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My son has been going to the gym recently with a few of his mates, they are now so 'into' it that they are going a few times a week. Their first couple of days, me as their taxi driver, the sports therapy in me was giving them some sporting tips along the way, lots of do's and dont's and why, lots of advice regarding muscles, oh and, don't go lifting heavy duty weights to show off how hard you all are, muscle tears, scar tissue blah blah lol , as well as the the "don't you dare accept any drugs off anyone" talk!! (sorry to all you gym owners, no reflection on you but drugs and gyms!!), of course my son wanted to hide and dig himself into a hole, but how could he? he was sat in the front seat of the car lol,oh my gosh, so unfair a teenage lad couldn't escape his mothers embarassing moments lol. A car full of 14 year olds are hilarious, you could just see their 'Kevin and Perry' faces lol. Anyway, that all done with, each taxi driving session meant another bit of advice on which muscle groups to work and so on, oh no, dont listen to mum she's a weirdo lol, but how great did I feel when ALL the boys were suffering and suffering for days later. In fact, my son couldn't move a muscle lol. This brings me on to DOMS!!
Who hasn't experienced this weird feeling of muscle soreness? You don't have to do gym based workouts to feel it. You could be working in the home and feel it a couple of days later. Horse riding is a great example if you have worked particulary hard in a lesson, swimming is another, if you haven't been swimming for quite sometime and do a good few lengths, you will most probably pay for it aching all over for up to at least 72 hours later.
What equestrians dont seem to realise is ....... horses suffer it too. You may feel the horse lame and start to panic but most horse owners never think MUSCLES! I can never quite understand why not? Isn't it bizarre how your horses' lameness all of a sudden disappears after a few days and comes right?! Muscle soreness depending on severity can be absolutely agonising pain, so much so, you could even think you had a slight fracture in a bone it can be that much agony. So why don't many horsey people ever think of muscles when it comes to horse lameness? Though generally it is believed lactic acid was the main culprit for these painful muscles with regards to horses 'tying up' AZOTURIA as a good example. In humans they have come to the conclusion it is the actual damage to the muscles through tears as one of the big reasons for DOMS. Why not book yourself in for a massage if you are a sufferer and push yourself too quickly, or if you regulary compete your horse or pony and you think they can benefit from an equine massage, (horses love a good massage), I have two therapists on my website list :
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| Buster having a little massage after work, he used to love them! |
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| He also liked a massage with a rubber massager |
CLICK HERE FOR EQUINE MASSAGE THERAPIST
or here:
CLICK
HERE FOR EQUINE SPORTS THERAPY MASSAGE |
| If your horse is a hard worker, why not book him in for a massage!! (photo:buster chops) |
Scientists have discovered the biological blood relating to lactic acid returns to normal pretty quickly, this is how lactic acid build up, has been eliminated in the scientific research behind it. DOMS is still quite a phenomenom as those that study it in detail, still to this day have not find conclusive answers on why it happens.
I have advised my son to have an energy drink within a safe limit for electorlytes sodium / patassium / calcium as they all play a vital role in contraction of muscles and muscle growth, these will maintain the celluler activity within his muscles and the reduction in metabolic waste product accumulation. I have also told him to have a seperate bottle for water. With gym based work, the lads were performing eccentric contractions of their muscles as in bicep curls etc, a shortening of muscle groups, these exercises require less oxygen, eccentric contractions are opposite as in lengthening, this style of muscle use requires more energy to lengthen. In some of his gym based exercise he will be using isometric contraction where the muscle is held in a position but its really an equal force so not putting too much strain on muscles, i.e. carrying your shopping for example. For more examples of sodium and potassium elements for bodybuilders look up amino acids and intramuscular activity etc on the net .
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| Myself, far right, offering sports massage to all World fitness Participants at Winter Gardens Blackpool 2001 |
A little summary; Always always, warm up prior to exercise , this is for your horses too, always always cool down (warm down) after exercise ,yep, this relates to you horsey people, dont forget to warm up and cool down your horse!!! Drink a bottle of water or energy drink prior to hard exercise if possible if you are starting out on a new found exercise regime or body building venture, have something like Lucozade and drink a bottle of water after hard exercise. Eat a banana when you can. After a little warm up, have a stretch, this relates to you riders and your horses too. Dont go too beyond your pain barrier if you haven't trained your muscles to do so. Take your time, you can't be a beef cake over night or become super fit in a week. Like training to do the splits, you will get there in time! Steady steady steady is the way to go , one step at a time. Horse fitness too, is a superb subject to study including that of banned substances i.e. stimulants can make the difference and increase performance, even by 1% can mean a difference between winning and losing in equine competition bringing us on to:
