The
inflammation from training isn't necessarily a bad thing..to a point.
Heavy training blocks and/or workouts often result in compounded
residual muscle fatigue leading to recovery and further adaptation. What
matters is keeping inflammation in check and keeping us training at a
higher level and avoiding injury. giving your body the building blocks it needs and pushing the biochemical cascades of recovery always in your favor can keep training at a level otherwise impossible to maintain.
Sifting through all the hype that can easily stump folks, here are my top picks for keeping inflammation at productive, health levels:
1.
Diet- I will not stress this enough. Crap in, Crap out. There are
numerous ways to fuel the body and frankly there is no "truly right way"
to go about it. One thing I can stress is making sure to get quality
fruits and vegetables (organic), consuming good amounts of raw,
unadulterated dietary fat, and focusing on consistently meeting your
protein needs for muscle/tissue repair. Sugar, hydrogenated fats, and foods out of boxes are NOT your friend.
[That is brief private diet counseling in two sentences :)]
2. Massage- I see a
massage therapist twice a month to get the aches out. It's an investment
in my body that I feel has kept me free from getting a constant crop of
aches and pains. It also has improved my blood pressure (stress hypertension).
3. Trigger Point/Foam Rolling- I got my first foam roller
when I was in High School. The industry was just taking off, but I knew
at that point foam rolling would be something I always stayed with.
These days I use the TriggerPoint product line to keep my muscles in
check between massages. These have been instrumental in my recovery from
the ankle injury.
4. Sleep- I'm guilty of not getting enough. I do try, but being a workaholic and holding down a lot of professional projects does have drawbacks on my sleep. Shooting for 7-8 hrs of sleep is ideal. I fall in the 6-7 hrs range myself.
5.
Supplements- for the average American, I don't recommend a whole lot of
supplementation outside of Vitamin D and Probiotic. Athletes however
should embrace additional supplements as a way to boost recovery and speed along to
adaptation faster. The key is nutrient timing and learning what you're
needing to get the results you want!
Supplements that I recommend:
Protein powders--
they're convenient, rapidly digested, and versatile. If following
exercise they can be paired with carbohydrates to yield greater muscle
adaptation. A great product to consider is Recoverite from Hammer-- it has garnered countless rave reviews and plenty of my own acquaintances enjoy the products with good result. With my dairy allergy I use their Vegan Protein powders
Branch-Chain Amino Acids (BCAAs)--
while found in some protein powders, these are often found in exclusive product lines. Branch Chains are glucogenic, meaning they are readily
utilized by the body in tissue maintenance because they metabolize much more
like glucose. The BCAA travel in metabolic pathways that are exclusive of other amino acids,
and yield gains in muscle tissue greater than protein doses with far less
branch chain amino acid content but of equal volume.
Digestive Enzymes-In the late 70s and through the 80s the East Germany national teams used a great deal of systemic digestive enzymes for boosting recovery and one only has to look at the medal counts around that time to see their credit. Digestive Enzymes allow the body to 'switch' the immune cells in the body that are involved in the unspecific, or innate, inflammatory response to tame excessive inflammation. The enzymes have been used in place of non-steroidal drugs with good success and a certain Dr. Rodriguez of New York has given them credit for cancer treatment.
With my ankle injury I used Hammer Tissue Rejuvenator for limiting excessive inflammation in the joints and muscle tissues. The product includes a whole host of additional complementary anti-inflammatory and joint-building ingredients like Turmeric, Burdock, and Glucosamine. I recommend the product for daily or periodic use in heavy training blocks
---
training is a volatile process-- it involves the body's combustion of energy-yielding substrates while being put under a complex metabolic thicket of physiological adaptations, only to do the thankless job of putting our bodies back together after the fact. The urgent need to create inflammation for handling this task should be understood as favorable and the process of recovery taken with patience and diligence. Delivering the necessary substrates needed for the body to recover is the second-most important thing an athlete can do to improve (the first going out and training!)
"I don't believe in over-training, there's only under-recovery."
~Floyd Landis
How much? How soon before or after? How often? Nutrient Timing is KEY. stay tuned for future blog posts!
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