Only a fag would use ice on their groin. 
Goldberg,
How often do you massage your groin with ice? Sounds like something you’d do if you had too much Tribex.
Haha. I really have to resist the temptation to rub it on my nuts. But when the cold water trickles down to my asshole i do get a little chill across my body.
Neil, if you get in there quickly enough, you’re reduce swelling and pain. If you limit the swelling, you’ll promote faster healing. Sure, you’ll initially reduce blood flow from ice, but when that ice comes off, the swelling will be much more reduced than it would have been otherwise and your body will start mending from a much better starting point.
Here is what I do…
the 3 s’s
- Surge
- Stretch
- Sleep… damn I love sleep.
I use the circulating cold water machine or ice massage before I go to bed when the ol’ knee giving me problems.
Ice is an anti-inflamitory, an analgesic, and a vasoconstrictor all in one. Read up on the attributes of each to get your answer, Niel.
I’ve never had ice reduce circulation to the point of numbness or pins-n-needles distal to the area I’m icing down.
B.
I think im gonna check my pulse on Saturday before my comp, and if its elevated im not gonna lift. sorry, i couldnt resist.
Goldberg, since you are so fond of the book Supertraining I can also point you to pp. 449-458 of the 3rd edition that discuss restoration, including a table detailing physiologic signs of overtraining that includes elevated heart rate. The author states that in the Russian system meticulous records of physiologic parameters were kept.
It is a lot more complicated than “heart rate elevated, don’t train.” You should be able to appreciate that because Louie Simmons approach to powerlifting is a lot more sophisticated than “lift heavy, get strong!”
The point is knowing your body, and knowing when to back off when the nervous system is not recovered. Resting heart rate is not perfect, but it is an objective physiological parameter (versus the more subjective question of “how am I feeling today?”) that can point to overtraining.
I was making a joke. Chill the fuck out. I was also making a point. Sometimes lifting when you dont necessarily “feel” like it is what seperates the haves from the have nots. Some of my best days have been when i really didnt feel like going to the gym. Ive actually had good workouts when i was sick. If had checked my pulse that day, found it was elevated, and not really felt like lifting, then i would have missed out on a great day. Prevent overtraining from occuring by eating sufficient calories, keeping workouts short, and getting sufficient rest, and doing things like stretching, active recovery, massage, ART, ice, ice massage, etc. Its nice to know things like the elevated heart rate and things of that nature but some things just arent feasable. And regardless of my readings, if its dynamic squat day, you better believe im gonna damn squat that day. Go to Westside and say Im not gonna lift today because my pulse is elevated over my norm. Hell, even tell that to Siff(if you still could) and see what they say.
Goldberg,
Tell us more about rubbing ice on your nuts and letting the ice water drip down to your asshole
Ok, on a more serious note, how long do you ice your nuts to get the best results?
Hahah, ok, seriously. How long to ice? And is icing different from a cold shower time-wise?
I realized you were making a joke, I was just adding a little bit more to the discussion. Of the items on my list biological monitoring was what was asked about, so I said more. It should definately not be emphasized as much as most of the other recovery methods. Besides controlled overreaching can be a good thing in the training process.
I know this may anger you, but I’ll say it anyway. The management of training in powerlifting is not as complicated as some other sports (eg. Track and Field). I don’t say this from some academic standpoint of having read a lot of books on the subject, but from real world experience as an athlete and lots of discussion with World class athletes.
15-20 minutes. A possibility of frostbite could occur if you go longer than that.
No a cold shower will not give the same effect as ice. No offense but it seems like this is common knowledge.
irondoc told me to ice massage for only a few minutes. He said that 15 minutes was unneccessary. I usually lay down naked on a towel on my bed with a block of ice that i freeze in a plastic cup. I rub it on my left hip, groin, upper thigh for 6 minutes. Then i switch and do the right side for 6 minutes. If there is any ice left i go back to my left leg for another minute or so. I keep it on my hip flexors for most of the time since this is what needs the most work.
Regarding the amount of time for icing, the Cryocup instructions recommend no more than 10-12 min. so Irondoc is right on.
Light active recovery: Walking, swimming etc
I stop thinking about baseball.
That seems to help.
Great post, MD2006!!! Thank you for the level of detail you put into your response.
Overtraining has a nasty way of creeping up on you. If all things are optimal, you just rock along. But throw in some external stressors unrelated to training, and it can put you over the edge. It’s really something you have to think about and watch for.
I found the best recovery method yet, at least for me. I bought a new bed. I got a sleep number bed, and in one and a half weeks Inoticed an improvement in mood, almost no soreness in my knees, back, shoulder, and elbow. My arms don't fall asleep at night. I'm finally getting decent rest after literally years. My hands don't hurt anymore. I was seriously wottied the last few months of making it ten more years. Now I'm going to work until I drop.
My snoring is less, I could go on. I literally feel like a new man. The expanded queen cost 2000$ for the whole shebang. Well worth looking into if you don’t sleep well.
I also try to get laid. slow and easy for recovery, jackhammer with 2.5 thrusts per second for speed work, and humping against the wall for max effort work. You must be careful on this one! Broke dick is a bad thing!
Sleep (which I don’t get enough of usually)
yoga
Irondoc is all about the sleep number bed these days.
MD2006-I think you grossly underestimate my experiences.
iron, I found this out a while back when I started putting a thermarest camping mattress on my bed under the bottom sheet. It’s nice and firm and I found an incredible decrease in soreness, neck pain, shoulder pain etc. and I found recovery from the gym improved. I’ll be buying a new bed here in a month or so, so we’ll see how that goes.