Recovery, Cryotherapy and Goodbye 2017
Yes, it’s that time of year again, the in-laws, the ex-in-laws, the overeating, the Christmas plays and the late-night dreidel sessions are all catching up to us. Hopping on the treadmill and pushing some weight around is a great way to de-stress and deal with the holiday craziness, but what about those other pillars of health, wellness and recovery?
In case you haven’t had a chance to check out Patronus Medical downstairs at La Jolla Sports Club, you might be missing the cure for what ails you. From IVs to B12 shots, Patronus has a slew of things to make you feel good. More on that next month, however, as this month we’re focusing on that other pillar, recovery, via cryotherapy at Chiltonic.
Note: This article is a little science’y, but there’s a lot of great information that could help with your recovery needs.
In the article Effects of Whole-Body Cryotherapy vs. Far-Infrared vs. Passive Modalities on Recovery from Exercise-Induced Muscle Damage in Highly-Trained Runners (Hausswirth, Louis, Bieuzen, Pournot, Fournier, Filliard and Brisswalter; published December 7, 2011), the authors tested a group of runners through simulated trail runs and subsequent recovery of eccentric stress with cryotherapy, far-infrared therapy and passive recovery (pre / post / post-1hr / post-24hr / and post-48hr conditions). As cryotherapy was determined the best form of recovery (and we also don’t want to bore the pants off of you with rehashing the full study), we’ll be focusing on cryotherapy in this post.
The authors found that just one session of cryotherapy can significantly alleviate inflammation after a strenuous exercise session due to the cold-related vasoconstriction that may limit vessels’ permeability and the inflammatory process, thereby reducing muscle pain. Additionally, after 10 sessions, the article found an improvement in anaerobic capacity, ‘principally explained by metabolic changes and a better tolerance to pain, highlighted by an increase in blood lactate concentration,’ and that repeated sessions (10-20) can result in an increase in the body’s immunity, associated with a decrease in oxidative status and inflammatory response.
So… What does that mean? That cryotherapy could be just the thing you need after a tough workout. As early as an hour into your post-workout recovery, cryotherapy was shown to increase physical output levels, as well as decrease perceived sensations of pain. This decreased sensation of pain was brought on by a cold-related reduction in nervous activity and an increased endorphin concentration, which led the researchers to conclude that cryotherapy reduced depressive symptoms by ‘enhancing well-being, sleep and relaxation.’ For a full breakdown of the article, click on the link above!
Feeling smarter and more relaxed already? We here at La Jolla Sports Club love Chiltonic and cryotherapy and believe in it as a rounded approach to wellness and recovery. Smart training, smart eating and PLENTY of water go a long way to taking care of the body pre- and post-workout. If you have any cryotherapy questions, pop in and say hi to the owner of Chiltonic, Matt Bergman. If you want to get in touch with your workouts and nutrition, please don’t hesitate to reach out to one of your La Jolla Sports Club Personal Trainers.
That’s it for this month, we’ll see you in 2018, HAVE A HAPPY AND SAFE NEW YEAR!
// Your La Jolla Sports Club team
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Featured image by Lauri Rotko
