Would there be any conflicting interests doing Don Alessi’s Stretch Mark Mass! post-workout stretches followed by Ice Massage?
No one?
bump?
I guess this will be my attempt at answering my own question by slogging through pages of cryotherapy literature and carefully analyzing Don’s article.
PNF (proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation) stretching, or in this case, weighted static stretching, effectively stretches muscle cell walls and muscle sheaths, which triggers a “hypertrophy for survival” response in which the cell walls thicken and the muscle sheaths attain a heightened level of cell breakdown and repair-- ultimately leading to a larger muscle.
Cryotherapy helps “in recovery”. Some studies show this, and some show that it has no effect. Of the studies that show it DOES have effect, it was of the following nature:
When a muscle is in a chronically shortened state, it forms (or develops) adhesions, which as far as I can tell are places where the muscle fibers stick together. By applying ice in a cryotherapy manner (long deep strokes on the muscle) the muscle temperature is reduced and tension is relaxed. The pressure applied to the muscle then can release these adhesions due to the relaxed state of the muscle.
So, I think if anything the combination of the two would work. Either the cryotherapy would aid in the separation and stretching of the muscle fibers for PNF, or the PNF would aid in the release of muscle adhesions for the Cryotherapy.
Although I could be totally wrong.
Most of the latest research on post workout cryotherapt suggests that it doesn’t work, but my own experiences compell me to continue recommending it
[quote]RIT Jared wrote:
I guess this will be my attempt at answering my own question by slogging through pages of cryotherapy literature and carefully analyzing Don’s article.
PNF (proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation) stretching, or in this case, weighted static stretching, effectively stretches muscle cell walls and muscle sheaths, which triggers a “hypertrophy for survival” response in which the cell walls thicken and the muscle sheaths attain a heightened level of cell breakdown and repair-- ultimately leading to a larger muscle.
Cryotherapy helps “in recovery”. Some studies show this, and some show that it has no effect. Of the studies that show it DOES have effect, it was of the following nature:
When a muscle is in a chronically shortened state, it forms (or develops) adhesions, which as far as I can tell are places where the muscle fibers stick together. By applying ice in a cryotherapy manner (long deep strokes on the muscle) the muscle temperature is reduced and tension is relaxed. The pressure applied to the muscle then can release these adhesions due to the relaxed state of the muscle.
So, I think if anything the combination of the two would work. Either the cryotherapy would aid in the separation and stretching of the muscle fibers for PNF, or the PNF would aid in the release of muscle adhesions for the Cryotherapy.
Although I could be totally wrong. [/quote]
[quote]CharlesStaley wrote:
Most of the latest research on post workout cryotherapt suggests that it doesn’t work, but my own experiences compell me to continue recommending it
[/quote]
Charles,
Can you list any references to those research studies?
Thx,
T-Bone2