Researchers are showing everyday athletes how to train their brains to perform like the pros
Original article by Alex Hutchison, Outside magazine, Dec 30, 2013
It goes without saying that Olympic athletes need to be strong, fit, and tough. But none of that matters if they aren’t capable of adapting quickly to unexpected circum-stances. Take former Slovenian swimmer Sara Isakovic. During the 2008 Beijing Olympics, with one length remaining in the 200-meter freestyle final, disaster struck. Isakovic misjudged her final flip turn, and as she uncoiled her legs to explode off the wall, she could feel her toes just barely graze it.
“I remember thinking, This is not happening! Why now?” Isakovic, 25, recalls. “Then, in a split second, I was able to refocus.” Riding on a surge of adrenaline, she tore down the last length to nab a silver medal, breaking the previous world record and missing gold by just 0.15 seconds.
Isakovic is now a research assistant in psychiatry at the University of California at San Diego, where she works with Martin Paulus, a leading player in the search for brain–training techniques that will enable the rest of us to develop elite-level mental agility. Says Isakovic, “What we’re interested in is how you build resilience, how you train your brain to be as tough as your body.”
For the past five years, Paulus and his team have employed advanced imaging tools to understand the difference between normal and ultra-resilient brains. They’ve discovered that the distinction often resides in the interplay between two areas: the insular cortex and the medial prefrontal cortex, or MPC. The insular cortex monitors data from the outside world and from within the body—muscle tension, glucose levels, blood pressure, blood-oxygen levels. The MPC, meanwhile, decides how strongly to respond to those signals.
The goal, then, is to train your brain to anticipate, and not overreact, to unexpected stress. For a whitewater kayaker, that means staying calm and making the right strokes after getting caught in a hole; for a runner, it means pushing through the pain to stay on pace late in a race.
In a series of studies starting in 2009, Paulus and his colleagues put hardened Marines, elite adventure racers, and regular Joes through various cognitive tasks while monitoring their brain activity in real time with an fMRI scanner. To provide an “aversive stimulus”—a scaled-down version of the stress they’d experience when coming under enemy fire or taking a wrong turn during a multi-day race—the researchers occasionally interfered with subjects’ breathing, restricting airflow to masks they were wearing.
The subjects knew the sensation was coming but not always when. Some members of the control group panicked and had to be removed from the scanner, but the Marines and the adventure racers handled the scenario with ease. In the fMRI scanner, they showed higher activation in the insular cortex immediately before the restricted breathing started. They had, essentially, prepared themselves for the unpleasant sensation. Then, while it was happening, the same region of the brain showed lower activ-ity and carried on with business as usual. “That kind of anticipation and preparation is critical,” Paulus says.
The goal, then, is to train your brain to anticipate, and not overreact, to unexpected stress. For a whitewater kayaker, that means staying calm and making the right strokes after getting caught in a hole; for a runner, it means pushing through the pain to stay on pace late in a race. Paulus believes that neurofeedback training, in which subjects try to alter their resiliency-related brain patterns based on real-time data from an fMRI scanner, is not far off.
For now, the most promising technique is one that’s already familiar to many professional athletes: meditation. Paulus’s latest study put 30 Marine recruits through a program in mindfulness, an approach to self-awareness with roots in Buddhist teachings. “You learn to monitor how your body actually feels while suspending judgment about it,” Paulus explains.
In the study, subjects followed an eight-week course that taught simple breathing exercises, sitting and walking meditation, yoga, and techniques like “body scans,” in which they focused awareness on each part of their bodies, progressing from head to toe.
Brain scans before and after revealed that the trainees acquired some of the same brain patterns that the Marines and adventure racers had shown in the earlier experiments. More surprising, the changes persisted a year later. The biggest effects were in the MPC, which moderates knee-jerk responses to external stimuli.
Of course, there are many routes to the same goal. “There are similarities between mindfulness and the state of focus that athletes achieve through long hours of repetitive training,” says Christopher Bergland, a triple-Ironman champion who covered 153.8 miles to set a 24-hour treadmill world record in 2004. That state of mindfulness helped him push his endurance to new levels, he says.
Isakovic, too, certainly honed her ability to listen closely and dispassionately to her body’s feedback during the many years and countless hours spent staring at the bottom of a practice pool. But with the tools of neuro-science, the process can be made more efficient and accessible, Paulus believes. “We can’t all be Olympic athletes, that’s clear,” he acknowledges. “But if our brains are trained properly, we can do amazing things beyond what most people imagine.”
You may want to try out the Head Space or Calm apps to get an easy introduction to meditation.
This is a repost of an interesting article on why athletes suffer from cramp, by Andy Blow. Medically reviewed by Dr Tamara Hew-Butler. Original article can be found at precision hydration.com
The causes of muscle cramp in athletes remain a contentious issue in the scientific world. We’ve taken a look at the competing theories of cramp, the major studies and detailed the methods that can help alleviate the symptoms of cramp…
Definition of muscle cramp
I have a strong personal interest in the subject of Exercise Associated Muscle Cramps (EAMC) because I used to be a chronic sufferer back when I was competing.
For as long as I can remember I seem to have been especially susceptible to ‘sudden, involuntary, spasmodic contractions’ of selected my muscles – to borrow a phrase from the dictionary definition – to the point where cramps ruined numerous important races for me.
I’ve also been plagued with horrible contractions in my legs that have woken me up during the night after hard training sessions, and on one memorable occasion cramp even cost me a Chicken Tikka Masala when an extremely violent hamstring spasm made me kick over my table during a quiet meal after a race.
Despite the fact that muscle cramps are a very common phenomenon and that they have been widely studied, no-one really knows the full story about cramp yet.
In spite of this, over the last ten years or so I seem to have largely got on top of my issues with cramp. This has come through modifying my behaviour, diet and expectations of my body based on what I’ve learned through a combination of reading and personal experimentation.
So, if you’re a fellow cramper, there may be hope. Here are some of the things I’ve picked up along the way in case they help you win your own war on cramp. If you want to skip past the science to the potential solutions, just click here (I won’t hold it against you).
What causes exercise associated cramps?
In the research world there are essentially two competing theories of what causes Exercise Associated Muscle Cramp…
This theory is probably the oldest. It speculates that a significant disturbance in fluid or electrolyte balance, usually due to a reduction in total body exchangeable sodium stores, causes a contraction of the interstitial fluid compartment around muscles and a misfiring of nerve impulses, leading to cramp.
In simpler terms, if you lose a lot of sodium and don’t replace it (as is common when you sweat a lot) it can cause fluid shifts in the body that in turn causes cramps.
This theory is predominantly based on plenty of case studies, observational data, anecdote and expert opinion (what scientists call ‘level 4 and 5 evidence’). So, although there’s a decent amount of circumstantial weight behind it, it lacks the more “concrete proof” of data from large scale randomised controlled trials (RCTs) which is rightly considered necessary by proponents of evidence-based practice for it to be widely accepted as anything approaching ‘fact’.
The ‘Neuromuscular Theory’
This theory is more recent and proposes that muscle overload and neuromuscular fatigue are the root causes of Exercise Associated Muscle Cramp. The hypothesis is that fatigue contributes to an imbalance between excitatory impulses from muscle spindles and inhibitory impulses from Golgi tendon organs, and that this results in a localised muscle cramp.
In other words, muscles tend to cramp specifically when they are overworked and fatigued due to electrical misfiring.
This theory is much better suited to being tested in a lab (where researchers can ‘excite’ muscles with electrical stimuli and provoke muscle cramps to measure what is happening at an electrical level) and so there’s arguably more robust data to support it than is the case for the Dehydration/Electrolyte depletion model (although a recent lab-based study has looked at the effects of electrolyte intake on cramping threshold). It’s probably also fair to say that, in certain circles at least, this theory is gaining widespread popularity at the moment.
One big factor that does appear to support the neuromuscular theory is that stopping and stretching affected muscles is a pretty universally effective method to fix a cramp when it is actually happening. What stretching does is put the muscle under tension invoking afferent activity from the Golgi Tendon Organs (part of the muscle responsible for telling it to relax) and causing the cramp to dissipate.
Scientific studies of cramp
Studies in this area that looked at the general electrical activity of muscles (EMG) have also shown increased baseline levels of excitatory activity in fatigued muscles right between bouts of cramping – as if the muscles are firing away more excitedly than they should and ‘close’ to cramping even when they are not. Again this tends to support the conclusion that fatigue is somehow causing problems for the muscle to relax so are often cited to back up this theory.
Field studies that have failed to find major differences in the blood electrolyte profiles of athletes getting cramps during events like triathlons and marathons are often cited to dismiss the dehydration/electrolyte theory. This is essentially saying that if there’s no difference in blood electrolyte levels between crampers and non-crampers then it cannot be an influencing factor.
Unfortunately what these studies tend to overlook is the fact that blood electrolyte levels can be quite stable in athletes in the face of vastly different levels of total sweat and sodium loss.
This is because the body tends to protect sodium concentration in the blood at the expense of blood volume when sweat losses are high, so seeing similar blood sodium concentrations in crampers and non-crampers is not necessarily indicative of anything and could even be a bit misleading in the context of the bigger picture.
In fact in one of the major studies often cited in this area researchers did find that crampers ended an ultra marathon race with statistically lower serum sodium values than non-crampers, but they deemed the difference ‘not clinically significant’ even if it was statistically different…and I think that this evidence can be viewed in different ways, depending on your predisposition!
At this point it’s important to steer your thinking away from this being a binary – ‘one or the other’ – argument between two competing ideas, even though this is how the topic of cramping is commonly presented in both the scientific and mass media.
As no-one definitively knows what’s going on with muscle cramps yet, focusing on a polarised argument between two incomplete theories is a lot less productive than looking at the bigger picture and considering the merits of both theories and the actionable advice they have to offer.
Back in the early 1900s cramp was more commonly viewed as a productivity issue for manual labourers doing hard physical work in hot environments, rather than not as an inconvenience to athletes.
Different groups of doctors and researchers took notes on numerous case studies around this time and some conducted rudimentary field tests. Whilst it’s fair to say that the research efforts were not anywhere near as rigorously structured as modern clinical trials, they did elicit a pretty universal consensus. That was that providing workers with adequate sodium chloride (salt) along with drinking water to help them replace what was being sweated out was quite effective in treating or preventing many cases of cramps.
“Excessive sweat is accompanied by abnormal loss of sodium chloride through the skin. Fluid replacement is necessary and should include sufficient sodium chloride, otherwise the individual will suffer from fatigue, cramp, or collapse…A suitable preparation of sodium chloride in tablet form is described…After extensive trial this has proved satisfactory in the prevention of fatigue and other symptoms due to excessive heat.”
It was this kind of work that inevitably shaped our early understanding of EAMC in relation to athletes.
These days it’s become quite fashionable for commentators seeking to ‘disprove’ the Dehydration/Electrolyte theory of EAMC to play down this early work in industrial medicine around salt and cramping as dated, flimsy and insignificant. This is especially true for staunch supporters of the neuromuscular theory. However, having read (and re-read) most of the work available from the era, I’m far from convinced that it deserves to be so easily dismissed.
I actually feel that playing it down as ‘old hat’ is perhaps just a convenient (or even slightly lazy) way of dealing with evidence that is otherwise incongruent with a more contemporary – but not necessarily more correct – way of thinking.
In addition to the early work on industrial workers, there are a few other perspectives on electrolyte balance and cramping that are worth highlighting here too. These, in their own way, add some credence to the idea that it’s still relevant…
The Salt Deprivation Study
The first is a classic study on salt depletion that was carried out by a pioneering doctor – R.A McCance – in the 1930s. McCance was a hands on type of researcher and was intrigued by the question of what would happen to the human body if it was depleted of salt but not fluid (numerous studies into dehydration had already been undertaken by then). He organised a study using himself and a couple of colleagues as test subjects.
Essentially what McCance and his co-workers did was subject themselves to an incredibly low salt diet. Along with their salt-free food, the subjects drank plenty of water and took hot baths to increase sweat output and accelerate salt loss. They found that when salt depletion started to kick in it quickly led to…
“…aberrations of flavour, cramps, weakness, lassitude, and severe cardio-respiratory distress on exertion.”
Interestingly, as soon as the test subjects reintroduced salt into their systems (eating bacon and drinking the fat from the pan I might add) their recovery from symptoms – including the absence of further cramping – was ‘dramatic’ with effects being felt within 15 minutes of ingestion of the salty meal.
This experience in particular – cramps disappearing soon after salt ingestion – is completely consistent with my own experiences in very long and hot triathlons when I had become salt depleted due to heavy sweating, so it definitely struck a chord with me when I first read it.
It’s also congruent with lots of other anecdotal evidence coming from athletes who train or compete in similar conditions of heavy sweat loss, but more on that later.
Image credit: Quang Nguyen Ven via Pexels (copyright free).
Hyponatremia and cramp
Another notable example of electrolyte disturbance associated with cramping can be found in case reports of people suffering with hyponatremia, especially when this occurs around exercise.
Hyponatremia is a condition where blood sodium levels fall lower than they should be due to dilution by over-consumption of water, excessive loss of sodium from the body, or both together as is common amongst athletes.
Cramping is often listed as a general symptom of hyponatremia in medical texts and there are case study reports in the literature such as one involving a UK serviceman who suffered cramps and collapsed whilst running in the heat in Saudi Arabia in 1991. He was successfully treated with intravenous saline (salt) solution and made a full recovery in the short term, but was later found out to have undiagnosed Cystic Fibrosis (CF) – a condition in which sufferers lose very large amounts of salt in their sweat.
It seems likely that this high rate of salt loss could have pre-disposed him to losing more salt than others doing the same exercise (who did not cramp and collapse) and contributed to him suffered the cramps and fatigue on more than one occasion when exercising in hot conditions.
Aside from this individual case it’s well known that CF sufferers can struggle with exercise in the heat, at least in part due to their elevated levels of salt and fluid loss through very salty sweating.
Athletic case studies and cramp anecdotes from the real world
There are a large number of case studies, observations and anecdotal reports from athletes whose cramping problems seem to be directly related to times when fluid and sodium balance are significantly disrupted due to heavy sweating.
For example, in 1996 Dr Michael Bergeron documented a case study (in the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism) of a tennis player who often suffered with cramps during tournaments. Having ascertained that this player had a high sweat rate and was calculated to be unlikely to be replacing his sodium losses via his normal diet, he was prescribed an increased salt intake. The conclusion of the study was that…
“[The Player] was ultimately able to eliminate heat cramps during competition and training by increasing his daily dietary intake of sodium.”
In 2020, a study of a 17-year-old American Football player with a history of Cystic Fibrosis and hyponatremic seizure emphasised the importance of planning nutrition and hydration. The player had previously struggled with severe muscle cramping issues during his previous two seasons, but he got through an entire season with minimal cramp symptoms after establishing an appropriate electrolyte replacement and hydration plan.
At Precision Hydration we carry out an Annual Cramp Survey survey of athletes who had reported that they had suffered with muscle cramps at one time or another. Of the survey respondents many said that they had found that supplementing with sodium or salt during exercise had helped them manage or eliminate EAMCs.
As alluded to earlier, I also personally suffered through many long and hot triathlon races with debilitating cramps slowing me down during the run leg, or kicking in post race.
Through simple trial and error I gradually learned to consume plenty of sodium before the race and during the bike section (usually in the form of salt capsules) and found this to be extremely effective at not only reducing my cramping symptoms dramatically, but also helping overall performance in the latter stages of events.
Subsequently I also learned that I lose very large amounts of sodium in my sweat (approaching the levels that some Cystic Fibrosis sufferers lose) and that this is likely to have contributed to my issues.
Whilst I could go on with more of these kind of examples from different sports and athletes it’s probably better to stop at this point and move on at the risk of getting repetitive. The bottom line is that there are a lot of examples out in the real world of people losing a lot of salt (often via sweating) and suffering cramps as a result and that, very often, increasing their intake of salt (or sodium in other forms) seems to provide relief, or even prevents cramps from happening in the first place.
Of course, the big problem with case studies, observations and anecdote is that they can fail to paint a truly complete picture of what is really going on, because they can be influenced by bias, lack control groups and can fail to account for the placebo effect.
It has also been pointed out that not all cramps can be traced back to sodium loss (think about cramps that occur in cool conditions or at times when sweat losses are not significant) and that not all cramps respond to increased sodium intake. This is one big reason that the Neuromuscular Theory has been developed to try to fill in the gaps where sodium loss does not provide an adequate explanation for what is likely to be going on.
How to alleviate the symptoms of cramp
One thing that makes cramping so difficult to understand is that it remains a stubbornly fickle and unpredictable phenomenon to pin down and study properly. This is one reason why evidence for both the Dehydration/Electrolyte theory and the Neuromuscular theory is often not as robust as it could be.
Although I tended to cramp a lot when I was competing, especially in longer and hotter races, it didn’t happen every single race and it was relatively rare that it would occur in training. And this is the case for a lot of other athletes; cramps happen from time to time, but not all the time – so zeroing in on causative factors and cures can be tricky.
The bottom line appears to be that muscle cramps are likely to have multiple causes including, but not limited to, electrolyte imbalances and neuromuscular fatigue and that, as a result, it’s likely that multiple interventions are likely to be needed to try to eliminate these ‘different flavours’ of cramp. At Precision Hydration we surveyed hundreds of athletes who reported suffering from cramp and more than 85%of them had tried more than one method in an attempt to alleviate the issue.
Does pickle juice fix cramp?
In the last five years or so (and somewhat connected with the rise of the neuromuscular theory) there has been a lot of interest in the use of compounds that can stimulate something in the mouth called ‘transient receptor potential (TRP) channels’ and the possible effects these might have on cramping muscles.
TRP channels connect the mouth into the central nervous system and the hypothesis is that stimulating these receptors somehow causes a ‘jolt’ reaction down the nerves that disrupts the signals that are causing a cramp.
Substances that stimulate TRP channels are things like wasabi, mustard oil and other pungent spices and it’s thought that this is where the idea of using pickle juice to cure muscle cramps (a common practice in the USA in particular) comes from. Pickle juice contains acetic acid and it’s believed to be this (rather than the high levels of sodium in it) that stimulate the TRP receptors and help relieve cramps.
This would explain why cramps have sometimes been shown to be relieved almost instantly when pickle juice is ingested (the nerve stimulation happens almost instantly, whereas the sodium in it takes several minutes to travel to the gut and to be absorbed into the blood). It’s also consistent with the the general idea that the root cause of some cramp is found in the nervous system rather than solely an electrolyte imbalance.
There is no ‘magic bullet’ available to kill off muscle cramping at the moment and it doesn’t look like there will be one coming anytime soon.
However, if you’re not inclined to sit around twiddling your thumbs waiting for science to deliver in it’s own sweet time, there are a few things you might want to try if you are a cramper and want to try to get on top of the issue…
Increase your sodium intake
Based on my own experiences and the historical evidence I absolutely think it’s worth looking at your sodium intake in relation to your sweat output. It’s a cheap and simple exercise and has little downside to it. It’s certainly a good idea if your cramps tend to occur during or after periods of heavy sweating, in hot weather, late on during longer activities or if you generally eat a low sodium (or low carb) diet.
One note of caution however; if you do take on additional sodium, especially in the form of electrolyte drinks, make sure they are strong enough to make a real difference. Most sports drinks are extremely light on electrolytes (despite the claims they make on their labels), containing only about 300-500mg sodium per litre (32oz).
Human sweat, on average, comes in at over 900mg of sodium per litre (32oz), and at Precision Hydration we often measure athletes losing over 1500mg per litre (including myself) through our Advanced Sweat Test. It’s therefore a good idea to look for upwards of 1000mg sodium per litre in a drink and over 1500mg per litre if you suspect you are a particularly ‘salty sweater’. A good way to see where this should fit in to the rest of your hydration strategy is by taking this free online Sweat Test.
If you’re consuming salt or sodium separate to your fluids, in foods or capsule form, aim for a similar ratio (i.e. 1000-1500mg sodium along with each litre of water you drink) and remember that table salt (NaCl) is only 39% sodium (the other 61% is chloride), so you need ~3g of salt to give you ~1170mg of sodium.
Take the extra sodium in the hours immediately before and during activities that normally result in cramping and see how you get on (there’s a specific protocol laid out in this blog I wrote about how to start hydrated). You’ll know pretty quickly if this is effective or not, and can fine tune your dosage to balance cramp prevention with keeping your stomach happy over time (really excessive salt or sodium intake can cause nausea).
When I first started taking in additional sodium before and during long, hot triathlon races the effect was immediate and dramatic. I went from cramping up almost every time, to almost never having problems again. I ended up settling on a regime of consuming around 1000-1500mg of sodium per hour during long races (I lose a lot of salt in my sweat, 1,842mg/l in fact) and also found that taking this amount eliminated post-race cramping almost entirely as well.
Reduce fatigue
Because it seems highly likely that fatigue is also implicated in cramping, finding ways to minimise this is also logical. As obvious as many of them may sound try to make sure you tick all of the following boxes to ensure you’re not overloading your body excessively…
Train specifically for the event(s) that tend to induce cramps – i.e. with the right mix of volume and intensity to prepare your muscles for what is going to be asked of them.
Pace yourself appropriately based on fitness levels and environmental conditions to avoid overloading muscles prematurely.
Taper into events so that you are fresh and well rested when you start.
Make sure you’re adequately fuelled with plenty of carbohydrates on board before you start events and that you fuel adequately to avoid becoming glycogen depleted which can contribute to premature fatigue.
Other strategies
Other strategies that are far from proven, but that either make intuitive sense or have been used by athletes in the war on cramp include…
Sports massage and stretching of the affected muscles.
Acupuncture.
Thorough warm ups prior to cramp inducing activities.
Mental relaxation techniques.
Although none of these are likely to offer a complete solution they are generally accessible, inexpensive and may even benefit performance in other ways, so there would seem to be little downside to giving them a try.
Hopefully this overview of the major theories on what causes Exercise Associated Muscle Cramp have left you feeling better equipped to fight your own war on cramp.
Andy Blow is a Sports Scientist with a BSc Honours degree in Sports and Exercise Science from the University of Bath. An expert in hydration, he has co-authored a number of scientific studies and books.
He was once the Team Sports Scientist for the Benetton and Renault Formula 1 teams and remains an adviser to the Porsche Human Performance Centre at Silverstone.
Andy has finished in the top 10 of IRONMAN and IRONMAN 70.3 races, as well as winning an XTERRA Age Group World title. It was his own struggles with cramp that led to him specialising in hydration and founding Precision Hydration.
What can we learn from the studies done on other sports like running, and how does this potentially apply to rowing? We see crews that bolt out of the start and hold a fast pace all the way (Aussie Men’s 4-) and the Kiwi Pair that settle into a relentless pace and simply grind through the field. And there are the famously fast finishes from Olaf Tufte in 2008, and Damian Martin at the Rio Olympics. Which approach is the most successful? Alex Hutchinson provides a nice perspective and review of the emerging literature over the last years. I hope you enjoy the read.
Original article written by Alex Hutchinson, Jan 26, 2021.
If even pacing is so great, why do the best runners in the world always seem to have another gear at the end?
I used to see my finishing kick as a sign of toughness. Nobody passed me in the closing stages of a race, I’d tell myself, because nobody wanted it more than me.null
But as time went on, I began to see it from a different perspective. No matter how a race played out, whether it was fast or slow and whether I was way ahead or way behind, I would always manage to sprint the last quarter-mile or so. Why did I always have energy left for a sprint, even if I’d been dropped by the leaders? Shouldn’t I have used that energy to avoid being dropped in the first place? Eventually, my kick became a source of frustration. I tried to race hard enough that I’d have nothing left for a kick, but I almost never managed it.
As a result, I’ve always been fascinated by attempts to unravel the physiology and psychology of the finishing kick. The most recent addition: a study in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, led by graduate student Rafael Azevedo at the University of Calgary under the direction of Juan Murias and Guillaume Millet, using an interesting new methodology to tease out levels of fatigue in the brain and body before and after the finishing kick.
Some important background: I always come back to a 2006 study by University Cape Town researchers Ross Tucker, Michael Lambert, and Tim Noakes that analyzed pacing patterns in a century’s worth of men’s world record performances over distances between 800 and 10,000 meters. As I discussed in more detail here, they observed a remarkably consistent U-shaped pacing template for races longer than 800 meters, featuring a fast start, even-paced middle, and fast finish, as shown in this graph:
(Illustration: International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance)
The presence of a finishing kick even in elite athletes running at world-record pace, they argued, reflected a hardwired tendency to maintain a physiological reserve during intense exercise. In other words, it was evolution rather than cowardice that made me hold back energy for a sprint.
This big-picture explanation makes intuitive sense, but actually unraveling what’s going in your body at different stages in a race has turned out to be more complicated than expected. To that end, Azevedo’s new study involved 12 male volunteers performing a series of 4K cycling time trials. The trials lasted a little over six minutes on average, and as expected they followed a U-shaped pacing profile with a fast start, even-paced middle, and finishing sprint. On average, according to a mathematical analysis, the fast start lasted 827 meters, and the finishing kick started with 410 meters left.
After a couple of familiarization trials, the subjects completed three experimental trials in randomized order: one in which they were stopped after the fast start, a second in which they were stopped after the even-paced section, and a third in which they continued to the finish. As soon as they stopped, they underwent a battery of tests to assess fatigue in various ways. The measurements used force sensors mounted in the pedals of the bike—a crucial detail, since fatigue starts dissipating within a few seconds. Previous experiments have involved getting subjects off the bike and then strapping them into a separate apparatus to measure fatigue, so this is a key technical innovation.
The simplest way of measuring muscle fatigue is with a maximal voluntary contraction: you ask the subject to contract the relevant muscle (in this case the quads) as hard as possible. Using more sophisticated techniques, you can also break it down into two subcomponents. “Central fatigue” is how much the signal from the brain to the muscles has decreased; “peripheral fatigue” is how much weaker the muscle fibers themselves are when you stimulate them with electricity. The researchers performed all three of these measurements.
The results showed a rapid increase in fatigue during the initial fast start: the max voluntary contraction dropped by 23 percent, central fatigue was 8 percent, and peripheral fatigue was 40 percent. Then things stabilized: by the end of the even-paced phase, which accounts for about 70 percent of the overall race, all three of the fatigue markers were essentially unchanged compared to just after the fast start. But after the finishing sprint, fatigue ramped up again, for example to 34 percent for max voluntary contraction.
In other words, muscle fatigue doesn’t accumulate in a nice straight line. After the initial excitement of the start, we settle into a sustainable pace that seems to have very little impact on muscle function. The sensation that your jellied legs couldn’t take another step after a race is produced almost entirely by the finishing sprint, not by the miles that preceded it. One way to understand this is in terms of critical speed (or, equivalently, critical power), a concept I’ve written about in detail a fewtimesrecently. Your critical speed is essentially the threshold of what’s metabolically sustainable. You can run above critical speed for a while, but you’re using up your finite reserves of anaerobic capacity—and once they’re done, you’re cooked.
If you were to run a race at a perfectly even pace, you’d use up your anaerobic capacity gradually, hitting zero as you cross the finish line if you judge it right. In contrast, what most of us tend to do is use up a chunk of anaerobic capacity at the start. (There may be good physiological reasonsfor that, since a fast start ramps up your oxygen-processing capacities more quickly.) Then we settle into a pace relatively close to critical power, where we’re only nibbling away very slowly at anaerobic capacity. Then, as we approach the finish, we use it all up with a glorious sprint.
Sure enough, in Azevedo’s data, the cyclists settled into a pace barely above critical power for the middle portion of the race, meaning that they used most of their anaerobic capacity at the beginning and end. The big question is whether this approach is suboptimal. That’s certainly my intuition. When Joshua Cheptegei broke the 5,000-meter world record last summer, I arguedthat the Wavelight pacing lights flashing around the perimeter of the track at a perfectly even pace helped Cheptegei by enabling him to run the most evenly paced world record ever. It must be more efficient, right?
But it’s perhaps not as obvious as I thought. Back in 2013, a study from Andy Jones’s lab at the University of Exeter compared different pacing strategies in three-minute cycling trials: the typical self-paced U-shape, an all-out-from-the-start effort, and an even-paced trial. Here’s what those pacing patterns looked like, with the amount of work done above critical power (i.e. the anaerobic capacity) shaded in grey. Panel A is an incremental test to exhaustion, B is all-out from the start, C is even pacing, and D is self-paced.
(Illustration: Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise)
The numbers indicate the total anaerobic capacity shown by the shaded areas, and there are no significant differences between them. Even pacing produced an anaerobic capacity of 12.9 kJ; self-pacing with a finishing kick produced 12.8 kJ. There’s a big difference in how these different strategies feel, though. The closer you are to emptying your anaerobic capacity, the worse you feel. “My interpretation/hunch,” Jones told me by email, “is that athletes have learnt, or know intuitively, that a pacing strategy involving an end spurt results in the same performance outcome as other strategies, BUT that this same performance can be achieved with less pain for most of the race! The athletes will be just as knackered at the end but that middle section won’t be quite so excruciatingly intolerable if they implement an end spurt strategy.”
It’s an interesting idea. And it would explain why U-shaped pacing patterns are so ubiquitous even among the greatest runners in the world. It has always puzzled me that a seemingly suboptimal pacing strategy could produce so many world records. Even if we’re wired to pace ourselves cautiously, you’d still expect that world records would happen when athletes accidentally started too fast if having a finishing kick was really so bad for performance.
On the other hand, as Ross Tucker has noted, the pacing in world records does seem to be getting more and more even. The gains from smoothing out your pacing may be marginal, but at that level you have to look for every possible edge. Personally, though, I find Andy Jones’s argument very tempting—because if U-shaped pacing doesn’t cost you anything, then I can start thinking of my finishing kick as a badge of pride again, rather than a mark of shame.
Original article written by Alex Hutchinson, Jan 26, 2021
Whether you’re a seasoned rower or new to the sport, it’s essential to prioritize hydration and sun protection to ensure your safety, well-being, and optimal performance.
As rowers continue to row in the heat of the summer, it’s crucial to acknowledge the extreme heat conditions currently sweeping across Europe. The summer months have brought scorching temperatures, creating challenges for athletes training outdoors.
As we age, our bodies become more susceptible to the effects of extreme heat. Masters may face additional challenges in regulating their body temperature, making hydration and sun protection even more critical during summer workouts. With the right knowledge and preparation, rowers can continue to enjoy their sport safely and make the most of their training sessions despite the hot weather.
In this newsletter, we will explore:
The importance of proper hydration for rowers and its impact on performance in hot conditions.
The effects of aging on fluid balance and how masters rowers can tailor their hydration strategies.
Hydration and sun protection strategies to optimize performance and safeguard against heat-related risks.
By understanding the unique challenges posed by the current extreme heat conditions in Europe, rowers can equip themselves with valuable information and actionable tips to train safely and effectively. Let’s delve into the world of hydration, sun protection, and training strategies that will help you navigate this summer’s sweltering temperatures and excel in your rowing pursuits.
Understanding the Importance of Hydration:
Hydration is vital for all athletes, as water is involved in various physiological processes, including temperature regulation, nutrient transport, and waste elimination. For rowers, who perform in both endurance and strength-demanding activities, proper hydration is even more crucial to prevent dehydration, which can impair performance and increase the risk of heat-related illnesses.
Hydration and Aging:
As we age, our body’s ability to regulate fluid balance changes, making proper hydration even more critical for masters rowers. Sometimes, aging is associated with a decreased thirst response, reduced total body water content, and alterations in kidney function. These age-related changes can hinder the body’s ability to maintain optimal hydration levels, especially during intense exercise in hot weather.
Hydration Strategies for Rowers:
Pre-Hydration: Begin hydrating well before the training session starts. I like to drink at least 500 ml of water 2 hours before exercise and an additional 250 ml 15-30 minutes before training. Pre-hydration helps offset any initial fluid deficits and sets a foundation for better performance.
Monitor Urine Colour: Elite Rowing teams monitor the colour of their athlete’s urine as a simple indicator of hydration status. Pale yellow urine indicates proper hydration, while dark-coloured urine signals possible dehydration. Aim for a light-yellow colour, especially during training in hot weather.
Hydrate During Exercise: For training sessions lasting longer than an hour, I like to consume fluids during the workout. Aim for 150-250 ml of water every 15-20 minutes. A sports drink with carbohydrates and electrolytes may be beneficial for sessions exceeding 90 minutes. I love the Filippi water bottle solution. Easy way to safely secure your water bottle in the boat.
Individualized Hydration: Every athlete’s hydration needs are unique, and factors like sweat rate, body composition, and training intensity play a role. On hot days like we currently have in Europe now, you may want to consider weighing yourself before and after training to estimate fluid losses and tailor your hydration plan accordingly.
Replace Lost Fluids After Training: Recovery is just as crucial as pre-hydration. After training, aim to drink 150% of the fluid lost during exercise to fully replenish lost fluids. Combine water intake with sodium-rich foods or sports drinks to restore electrolyte balance. I have been playing with the hydration tracking app in Garmin. It looks interesting.
Sun Protection Strategies:
Use Sunscreen: Apply a broad-spectrum sunscreen with an SPF of 30 or higher at least 30 minutes before heading out for training. Reapply every two hours or more frequently if sweating heavily. Pay attention to commonly overlooked areas like the back of your neck, ears, and wash your hands well so they don’t slip on the oar handle or scull grips.
Protective Clothing: Wear lightweight, long-sleeved shirts to shield your skin from direct sunlight. Look for clothing with UPF (Ultraviolet Protection Factor) labels to ensure optimal sun protection. Wide-brimmed hats can also help protect your face, neck, and ears.
Wear a Hat: Invest in a wide-brimmed hat made of breathable fabric that provides shade for your face, neck, and ears. Hats with a UPF rating offer additional protection from harmful UV rays, reducing the risk of sunburn and heat-related skin damage.
Avoid the Sun: When possible, train during the cooler parts of the day, such as early morning or early evening. Avoid training between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., when the sun’s rays are the strongest.
Wear Sunglasses: Choose sunglasses with UV protection to shield your eyes from harmful rays. This will not only protect your eyes but also reduce the risk of eye strain and discomfort during training.
Conclusion:
Hydration and sun protection are key factors in the performance, safety, and well-being when training in hot summer weather. For Masters athletes, age-related changes in fluid balance highlight the importance of adopting tailored hydration strategies to optimize performance and minimize the risk of dehydration. By following evidence-based guidelines for hydration and sun protection, rowers can enhance their training experience and achieve their best results on the water.
Remember to listen to your body, adjust intensity as needed, and ensure proper rest and nutrition for optimal performance. With a well-balanced hydration and sun protection strategy, rowers can stay focused, perform at their peak, and safely navigate through the challenges of hot summer training sessions.
Excited to share this episode of the Faster Podcast, this time with Dr Charlie Simpson.
Charlie is a Senior Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Science at Oxford Brookes University and well known for his publications. The Complete Guide to Indoor Rowing and Advanced Rowing.
In this episode, Charlie and I cover the following topics and a lot more…
Defining training intensity
The holy trinity in training intensity; heart rate, RPE and power
Key training zones to pay attention to
Lactate testing
How to set up your season and week for training
Nutrition and hydration strategies
The Big 5 supplements that can make a real impact on performance
It’s a long episode (99-mins) and perfect for a long indoor endurance session.
The Complete Guide to Indoor Rowing, is the first comprehensive book to focus on this unique form of strength-endurance training. It is aimed at serious athletes, outdoor rowers and normal gym users.
Advanced Rowing , brings together a selection of leading experts in the sport of rowing, including international head coaches from New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, and Denmark, who have all coached crews to World and Olympic medals. Distinguished club and university coaches contribute from across the United States, Great Britain, and Australia. Between them, these coaches work with the top national level athletes in their countries and specialize in preparing them to an international competitive standard.
Books recommended by Charlie
Wanted rowing coach by Brad Lewis
Assault on Lake Casitas by Brad Lewis
Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins
Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond
Thank you to our Faster podcast supporters: Precision Hydration, Bont Rowing, Filippi Boats and Citius Remex seat pads. These companies want to support Masters Rowers to go Faster and offer exclusive benefits to my newsletter subscribers. To gain access to exclusive bonus offers, ensure you subscribe to my newsletter.
Prof Tim Noakes, is well known in the world of sports science and considered an expert in this subject. Originally born in Harare, Zimbabwe, he grew up in South Africa, studying Medicine and Exercise Science.
He is the author of several books on exercise and nutrition, including the Lore of Running and Challenging Beliefs and has over 750 scientific articles, being cited over 19,000 times.
In 2008, he was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Faculty of Sports and Exercise Medicine (UK), and in 2015, he was made an Honorary Fellow of the Faculty of Sports and Exercise Medicine, Royal College of Physicians of Ireland in recognition of his involvement in the field of Sports and Exercise Medicine.
His book, Lore of Running, is considered the “bible of the sport”. Among his other published works are: Rugby without Risk; Bob Woolmer’s Art and Science of Cricket co-written with the late Bob Woolmer; his scientific autobiography, Challenging Beliefs; Waterlogged: The Serious Problem of Overhydration in Endurance Sports; Real Meal Revolution; Raising Superheroes; The Banting Pocket Guide and Lore of Nutrition.
In this episode, Prof Noakes explains his Central Governor theory. How the brain regulates performance, as well as strategies the world’s best use, to tap into their pure potential.
Sharing an article I came across whilst researching approaches to recovery. Original article on Training Peaks and by Simon Wegerif, 2020
Simon Wegerif explains how proper sleep habits affects training and recovery, and how to make the most of your sleep.
Sleep is one of the main mechanism by which the body repairs itself and recovers. While perfect sleep is quite easy to imagine (and desire!), it’s not that easy to achieve.
What are the problems with the less-than-perfect sleep that almost all of us encounter, either on a temporary or ongoing basis, and how do these affect total training load?
Perfect sleep
Perfect sleep is not defined as a certain number of hours each night, but rather it:
Has 90-minute cycles comprising periods of light sleep, deep sleep, and REM sleep, with more deep sleep at the start of the night, and less later on.
Has a number of 90-minute cycles per night, usually five for most people when averaged across the week.
Fits in with your personal body clock or circadian rhythm, which is reset by the daily light/dark cycle (i.e. when your body naturally wants to be asleep).
Satisfies our sleep pressure. This is our need to sleep which has built up during the day, and which carries over from nights of insufficient sleep.
Has good sleep hygiene (i.e. cool, dark, quiet, comfortable).
Includes 20- to 30-minute naps in the early or late afternoon, especially if training or competing later in the day, or if night-time sleep quantity or quality has been reduced.
Why do we need good sleep?
There are plenty of articles out there with advice on how to prepare for effective sleep, but why do we need good sleep? In general, sleep facilitates recovery from damage accumulated during the previous period of wakefulness, and is especially important for athletes.
Good sleep is needed to maintain the performance of thinking and problem solving, carbohydrate metabolism and the appetite associated with particular blood sugar levels, and the performance of the immune system in identifying and neutralizing invading pathogens. The first four hours of sleep are especially critical, as this period has the largest amount of deep sleep when human growth hormone (HGH) and testosterone are produced. These are the hormones responsible for the compensation response to exercise when our muscles and metabolism become stronger and more powerful.
Good sleep resets the calibration of our internal perceived exertion (RPE) scale, and maintains good sensations of fatigue and mood. Workouts (especially high-intensity ones) feel easier when we have slept well, so are more likely to be completed as prescribed. Extended endurance workouts are more satisfying and our pacing strategy is also better when we have slept well too.
With such clear benefits, you would expect that athletes take sleep as seriously as training, but according to surveys performed by Dr. Shona Halson at the Australian Institute of Sport, this is seldom the case, even amongst elite athletes.
As the chart below shows, sleep efficiency (the proportion of time spent asleep whilst in bed, often used as a rough measure of sleep quality) and wake-up time are related, with swimmers and triathletes having the earliest rise times, coupled with the poorest sleep efficiency:
Dr. Shona Halson, Australian Institute of Sport (AIS)
So, although athletes need more sleep than their less-active peers, they often get less, resulting in daytime sleepiness as well as reduced performance.
Less-than-perfect sleep
So, what typically prevents athletes from getting good sleep?
Sleep hygiene: Poor bedtime routine, use of phones and TV in bed, bedding and room temperature mismatched.
Body sensations: Fatigue, injury, muscle soreness, nervous system activity—especially from using caffeine or training late in the day.
Travel: Jet lag, shared hotel rooms, shifts in time zone, training/competition times.
Overall, a lack of awareness of the importance of good sleep is what prevents athletes from paying sufficient attention to the factors they can control.
(Alcohol may aid with sleep onset due to its sedative properties, allowing you to fall asleep more quickly. However, people who drink before bed may experience disruptions later in their sleep cycle as liver enzymes metabolize alcohol.) Source, Sleep Foundation 2020.
How does sleep interact with other total training load components?
NUTRITION
A chronic lack of sufficient sleep has significant effects on the regulation of blood sugar levels, increasing appetite for sweet sugary foods and the likelihood of contracting type 2 diabetes. On the other hand, an evening meal that includes high GI carbohydrates more than one hour before bedtime has been shown to increase the amount of REM sleep and reduce the time required to fall asleep.
Diets high in protein may improve sleep quality slightly, but high-fat diets may negatively influence total sleep time. Foods naturally high in amino acid tryptophan, such as turkey and pumpkin seeds, may improve both sleep latency and quality.
MENTAL STRESS
high levels of perceived stress can reduce endurance athletes’ maximum power output. A study by Canadian researchers used Heart Rate Variability (a sensitive marker of stress) to evaluate the susceptibility of a group of students to stress in the form of a demanding task. They found that the amount of reduction in HRV during a standard stress test predicted the degree of sleep disturbance the students experienced during the build-up to important exams.
Other researchers found that a higher daytime HRV predicted a shorter time to fall asleep and less arousals during the night, as well as a better sleep questionnaire score.
This makes stress management and stress reduction techniques such as mindfulness, meditation, and deep breathing especially valuable at bedtime. It’s also said that a little love at bedtime doesn’t do sleep quality any harm, even the night before competition!
CONCLUSION
Sleep deprivation has significant effects on athletic performance, especially longer endurance sessions and high-intensity intervals. Most athletes don’t get enough sleep, and both napping and deliberately extending sleep on some days to get in the missing 90-minute cycles are very likely to have positive effects on performance, total load, and overall life satisfaction.
Want to have a chat with me about your goals? Let’s connect on WhatsApp.
In this episode I cover the metrics that I track during a rowing season, to monitor and manage. This episode ought to be useful for anyone seeking to understand what training metrics and devices are best to improve their performance in rowing.
Original article written by Dr Shona L Halson, Department of Physiology, Australian Institute of Sport, and re-posted with permission.
Image, Mark Sisson 2020.
High performance sport and the importance of successful performances have led athletes and coaches to continually seek any advantage or edge that may improve performance. It follows that the rate and quality of recovery is extremely important for the high performance athlete and that optimal recovery may provide numerous benefits during repetitive high-level training and competition. Therefore, investigating different recovery interventions and their effect on fatigue, muscle injury, recovery and performance is important.
Recovery aims to restore physiological and psychological processes, so that the athlete can compete or train again at an appropriate level. Recovery from training and competition is complex and involves numerous factors. It is also typically dependent on the nature of the exercise performed and any other outside stressors that the athlete may be exposed to. Athletic performance is affected by numerous factors and therefore, adequate recovery should also consider such factors.
METHODS TO ENHANCE RECOVERY
There are a number of popular methods used by athletes to enhance recovery. Their use will depend on the type of activity performed, the time until the next training session or event, and equipment and/ or personnel available. Some of the most popular recovery techniques for athletes include:
sleep,
hydrotherapy,
active recovery,
stretching,
compression garments,
massage and
nutrition.
SLEEP
Background
Although the function of sleep is not fully understood, it is generally accepted that it serves to recover from previous wakefulness and/or prepare for functioning in the subsequent wake period. An individual’s recent sleep history therefore has a marked impact on their daytime functioning. Restricting sleep to less than 6 hours per night for four or more consecutive nights has been shown to impair cognitive performance and mood, disturb glucose metabolism, appetite regulation and immune function. This type of evidence has led to the recommendation that adults should obtain 8 hours of sleep per night.
While there are considerable data available related to the amount of sleep obtained by adults in the general population, there are few published data related to the amount of sleep obtained by elite athletes.
Sleep deprivation
There are a limited number of studies which have examined the effects of sleep deprivation on athletic performance. From the available data it appears that several phenomena exist. Firstly, sleep deprivation must be greater than 30 hours (one complete night of no sleep and remaining awake into the afternoon) to have an impact on anaerobic performance. Secondly, aerobic performance may be decreased after only 24 hours and thirdly, sustained or repeated bouts of exercise are affected to a greater degree than one-off maximal efforts.
The mechanism behind reduced performance following prolonged sustained sleep deprivation is not clear, however it has been suggested that an increased perception of effort is one potential cause. While the above studies provide some insight into the relationship between sleep deprivation and performance, most athletes are more likely to experience acute bouts of partial sleep deprivation where sleep is reduced for several hours on consecutive nights.
Partial sleep deprivation
Only a small number of studies have examined the effect of partial sleep deprivation on athletic performance. From the available research it appears that sub- maximal prolonged tasks may be more affected than maximal efforts particularly after the first two nights of partial sleep deprivation.
Effects of sleep extension and napping
Another means of examining the effect of sleep on performance is to extend the amount of sleep an athlete receives and determine the effects on subsequent performance. Information from the small number of studies suggests that increasing the amount of sleep an athlete receives may significantly enhance performance.
Athletes suffering from some degree of sleep loss may benefit from a brief nap, particularly if a training session is to be completed in the afternoon or evening. Naps can markedly reduce sleepiness and can be beneficial when learning skills, strategy or tactics in sleep deprived individuals. Napping may be beneficial for athletes who have to routinely wake early for training or competition and for athletes who are experiencing sleep deprivation.
Habitual sleep duration
According to a 2005 Gallup poll in the USA, the average self-reported sleep duration of healthy individuals is 6.8 hours on weekdays and 7.4 hours on weekends (National Sleep Foundation, 2006). However, the sleep habits of elite athletes have only recently been investigated. Leeder et al4 compared the sleep habits of 47 elite athletes from Olympic sports using actigraphy over a 4-day period to that of age and gender-matched non-sporting controls. The athlete group had a total time in bed of 8:36 hour:minutes, compared to 8:07 in the control group. Despite the longer time in bed, the athlete group had a longer sleep latency (time to fall asleep) (18.2 minutes vs 5.0 minutes), a lower sleep efficiency (estimate of sleep quality) than controls (80.6 vs 88.7%), resulting in a similar time asleep (6:55 vs 7:11 hour:minutes). The results demonstrated that while athletes had a comparable quantity of sleep to controls, significant differences were observed in the quality of sleep between the two groups.
While the above data was obtained during a period of normal training without competition, athletes may experience disturbed sleep prior to important competition or games. Erlacher et al administered a questionnaire to German athletes to assess possible sleep disturbances prior to competition. Of these athletes, 66% (416) reported that they slept worse than normal at least once prior to an important competition. Of these 416 athletes, 80% reported problems falling asleep, 43% reported waking up early in the morning and 32% reported waking up at night. Factors such as thoughts about competition (77%), nervousness about competition (60%), unusual surroundings (29%) and noise in the room (17%) were identified as reasons for poor sleep. Therefore it appears that sleep disturbances in athletes can occur at two time points:
prior to important competitions and
during normal training.
This sleep disruption during normal training may be due to a poor routine as a consequence of early training sessions, poor sleep habits (i.e. watching television in bed), nocturnal waking to use the bathroom, caffeine use and excessive thinking/worrying/planning. While not documented in the literature, anecdotal evidence also suggests that athletes such as footballers who compete at night also have significant difficulties falling asleep post-competition. Athletes should focus on utilising good sleep hygiene to maximise sleep.
Strategies for good sleep include:
The bedroom should be cool, dark and quiet. Eye masks and ear plugs can be useful, especially during travel.
Create a good sleep routine by going to bed at the same time and waking up at the same time.
Avoid watching television in bed, using the computer in bed and avoid watching the clock.
Avoid caffeine approximately 4 to 5 hours prior to sleep (this may vary between individuals).
Do not go to bed after consuming too much fluid as it may result in waking up to use the bathroom.
Napping can be useful, however generally naps should be kept to less than 1 hour and not too close to bedtime as it may interfere with sleep.
HYDROTHERAPY
Although hydrotherapy is widely incorporated into post-exercise recovery regimens, information regarding these interventions is largely anecdotal. The human body responds to water immersion with changes in the heart, peripheral resistance and blood flow, as well as skin, core and muscle temperature alterations. These changes in blood flow and temperature responses may have an effect on inflammation, immune function, muscle soreness and perception of fatigue.
Various forms of water immersion are becoming increasingly popular with elite athletes. While athletes have been using hydrotherapy for a number of years, we are now beginning to see increased research into water immersion, recovery and performance. The most common forms of water immersion are cold water immersion (CWI), hot water immersion (HWI) and contrast water therapy (CWT), where the athlete alternates between hot and cold water immersion.
Laird Hamilton in an ice bath
The effects of three hydrotherapy interventions on next day performance recovery following strenuous training was investigated on 12 male cyclists who completed four experimental trials differing only in recovery intervention: CWI, HWI, CWT or passive recovery. After completing each exercise session, participants performed one of the four recovery interventions (in a randomised crossover design). Sprint and time trial performance was enhanced across the 5-day trial following both CWI and CWT when compared to HWI and passive recovery.
The same authors also examined different water immersion temperatures (15 minutes of intermittent immersion in 10°C, 15°C, 20°C, continuous immersion in 20°C water, and active recovery). Two 30-minute cycling bouts performed in the heat were separated by 60 minutes, with one of the five recovery strategies performed immediately after the first exercise bout. Each trial was separated by 7-days. All water immersion protocols improved subsequent cycling performance when compared to active recovery, demonstrating the benefits of cold water immersion in the heat.
In a study investigating a dose-response effect of CWT improved cycling time trial and sprint performance was observed following 6-min of CWT (hot water: 38.4°C; cold water: 14.6°C; 1 minute rotations) when compared with control (passive rest). Twelve minutes of CWI also improved sprint total work and peak power. There was no improvement in repeat performance with 18-minutes of CWT, indicating that a dose-response relationship does not exist under these conditions. The same research group repeated the above study with trained runners using identical water immersion times and temperatures and the same time between exercise bouts (2 hours). The results of this study again did not show a dose-response relationship between running performance and CWT; however, CWT for 6-minutes improved performance, whereas 12 and 18-minutes did not. Importantly, this study was performed outdoors in an environmental temperature of 14.9°C and the increased duration of cold water exposure may have reduced the potential benefits of longer water immersion durations. Therefore, benefits of longer duration CWT may potentially occur in warmer environments.
From available literature it appears that hydrotherapy may be beneficial for athletes, particularly those performing high intensity efforts. Specifically, CWI and CWT appear more beneficial than HWI for recovery.
ACTIVE RECOVERY
Active recovery generally consists of aerobic exercise which can be performed using different modes such as cycling, jogging, aqua jogging or swimming. Active recovery is often thought to be better for recovery than passive recovery due to enhanced blood flow to the exercised area and clearance of lactate and other metabolic waste products via increased oxygen delivery.
It is not clear whether there are benefits of active recovery between training sessions or following competition in various sports. No detrimental effects on performance have been reported following active recovery (when compared to a passive recovery) between training sessions, with a small amount of literature reporting enhanced performance. Many researchers, however, use the removal of lactate as their primary indicator of recovery and this may not be a valid indicator of enhanced recovery and ability to repeat performance at a previous level. The role of active recovery in reducing lactate concentrations and reducing muscle soreness after exercise may be an important factor for athletes. This is anecdotally reported to be one of the most common forms of recovery and utilised by the majority of athletes for these reasons.
STRETCHING
Although stretching is anecdotally one of the most used recovery strategies, there is very little literature examining the effects of stretching as a recovery method. There have been mixed reports regarding the benefit of stretching as a recovery strategy. However, two separate reviews of recovery methods concluded that there was no benefit for stretching as a recovery modality. It is important to note that to date, there have not been any detrimental effects on performance associated with post-exercise stretching.
COMPRESSION GARMENTS
Many recovery strategies for elite athletes are based on medical equipment or therapies used in patients. Compression clothing is one of these strategies. It has traditionally been used to treat various lymphatic and circulatory conditions. Compression garments are thought to improve venous return through application of graduated compression to the limbs from proximal to distal. The external pressure created may reduce the intramuscular space available for swelling and promote stable alignment of muscle fibres, attenuating the inflammatory response and reducing muscle soreness. While there is currently minimal research into compression garments and recovery for endurance athletes, the small amount of data suggests that they may be beneficial and do not appear to be harmful to the recovery process.
MASSAGE
Massage is a widely used recovery strategy among athletes. However, apart from perceived benefits of massage on muscle soreness, little data has shown positive effects on repeated exercise performance. Furthermore, increased blood flow is one of the main mechanisms proposed to improve recovery (thus improving clearance of metabolic waste products). Several reviews of the effects of massage have concluded that while massage is beneficial in improving psychological aspects of recovery, most evidence does not support massage as a modality to improve recovery of functional performance. However, as massage may have potential benefits for injury prevention and management, it should still be incorporated in an athlete’s training programme for reasons other than recovery.
SUMMARY
As recovery research is a relatively new area for scientists, many of the current recommendations are general guidelines only. It is important that athletes experiment with a variety of strategies and approaches to identify the recovery options that work best for each individual. However, it is known that optimal recovery from training and competition may provide numerous benefits for athlete performance. Recovery strategies such as hydrotherapy, low-intensity active recovery, massage, compression garments, stretching or various combinations of these methods may have merit as recovery-enhancing strategies. Importance should also be placed on optimal post-exercise nutrition and adequate sleep to maximise recovery and reduce fatigue from exercise.
Dr Shona L Halson, Department of Physiology, Australian Institute of Sport.
