Science
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Cold doesn’t prevent muscle soreness
Read more →We’ve all been told that icing a sore muscle really helps reduce the swelling and soreness that comes with exercise, and is the best way to speed recovery so you can get back into the gym and back to hard training and rapid growth. But new research seems to turn this idea on its head. Scientists recently tested whether immersing your quads in ice water after exercise helped keep delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) at bay. The results? “The protocol of ice-water immersion used in this study was ineffectual in minimising markers of DOMS...” The researchers made the startling conclusion...
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Compression clothing doesn’t speed recovery
Read more →Bench-press shirts help increase our lifts and take our strength to the next level. And post-surgical compression is thought to help speed recovery. So what if we combined using compression with clothing to heal – and thus grow – muscle? This thought spawned the compression shirts you see on the market that promise faster recovery. But do they actually help you heal faster? Researchers had eleven people each do two workouts, separated by seven days. One group was given lower-body compression garments to wear during the recovery period, and the other group was not given these garments. The researchers found...
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Beating back pain
Read more →If you work out hard – if you hit the gym with the kind of gusto and ferocity that builds real muscle – chances are that at some point you’ll suffer from back pain. Treatment options include physiotherapy, massage therapy and chiropractic treatments. If it gets too bad, sometimes surgery is needed. But there’s another option, and many personal trainers tout it as superior to most other non-surgical methods: stabilization exercises. A study examining the effects of stabilization exercises on low back pain reviewed the existing research – 18 studies in total. It found some evidence favoring using stabilization exercises...
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Keep the pump in mind
Read more →A hard workout gets your circulation going. It gets your blood pumping and increases oxygen and nutrient-rich blood to your muscles, especially after a hard and heavy set of squats, bench press or deadlifts. Blood flow to your muscles is critical for growth, and the pump is a surefire sign that your work is paying off. But what about your brain? It turns out bodybuilding isn’t just about blood flow for your muscles – it’s also about blood for your brain. It used to be thought that your brain received a steady and constant volume of blood delivery whether you...
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Massages and recovery
Read more →Recovery is essential to getting huge. It’s needed to replenish energy stores, help repair damaged muscle and allow the nervous system to recover. Recovery is generally considered to be rest, sleep, proper eating and not much else. However, other methods allow you to recover from an intense session, such as active recovery, stretching, icing and even massages by a therapist. Massages are great for relaxation and overall well-being, but do they have a place in a bodybuilder’s methods of recovery? Researchers questioned if massages help improve overall performance and aid recovery after a session at the gym. What they concluded...
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The ART of healing
Read more →As bodybuilders, we’re prone to muscle injuries, due to working out nearly every day, pushing ourselves to new numbers and progressively trying to better ourselves. With the constant progress we strive for, the body may not have time to recover to one hundred percent. This can lead to microtrauma or overuse injuries in the muscle, along with scar tissue adhesion. Luckily, there’s a relatively new method to help combat overuse injuries: active release technique (ART). It’s a form of soft tissue massage (think muscle and tendons), and it addresses overtraining injuries. But does it have a place in a bodybuilder’s...
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