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Massage, Recovery, and Massage Sticks

If you can’t afford a daily massage, then I recommend at least a weekly massage as a bare minimum.  A good therapist will cost anywhere above $70 USD per hour.  I find 1 hour insufficient for the lower body, so my sessions are usually 75 or 90 minutes long.
$70 bucks may be pretty steep for […]

How Much Sleep Do We Need? Use REM Cycles

Once again, with standard time approaching and daylight savings time ending, you actually gain an extra hour of sleep and that alone can screw up your sleeping patterns.
At least temporarily.
But what about oversleeping?  How many people, especially teenagers, sleep over 10 hours a day?  WebMD carried an article on Physical Side Effects of Oversleeping.
So the […]

More Natural Painkillers - MSM and Celadrin

I am currently based about 40 minutes north of Rome in a town called Nepi.
Nepi is famous for their natural bubbly spring water (Acqua di Nepi) where locals can bring their empty bottles and fill them up for free between the hours of 2-6pm.  The bubbly water tastes like Perrier but the price is right.  […]

When does Daylight Saving Time End, Standard Time Begin in 2009?

The answer:  it depends.
The United States, Canada and some other countries (such as Saint Pierre & Miquelon and Turks & Caicos Islands) extended DST in 2007. The new start date for DST is the second Sunday in March (previously the first Sunday in April) through to the first Sunday in November (previously the last Sunday […]

Foam Roller Exercises to Strengthen Hamstrings?

GoFit 6-Inch by 18-Inch Foam Roller with Core Performance DVD
I am a big advocate of using foam rollers and tennis balls for self massage when on the road or when I simply don’t have access to my massage therapist.
I covered the topic of foam rollers in a variety of past articles:

Self […]

Glucosamine and Chondroitin Sulfate - Hope or Hype?

Let me go on record with this fact:
Once injury or osteoarthritis has occurred on a soft tissue such as your shoulders, knees, elbows or Achilles, there is NO magic pill to fix the athletic injury.  Lower back pain also fall in this same category.
That pain and damage you feel is from weeks or months or […]

Vitamin B Complex Supplementation

It is amazing how many items in the local grocery store are supplemented with common vitamins and minerals.
Table salt is iodized, to prevent goiter.
Milk is supplemented with Vitamins A and D because calcium absorption to the bones decreases during the Northern winter months.  Our past generation (before the supplementation) would suffer rickets due to the […]

More Contaminated Supplement News

It looks like the infamous Jeff “BALCO” Novitzky is at it again.
There are more cases of athletic supplements are contaminated that can fail your next drug test.  So buyer beware.
Two products from American Cellular Labs (ACL), Tren Xtreme and Mass Xtreme, were pulled of the shelves from alleged contamination of 4-estra and Madol (also known […]

25 Travel Tips for Long Flights

With the upcoming meets in Lahti Finland (WMA) or Sydney Australia (WMG), some of you may be making trans-oceanic flights anywhere from 6 to 20 hours long.
So here is a huge list to take with you.
The 3 most important things are staying hydrated, good food, and sleep especially if you are traveling West to East. […]

The 7 Scientific Principles of Training

This is my Decathlon.
In any given week, or mesocycle, we try to cover these 10 types (i.e. events) of training in our routines.
The first 6 are training specific at the track & weight room, and the last 4 are things outside the track.  You can call it intrinsic and extrinsic.  Or call it […]

Treating Sore Muscles - Try Arnica or Traumeel

At every indoor meet, I still remember vividly the scent of Ben-Gay in the locker rooms.  Now combine that smell of muscle rub ointment, sweat and the musty locker room, and you can guarantee that rancid combination is a smell you’ll never forget.
Depending on your country, famous brands other than Ben-Gay (recently changed to […]

Speed and the Masters Sprinter

Speed decreases with age.  That’s a fact of life.  Check the World Records in different age groups if you don’t believe me.
I call it "The Law of Attrition".
I used a random sample of the 2007 WMA results in Ricionne, using the M40 – M65 5 year age groups as my sample pool:

100m 0.4 seconds […]

Low Level Laser Therapy for Pain and Injuries

Low Level Laser Therapy is also known as Cold Laser Light Therapy, or Low Intensity Laser Therapy.  This is not to be confused with the Far Infrared Radiation “heating healing” pads which treats another set of ailments.  I’ll cover that in another article.
Last year, I was fortunate and unfortunate to experience this alternative form of […]

Rest and Taper After a Maximal Performance – Thoughts on Tyson Gay

We all know to rest and taper BEFORE the big meet.  That is just common sense.  For a good review, check out Derek’s 10 Day taper DVD.
Here are two of many guidelines I like to use for my sprinters:

10 day taper AFTER a major Personal Best or World Record.
5-7 100 meter races before […]

Cereal and Milk, not Chocolate Milk Better for Recovery?

I’ve harped on the benefits of chocolate milk instead of high priced protein powders in the last few articles.
Now research from The University of Texas at Austin has proved a bowl of whole-grain cereal is just as good .  (Sorry, Fruit Loops, Coco Puffs and Lucky Charms do NOT count!)
Because at the end of the […]

Recovery Drinks with 4:1 Carbs Protein ratio

As a rebuttal to the Gatorade Tiger Focus drink that you consume before and during your competition, you know the competition isn’t resting on their laurels. I’m not referring to the golfers, I’m referring to beverage companies.

Everyone is trying to make a buck these days. What recession? Sports and high level performance […]

Gatorade Tiger Woods Focus, Theanine, and Green Tea

Newsflash: Gatorade and Tiger Woods have launched the reformulated Gatorade Tiger Focus which provides advanced hydration to help promote mental focus, as inspired by Tiger Woods’ legendary mental toughness.

It’s the Masters weekend and I couldn’t help noticing the buzz with the Gatorade Tiger Focus, which is really an enhanced Gatorade Thirst Quencher, with 25% more […]

The Easy Simple Whole Foods Diet

One of my very first articles on this Blog was the Top 5 supplements to take (or top 3 if you are on a budget).

But what about natural wholesome food as supplements?

I agree, in a perfect world, everything you need for your body is at the grocery store. Jeremy Wariner doesn’t take supplements, and […]

Product Review: Globus Premium Sport Plus Electronic Muscle Stimulator

This article was guest blogged by Derek M. Hansen of Running Mechanics.com. Derek is also the Head Coach of our Metro Athletic Club.

Having used electronic muscle stimulator (EMS) technology for over 12 years for both personal and professional applications, I am always on the lookout for innovations with this type of technology. There […]

PRECOVERY - Improving Performance with Tart Cherries

This article was written by Marie Spano, MS, RD, CSCS

Traditional Post-exercise Recovery

There are many factors that can influence an athlete’s success: for example, strength and conditioning, sport specific training, nutrition, rest and recovery all play important roles. However, the least well-known but arguably most important aspect is recovery. Athletes who routinely push their physical limits […]

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