Recovery

As I sit here nursing a sore hamstring, I often wondered what others do to recover from a hard bike ride, or an insane hiking trip.. When you guys/gals get muscle soreness how do you recover? I usually eat a lot of protein, rest, drink green tea, hot bath with an adult beverage, occasionally I'd take ibuprofen.

Lately I been looking at KT Tape, muscle creams, etc. Anyone else got routine for recovering after tough hard physical activities? And I do stretch before and after, but sometimes it's still inevitable when you push yourself like never before.

Warm moist heat from a hydrocollator does the trick for me. That damp heat really penetrates the tissues and loosens up the muscles. Works great on every thing from stiff necks to pulled muscles. I don't take pain killers so this is a great alternative.

jimmyb

Actually, all the medical and physical therapy experts now recommend ice, not heat. The standard treatment prescribed for athletic injuries is RICE: Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation.

My youngest son, the surfer, got lectured for using heat after messing up his back surfing, made worse by too much weight lifting before he recovered from the original injury (he got lectured for that, too!). We spent last weekend trading stories of similar back problems. Mine started 30 years ago when I was substituting for him on his paper route, and didn't have sense enough not to try to carry all the Sunday papers in one batch. I still have to do the exercises frequently to keep my back from hurting. Back in the early 1980's, heat was the recommended treatment, but that changed to cold by the middle of that decade.

Heat increases swelling and retards healing, while ice does just the opposite and also reduces pain. Of course don't leave the ice on too long, or you'll have frostbite to contend with along with the original injury! 20 minutes at a time is the maximum.

Thanks for that piece of information, OregonMouse.

Since I've switched to a vegan diet, I'm amazed at the difference. I never get sore, although I do eventually get fatigued. Recovery after walking is much quicker than it used to be on diet that included meat.

I've given my subconscious a new set of ground rules to work by. It's simply to walk in a way that won't cause injury. Then I don't think about my pace or technique at all. This has increased my pace without increasing fatigue.

There is a certain amount of satisfaction to "pushing yourself like you've never pushed yourself before," but it is not the solution to long term success if your goal is to ride fast without expensive medical procedures along the way.

Excess protein is converted to fat, and along the way leeches calcium from the bones causing osteoporosis in the distant future. It is almost impossible to get too little protein with a varied diet of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and nuts. A person only needs about 20% of their calories from protein, and that number has been doubled twice for a factor of safety since the original studies.

In order to pull a hamstring, you are most likely pedaling too slowly (pushing.) This can cause knee problems and severe back problems. They used to recommend pedaling at around 90 rpm give or take the conditions at the time. If you want to learn to "spin" get yourself a set of bicycle rollers like these: http://amzn.com/B000BT8VPG. They will seem impossible to ride at first, but they will make you a smoother and faster rider with about 15 minutes of practice a day. Do not get rollers that attach to the rear wheel.

As for your hamstring, if you were in Colorado, I'd recommend some green medicine, but since you aren't, I'd recommend 2 weeks of rest. Your muscles will be stronger after two weeks than they are now.

Agree icing is best immediately after the strain or injury to reduce the swelling. After swelling has dissipated I find the heat very useful in loosening tight muscles. As I understand it heat is good for blood flow and that greatly increases healing of the torn muscles. After a broken wrist the heat was also useful to loosen tissue to recover movement of atrophied tissue from being in a cast. Any way I sometimes take doctors advise with a grain of salt and use what works for me. Of course it may not work for others.

jimmyb

Man, when I got clipless pedals for the first time, I never realized how crappy of a pedaling I had been doing..... Clipless pedals changes the game for cycling, in my opinion. Least it did for me..

I have a professional massager that I apply to sore muscles that really seems to speed recovery. I'd be careful about applying this to a pulled muscle, but I love it for sore muscles.

Mine is an older model of one of these that I got from a chiropractor who was upgrading.

I've only tried one made-for-home-use massager and it just wasn't powerful enough, but there may be a decent model out there. I haven't researched them that much.

I do not have to recover from any insane hiking trips, because I quit doing those long ago! I do not over-push on bike rides or on "training hikes", because at my age, healing from getting hurt takes too long.

It depends if you just stressed the hamstring or truly injured it. I injured a hamstring about 10 years ago (did the splits on a slick rock) and it took months to recover so I could even walk right. It still is the first leg to get sore and I still get twinges of pain at the spot where I think I tore something where it attaches (upper leg area).

I'm a big fan of "Tiger Balm" for sore muscles. I carry one of these tiny tins of it in my FAK:


You don't need to use a lot, it has a strong odor (I call it Panther Piss), and it burns a bit (don't get it in your eyes), but the stuff works like magic on sore muscles.

Tiger Balm works for migraines, too. But the term "Panther piss" isn't far off, so some would rather have the migraine. Just rub it on the temples.