What type of recovery methods do you guys use after a very intense leg day ? I have found the hydrotherapy method (hot pulsing shower followed by cold; cycle temp. a few temps for cooldown)
works a bit…
Usually though I just look funny at work going up and down stairs… lol…
Besides foods (e.g., kiwi, bananas), sleep/rest, and stretching… (and at this point I can’t afford massages on the regular)
Do you guys have any other methods to speed up recovery ?
Not sure where kiwis and bananas come from, but the cryotherapy stuff we discussed earlier this week is the best for recovery.
Everyone anecdotally loves massages, although this is not supported by the scientific literature.
Cheers!
i jus live with it man, to be honest i like it. Been doing OVT for almost 4 weeks and even though i am eating a truckload of food i get pain all throughout the week.
I think u jus kind get used to it. sorry i don’t have any suggestions.
you could try some light concentric only recovery work on your off days. Ala Westside Barbell GPP sled drags.
Using dumbells you can do alot of concentric only stuff. I find it helps me alot. For example lateral shoulder raises with normal concentric movement but lower like a reverse clean. Just get innovative.
But i agree with David Barr try ice baths, brrrr! I think i’d rather suffer DOMS though.
D-Barr:
I mention kiwis & bananas for their potassium content which helps with muscle soreness… eating them, I mean…
As for TOKMAN & CREED thanks to the UK lifters for their advice; I do take ice cold/hot showers to flush the lactic acid (so far it’s been more than psychosomatic; fingers crossed)
Yeah, I’ve been living with it (DOMS) for a few years now so gutting through it is probably the best way.
Altho getting a deep tissue massage from a T-Vixen would pretty much have me feeling no pain whatsoever… lol…
Jay, why do you think potassium helps with DOMS?
I think Creed was referring exclusively to cold tubbing rather than contrast showers. I coulda swore it was just this week that we had a thread on that…
Of course you vould get this effect by just wearing shorts to your car after a workout Jay. Watch out for polar bears!
Blood flow to the area and time are the best things to relieve soreness.
Read Chad Waterbury’s “100 Reps to Bigger Muscles”. This is a great way to prevent soreness (increases blood flow to the area), especially if you have a problem area that’s gettig sore all the time. For me it was front delts. I started doing 100 push-ups every off day and never got sore.
You could go for a long easy walk to get the blood flowing - works for me.
Although it’s just intuitive that increasing blood flow after a workout will prevent/relieve DOMS, it’s just not the case (in fact the opposite it true). Hyperemia (localized increase in blood flow) is part of the first stage of the immune response that causes DOMS.
That’s why cryotherapy is beneficial, it reduces blood flow to the affected area.
I reviewed one study on heating muscle in the ACSM article (ie it decreased performance/recovery).
The 100 Reps program increases blood flow to the area many times per day on off days, increasing the recovery rate by increasing capillary density.
I don’t really see how the 100 reps a day program would increase capillary density. Can anyone explain further?
Did you read the article?
Hey dave, so if the next day i do 100 reps of bench presses and my pecs get a pump, they arent filling up with blood?