The Renaissance Diet. E-Book.

3.      Bean, A. (2013). The Complete Guide to Sports Nutrition. Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, London UK. 7^th Edition.

4.      American College of Sports Medicine. (2009). Nutrition and Athletic Performance. Medicine & Science in Sport & Exercise, 49 (3).

5.      McLaren, D. (2008). Protein, Carbohydrates and Muscle Recovery. The Journal of the UK Strength & Conditioning Association, 10.

6.      Barbell Shrugged. 158 - The 1 Thing That Will Make You Better at Everything. 07 January 2015.

7.      Barbell Shrugged. 113 - 1 Quick Way To Naturally Increase Testosterone: Sleep. 16 April 2014.

Massage and Self-Myofascial Release

Welcome back to the recovery series. This is now part 3, and our subjects for discussion are massage and self-myofascial release (SMR).

Now, I imagine most people understand the basic premise of what a massage is and what it consists of. Usually there are two types, a regular massage which is more therapeutic and relaxing using softer contact, and also sports massage which is a more physical experience getting deeper into the muscle to release tension, knots, and bound up tissue caused by exercise or general life¹.

This leads to a happy customer either way in most cases (not the kind of happy endings you may be thinking … this is a child friendly article after all) as the tension of muscles can be released leading to greater range of movement, and can also assist stress management².

SMR is slightly different. A lot of you reading this will have heard of it, and if you haven’t, I’m hoping that you have heard of something called Foam Rolling. They are one and the same in that SMR is what it says – releasing the tension of the fascia by yourself. Broken down this is; self - you, myofascial - the thin layer of fascia that covers the muscle belly, and release – how can I put this … “to free from confinement/to free from anything that constrains”³. Yes I did just use a dictionary for that, don’t judge me.

Essentially it is just using a foam roller, or other such tools, to release any areas of tension in the body⁴.

There are pros and cons to both of these in my opinion. With massage you can get a more thorough treatment on any identified area, but unless you have a friend in the business who can give you a good deal it can often be quite pricey. Especially seeing as the effects are not life long but only short term⁵.

It can also be a bit less time effective, as depending on your masseuse it could be either 30 or 60 minutes per treatment, plus travel time to and from. Plus there’s one more, you might not know when you’re going to be in need of a massage. So unless you have a regular booking already in place, if something causes you to need one – you may then have to wait for an available slot.

With foam rolling the only expense is the initial purchase of the items. This can be entirely based upon your budget or needs. For me – I use a Trigger Point roller; it’s quite heavy duty and has ridges allowing for a more thorough release. It’s a little more expensive than some, but I’ve had it for almost 3 years and it’s still holding strong. I used to own one of the simple and cheap rollers, but being 115kg+ at the time, I flattened it within a few weeks of regular use. I also use a massage stick to roll my calves and quads, and a lacrosse ball, hockey ball or sometimes even a golf ball (for the real sneaky little knots hiding away) to get at individual knots rather than a whole muscle belly. I’m not saying you need all these, but it’s just what I use.

Apart from that, with foam rolling all you need is the know-how (knowing where is sore and how to roll that area – check out reference 4 & 6 for more info), and some floor space to do it. Time-wise I feel it is more efficient as a little and often approach can alleviate a lot of issues.

What role do these both play on recovery I hear you ask (and even if you’re not asking, I’m going to say anyway); both can be used to alleviate muscle fascia tension, which will allow a greater range of movement. It can also help to reduce the amount of waste product build up in the area, with appropriate technique (generally considered to be towards the heart) helping to flush waste.

You can buy Foam Rollers here at pretty low cost. Much cheaper than paying a sports therapist to give you a massage... (And less painful!!)

Once again, I hope this article was helpful for you. If it was, please give it a share on social media. There are plenty of other good articles to read on the Macro Man blog, so check them out and get anyone you think might be interested to have a look.

The Recovery Series is well under way, with 3 parts now complete. Next week we’ll take a look into active recovery and how it could help you.

Thanks for reading,

Rob Nitman. BSc. ASCC.

References

1.     Cherkin, D.C., Sherman, K.J., Kahn, J. et al. (2011). A comparison of the effects of 2 types of massage and usual care on chronic low back pain: a randomized, controlled trial. Annals of Internal Medicine, 155(1).

2.     Sherman, K.J., Ludman, E.J., Cook, A.J. et al. (2010). Effectiveness of therapeutic massage for generalized anxiety disorder: a randomized controlled trial. Depression and Anxiety, 27(5).

3.     http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/release?s=t

4.     Robertson, M. (2008). Self-Myosfascial Release: Purpose, Methods & Techniques. Robertson Training Systems, Indianapolis, USA.

5.     Furlan, A.D., Imamura, M., Dryden, T. et al. (2008) Massage for low-back pain. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 4(1).

6.     http://www.lightfield.com/etc/Self_Myofascial_ReleaseMM.pdf - accessed 11/01/2015

How effective are ice baths for recovery?

Welcome to Part 2 of the recovery series.

Last week I did a brief overview of compression clothing; what it is, and how it can help your recovery post-exercise.

This week we will be diving into Ice Baths. Well, not only ice baths (which can also be known as cold water immersion as you don’t necessarily need ice) but also contrast bathing, and cryotherapy.

Ice baths have been popular for a while now, and they continue to be popular because:

A)     They can help aid recovery

B)     They look pretty badass

As much as I’d love to continue this article by writing about ways to make yourself look tough in front of your buddies after a hard workout, I should probably concentrate on point A.

First, what are the differences between each of them? Ice bathing/cold water immersion is essentially what it says on the tin – a bath in a tub full of cold water and ice, ordinarily at a temperature between 8 and 10 degrees Celsius¹. It is suggested that you should be submerged up to your neck to get full effect, and remain in the water for a minimum of 5 minutes². 

Contrast bathing is slightly different; during this you would jump between two baths, or one bath and one shower, the first being cold (as above) the second being warm – around 40 degrees celsius¹, alternating between each every couple of minutes for a total of around 10 minutes. 

Cryotherapy is easiest to do using chambers, where you stand in a cylindrical tube that decreases temperature to around -100 degrees Celsius. This to me sounds simply horrific, but the effects are meant to be excellent and you don’t need to be exposed for as long, only remaining in the chamber for up to 3 minutes³.

So let’s get started by understanding the theory behind diving into a load of ice. The benefits of doing so include less muscular inflammation, lowered rate of chemical reactions in the tissue and improved waste product removal.

Going into greater detail on each of these:
Reduced muscular inflammation – Potentially as a result of the waste product removal, the reduced inflammation then allows for improved blood flow and greater range of movement through muscle action and also through joints⁴.

Lowered rate of chemical reactions in the tissue – Decreasing the temperature in the muscle can lead to a reduced amount of waste product being created⁵. It can help to return the body to its normal resting state (homeostasis) which will then regulate the way the body functions.
Improved waste product removal – This happens by rapid closing and opening of veins and capillaries, which then assists blood flow towards the heart (whose job it then is to disperse the waste from the blood)¹.

So after treating yourself to some time in the cold you should feel less muscle soreness and less stiffness, and feel your body get back to the way it normally is. This will let you train sooner, and potentially more often if you use these regularly.

There you have it – a brief outline of ice bathing, what it is, and how it can help. Hopefully it was nice and easy to understand so you can take this information and use it yourselves to help your own recovery regimen.

Next week I’ll be writing some information on massage and self myo-fascial release (SMR) as a recovery method. So make sure to share this article around, and check back again in a week’s time to see the next instalment in the recovery series.

Thanks for reading,

Rob Nitman. BSc. ASCC.

References:

1.     Gill, N.D., Beaven, C.M. & Cook, C. (2006) Effectiveness of post-match recovery strategies in rugby players. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 40(3).

2.     http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/news/20120214/ice-baths-for-sore-muscles-can-work - accessed 04/01/2015

3.     http://cryoclinics.co.uk/what-is-whole-body-cryotherapy/the-technology/ - accessed 04/01/2015

4.     Burke, D.G., Holt, L.E., Rasmussen, R., Mackinnon, N.C., Vossen, J.F. & Pelhame, T.W. (2001) Effects of hot or cold water immersion and modified proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation flexibility exercise on hamstring length. Journal of Athletic Training, 36 (1).

5.     http://web.stanford.edu/group/journal/cgi-bin/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Tenforde_NatSci_2003.pdf - accessed 04/01/2015

Higgins, T.R., Heazlewood, T. & Climstein, M. (2011) A Random Control Trial of Contrast Baths and Ice Baths for Recovery during Competition in U/20 Rugby Union. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 25(4). 

What are the benefits of compression clothing? How does it aid recovery?

Now that I’ve got an introduction out of the way, and given you all a bit of an insight into my opinions on S&C as an industry, I’m going to move on to specific subjects. Each of these articles are going to be research driven, so if any of them are on a subject you find interesting or want to read more about you can follow the references from each article.

The first of these is Recovery Methods. Recovery plays a huge part in performance; if you don’t recover sufficiently in between bouts of exercise or between competitive fixtures, your performance may suffer as a result.

I am going to break this subject down into more manageable chunks, so over the coming weeks my articles will be based around the following:

• Compression Clothing
• Ice Baths/Cold Water Immersion/Contrast Showers
• Massage/SMR
• Active Recovery
• Rest & Nutrition

I didn’t want to try to hit all of them in one go as it would be one hell of a long article, and each of these subjects deserves enough credit to warrant separate articles. So check back weekly to the Macro Man Health &Fitness blog to find out more.

First up is… Compression Clothing

Compression clothing has been popular for a while now, firstly to either facilitate thermoregulation (keep you warm or keep you cool), but also some garments have been made claiming to aid the recovery process.

This is done by helping to improve blood flow and regulate temperature, which in turn will lead to improved removal of waste products from the muscles after exercise. This means a lower amount of perceived delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS – or that sore aching feeling you get after exercise). Sound complicated? Basically - the idea is that these items will allow you to recover quicker and therefore train more frequently².

The most popular types that have been researched are compression socks (ankle to knee), and tights or leggings (ankle to hip). There are upper body recovery garments available, but for most people competing in sports lower body recovery is emphasised.

If someone came up to you and said “Good session today, you should get an ice bath tonight to help you recover. Or, you could throw some compression leggings on overnight.” I’m guessing you’d probably join the majority who would wear the leggings? Especially in the winter! (In case you’re wondering, the person who said it was your coach, not just some random dude on the street. That would be weird.)

Some studies have found that compression garments can help the athletes feel less sore after using them than they would if they hadn’t worn them. This is all well and good, but actual physiological recovery was only minimal^3.4.

Other studies have found scientific benefits to wearing the garments such as reductions in muscle swelling alongside muscle soreness, and improved blood lactate removal following maximal strength and power activities⁵.

It seems to be fairly accepted across the majority of articles that DOMS was reduced when wearing tights and multiple studies have found that they are beneficial in improving physiological symptoms as well.

For this to have effect the garments have to be able to provide a good amount of compression to the muscle⁶ – basically they can’t be loose or baggy. So if you intend to use a pair of leggings as part of your recovery, try to get hold of a brand new pair that won’t have lost their fit – and pay attention to the size guides, or if possible use a company who make them to fit your own personal measurements.

So, after reading through a bunch of articles and going off recommendations from exercise professionals, my advice would be this;
If you want to wear tights as part of your recovery process – go for it. Athletes often found that they felt less sore when they used them, and some research has found positive physiological effects.
At the very least – they’re not going to do any harm. Plus they’re nice and cosy in bed during the winter months, although your partner may say different.

Thank you for reading, and make sure to check back next week to read Part 2 of this look into recovery. Next week’s article will go into some detail on the attention grabbing Ice Bath (plus some more bearable alternatives).

This article was written by Rob Nitman. BSc. ASCC.

REFERENCES

1.       http://sportsmedicine.about.com/od/sampleworkouts/a/After-Exercise.htm - accessed 20/12/2014

2.       http://www.skins.net/uk/mens-compression/recovery/ry400-men-s-compression-long-tights-for-recovery - accessed 20/12/2014

3.       Duffield, R., Cannon, J. & King, M. (2010) The Effects of Compression Garments on Recovery of Muscle Performance Following High-Intensity Sprint and Plyometric Exercise. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 13 (1).

4.       Faulkner, J.A., Gleadon, J., McLaren, J. & Jakeman, J.R. (2013) Effect of Lower-Limb Compression Clothing on 400-m Sprint Performance. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 27 (3).

5.       Born, D.P., Sperlich, B. & Holmberg, H.C. (2013) Bringing Light into the Dark: Effects of Compression Clothing on Performance and Recovery. International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, 8 (1).

6.       Sperlich, B., Born, D.P., Kasinoro, K. & Laaksonen, M.S. (2013) Squeezing the Muscle: Compression Clothing and Muscle Metabolism During Recovery from High Intensity Exercise. PloS One, 8 (4).

Foam Rolling - How to do it, why you should do it and who says it's worth it

This article is all about the world of self-myofascial release (SMR), in particular, foam rolling.  If you have never heard of this term or would just like to know a bit more information about it, you have come to the right place! This article will be discussing what a foam roller actually is, why they are used, what they actually do and, finally, what does the latest research say about them?

I hope you enjoy!

 

What is a foam roller?

So first up, what is a foam roller? Its not a trick question, a foam roller is simply just a cylinder piece of foam (that rolls).  They come in various sizes and densities, which is usually indicated by the colour of foam. White rollers are the softest, black rollers are the firmest and blue rollers are somewhere in between. They are not hard to find either, just search online for a foam roller and you are sure to find a stockiest.

 

For anybody that has never seen a foam roller and is wondering what I am talking about, this is what one looks like...

 

As you can see, they aren’t flash and they aren’t fancy. 

You might be wondering why this piece of foam is so special?  

 

Why should I use one?

Most athletes will use a foam roller with the aim to reduce muscle soreness and enhance their recovery in order to maximize their levels of performance.  But how is this achieved?

 

What do they do?

In simple terms, just think of foam rolling as ironing (stay with me).

When you train hard, muscles suffer from micro trauma. This micro trauma can lead to the formation of scar tissue and knots in the muscle, which may impede nerve conduction and blood flow. This can then lead to muscle soreness and reduce the contraction speed of your muscles, therefore your performance!

By carefully aligning the roller with particular muscles (like an iron), the roller is used to apply pressure to areas of soreness in muscles. This enables you to break up the scar tissue that may have formed (like creases in a shirt).

 

They can also be used to increase your flexibility and your range of movement, a process called autogenic inhibition. As pressure is applied to the muscle, mechanoreceptors called Golgi Tendon Organs inform the brain that tension is being placed on the muscle. The brain then sends a message back to relax the muscle, preventing it from tearing.  A reduction in tension means a reduction in pain and improvements in muscular function.

 

How do I use one?

As briefly mentioned, rollers are used to apply pressure on areas of soreness in your muscles. They are really simple to use. Place the roller on a sore muscle area and roll slowly, using your body weight to apply the pressure. Once you have found a sore point, stop and apply direct pressure whilst trying to relax the muscle. It is advised to spend between 30-60 seconds per muscle group, depending on your perceived soreness.

Foam rolling is a great method to use as part of a pre-hab routine before your training session or as part of a recovery routine after your session. It becomes a great habit to have in making sure that you are getting the most out of your training sessions.

But does it actually work?

 

 

 

 

What does the research say?

 

There are many studies that have researched the effectiveness of foam rolling but I have summarised the findings of two recent papers. The references can be found below in case you would like to look into them further.

The first paper looked at was by MacDonald et al. (2014). This study looked at foam rolling as a recovery tool after an intense bout of physical activity. Results concluded that foam rolling was a beneficial tool in reducing muscle soreness whilst also improving vertical jump height, muscle activation and passive and dynamic range of motion in comparison to a group that did not use foam rollers.

A study by Pearcey et al. (2014) found results that adhered to the findings by Macdonald et al. (2014). They concluded that foam-rolling effectively reduced the delayed onset of muscle soreness (DOMS) and the associated decrements in dynamic performance (sprint speed, power and dynamic strength endurance).

So that’s a little bit about self-myofascial release; why not get your hands on a foam roller and try it for yourself. I’d love to hear what you think!

 

References

Macdonald, G., Button, D., Drinkwater, E. and Behm, D. (2014). Foam Rolling as a Recovery Tool After an Intense Bout of Physical Activity. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 46 (1), pp.131-142.

Pearcey, G., Bradbury-Squires, D., Kawamoto, J., Drinkwater, E., Behm, D. and Button, D. (2014). Foam Rolling for Delayed-Onset Muscle Soreness and Recovery of Dynamic Performance Measures. Journal of Athletic Training. [In Press]

 

This article was written by Rob Etherington.