Recovery

Besides nutritional strategies and sleep, what are some recovery techniques that anyone has tried in this area? How successful were these techniques? Due to the large amounts of volume in the Renegade system, I believe active recovery methods could be extremely beneficial. I was most interested in ice massage, contrast bathing, EMS, stretching, or low intensity aerobics.

This will sound like a plug, but honestly the most noticeable thing I ever did for recovery was to use Surge after workouts. Ian King has also talked about cooling off quickly by taking a cool shower. I do that when I can.

i chug my post workout drink then just right into my pool

Contrasting showers or cold water immersion. I also utilize daily kettlebell swings in light intensity to assist recovery. In faith, Coach Davies

I find that stretching really helps
I will also sometimes do a couple of light sets for a recovering bodypart in between my hard training days

“Feeder” workouts are great for recovery. Dave Tate will cover this soon for T-mag (probably this Friday.)

Has anyone had any experience with using recovery methods in between sets such as ice or vibration massage like Coach Jay Schroeder uses?

Someone please tell me how using ice between sets can help with anything?..I can see why massage would be useful but ice?
As for me I go through a whole freezer full of ice every day applied on various bodyparts. I do lots of stretching and when I get a chance I love contrast baths and saunas.

Riley,
Don’t forget that a proper amount of sleep is key and post-workout nutrition, like Surge, or branched-chain AAs, or glutamine is very helpful…right? I know your search is for active recov. methods but alot of sleep and protein synthesis are key IMO.
Big Red - go Crouch!

coach-by contrasting showers you mean very hot then very cold? is this correct? in faith,steve

Steve-- Coach Davies might have another definition, but that is exactly what I do. I go 5 minutes as hot as I can stand, then 5 minutes as cold as I can stand, always finishing with cold. Contrast bathing works especially well for finger and toe/ankle injuries because you can easily incorporate movement into the treatment. Whirlpools and jaccuzis add the extra benefit of vibration to contrast baths.

Riley is dead on for pratical purposes. I also use cold water swims in the ocean (when cold). I know Pavel also suggested simply dumping pails of cold water over you after showering. In faith, Coach Davies

Very hot to very cold showers?! Sounds like my inconsistent boiler every morning.

I like all the methods. I’d also add ART if it’s available. It can have a injury prevention function if you can find a skilled provider that can pick up faulty movement patterns.

I was under the impression that contrast showers for lack of a better term were 30s hot/30s cold and alternate back and forth. I find when i go cold after hot for a few seconds i really have to catch my breath.

Kelly-- Dr. Siff referred to a study in Supertraining that showed placing a bag of ice on the stomach between work sets of squats increased poundage in subsequent sets. I have been trying to find the original source, but so far no luck. You might want to try over on our Supertraining group…

I will have to check into that. I guess I was getting the wrong idea about where the ice goes between sets…having it on the stomach might have some sort’ve neurological recovery mechanism but I was under the assumption he was referring to putting it on the involved joint. If I’m doing squats I’m sure not going to put ice on my knees between sets…not after spending an eternity getting them warmed up.

Big Red…I take it you’re a fellow Cornhusker. Where do you live in NE?

Sleep +9 hours a night, light recovery-oriented sled dragging, and Surge can make a huge difference in your recovery. As for contrast bathing, this was posted recently posted on Supertraing fourm by Mel Siff.

"Contrast Bathing

Yosef Johnson asked:

<Dr Siff, Could you please comment on some rules of thumb when using
contrast showers such as temperatures on the hot and cold side, intervals,
and total session times? I realize that it is not a simple question, but I
am looking for some general parameters. >

*** One important issue with most showers is that they generally spray the
person from above and do not adequately offer uniform deep heating of the
whole body (excluding the head), especially the lower body, which often bears
a great deal of the training load. Thus, most showers in clubs, homes and
colleges are useful for cleansing purposes but are not optimal for
restoration. That is why some of the showering systems in the East include a
variety of jets at all levels from above the head to calf level. That is why
a deep bath is preferable to a shower for restoration, but, even then the
temperature drops quite rapidly.

This is why a deep jacuzzi and a cold bath provide a better form of contrast
bathing, a system that has been used from Grecian and Roman times at the very
least. Empirically, I have found that jacuzzi temperatures below about
107-108 F (42 C) alternated with a cold pool no warmer than about 68 F (20C)
provides for excellent restoration. Of course, few people can tolerate those
high temperatures the first time so that you can begin with 105-106 F and
gradually progress to the higher temperatures.

During winter in Denver, we have athletes rub snow on their bodies while they
are in the hot tub, while the hardier ones will roll in the snow! (Chris
Thibaudeau from Canada is one of those who have attended our camps and
enjoyed this variation). The ability to tolerate both high and low
temperatures depends a great deal on breath control and the ability to relax
one’s body easily. We have found that the average hot tub temperatures of
below 105 F really do not help much in restoration. Gentle movement in water
is also a good idea, so that one can combine active restoration with contrast
bathing methods and underwater massage. Everyone who has attended our
Supertraining Camps and experienced our contrast pools and high pressure
massage jets will attest to their value, as will some of the Denver Bronco
footballers who periodically come here for a restorative wallow.

Though I have not carried out any experiments on physiological changes during
hot tub immersion, from my experience, I think that the neural effects of
very hot and very cold water offer added benefits to the more circulatory or
hormonal effects that are usually analysed. That is why I consider that
immersion of an entire limb or a considerable part of the body in ice is far
more helpful in facilitating healing than local ice application.

Generally about 3-5 minutes in the hot tub (while being subjected to pressure
jet massage) followed by about the same period swimming gently in the cold
for about 3-4 “rounds” works very well. Your body offers you quite good
indication of when you are ready to move from your second round of hot water
treatment - as soon as your nipples relax to their normal flaccid state
(after the preceding cold water dip), then it is just about time to return to
the cold pool.

It is also very important to drink cool water while you are in the hot tub,
because hyperthermia (overheating) and dehydration can undo all of the
beneficial effects that contrast bathing is aimed at achieving (remember that
you still perspire in water). It is not usually a good idea to directly
precede a training session with a contrast bathing session, though I doubt if
a short session earlier in the day will harm one.

Dr Mel C Siff
Denver, USA"