So, I am sad to say I am not going to be running the Wineglass Marathon this year. I have allowed the pain in my glute and upper leg to knee turn into an injury. I am currently going through physical therapy and it is starting to feel better except I am not able to run or walk any distances. But, if I would have gotten this taken care of a long time about (it started bothering me about a year ago) I wouldn't be going through this now. So, please, if you feel a twinge or a pain that is lingering, go see your doctor. Get to it before it gets to you!!
The following article was taken from Jeff Galloway's email newsletter which can be subscribed at JeffGallowayBlog.com:
Less Pain, More Gain
By Dr. Robert Portman
"No pain, no gain." Every endurance athlete is familiar with this expression. But is it true? It depends on how you define pain. A more accurate slogan would be this: "No stress, no gain."
"No pain, no gain." Every endurance athlete is familiar with this expression. But is it true? It depends on how you define pain. A more accurate slogan would be this: "No stress, no gain."
Research has demonstrated that the strain of intense muscle work triggers adaptive responses that make muscle fibers stronger and more durable. A certain amount of damage is required to stimulate fitness-increasing changes in muscle cells. But don't assume that, if a little is good, more is better. If too much stress is applied to muscle tissue, or if the muscles are not given the time and nutritional resources they need to recover between workouts, damage will accumulate and the athlete will end up overtrained or injured.
The solution is to control the degree of muscle damage. This can be done through an appropriate nutritional intervention, as shown by researchers at James Madison University. Trained cyclists performed hard rides on two occasions, receiving nutrition to control muscle damage after only one of those rides. Twenty-four after each session, the cyclists performed leg extensions to measure functional muscle recovery. They were able to complete 14% more leg extensions when receiving nutrition to control muscle damage after their ride.
So, go ahead and stress those muscles, but control the damage with appropriate recovery nutrition.
Dr. Portman, a well-known sports science researcher, is co-author of Nutrient Timing and Hardwired for Fitness.
