There are so many benefits to the addition of massage in your weekly routine. Many athletes now consider this an important part of their recovery process. It helps them recover quicker for another day of practice, prevent injuries, train more efficiently with the end result of improving performances. So why else are massages such an essential part of your training?

Massage therapy can be a powerful ally in your regimen. Whether we use it to pamper ourselves, rejuvenate our minds or rehabilitate our body, its an important principle every athlete needs to take seriously. For myself, a massage helps relieve the lactic acid built up after a workout or any pain from the activity. It helps reduce that stiffness feeling for that next day and help the muscles feel more relaxed. A massage works so well because it improves the blood flow to the muscles being worked on. I love getting my legs rubbed out, especially my hamstrings and after you feel like you can hop right into your sport fresh.

A con is it can be an expensive thing to add to get done. Whether your in high school and your parents help you, or college and your trainer works on you, it is a must. You can start off with once every other week and work your way towards, once a week. I like a massage at least once a week and sometimes I will do twice a week, depending on my workout load.

There are so many benefits to massages here are some below, both physical and mental:

Physical Benefits

• Faster healing
• Reduces pain and swelling
• Helps reduce scar tissue
• Helps relieve muscle tension and stiffness
• Provides greater joint flexibility and range of motion

Mental Benefits

• Helps relieve mental stress
• Promotes a relaxed state of mental alertness
• Creates body awareness
• Reduces levels of anxiety

A simple massage can do you so much good! The more frequently you get a massage the more good it will do for your body. This is a big part of taking care of your body and many more years added onto your career. Your body will thank you in the long run!

(Original image by Jason Pier in DC)

I crave my recovery drink by the time my practice is finished. I just burned a whole tank of gas from a day’s work, and it’s time to head to the gas station and re-fuel my tank back up to get ready for another one! This is definitely an important aspect of your training and is Cover Ground Principle #16.

The Importance of a Recovery Drink?

The purpose of a recovery drink is to maximize the refueling of muscle glycogen right after your practice is complete, within the first 15-30 minutes. It’s important to use a carbohydrate-protein combination, instead of either of them alone, to help enhance the muscle glycogen storage and amino acids for the muscle cells to repair and synthesize.  This is important because consistently low glycogen stores lead to a breakdown of muscle protein and a loss of muscle mass. Protein synthesis is an important component of post-exercise muscle recovery also. It is essential to the body’s ongoing growth, repair and maintenance of skeletal muscles. So supplying you’re already fatigued and depleted muscles with protein enhances the repair process.

Make Your Own

My brother and I make our own recovery drinks. Here are some tips to keep in mind:

• Less than 10% of Calories from fat (preferably NO FAT)
• Carbohydrate Protein ratio 3:1
• Fluid form is best to help with rehydration
• Grape Juice is best! (It creates an insulin spike making it more efficient because it contains the most fructose, which is glycemic, and its ability of a sugar to form glucose and ultimately glycogen, the prime storage of energy in the body)
• 0.8 grams of Carbohydrate / 0.4 grams of Protein for every kilogram of your body’s weight

(For example: 140lb sprinter would calculate his or her needs as follow…
140lb x 0.454 = 63.5 kg
63.5 kg x 0.8 g/kg = 50 grams carbohydrate
63.5 kg x 0.4 g/kg = 25 grams protein)

(original image by MyBreakfastBlog)

It isn’t that hard…stop looking at yourself in the mirror! Just forget about what you see in the mirror and train what everyone sees when you’re in front of them in a race! Too many athletes will only work the front side and forget all about the back side – the posterior chain.

What Is The Posterior Chain?
The posterior chain makes you sprint faster and jump higher! Consisting of a group of muscles, tendons and ligaments on the posterior kinetic chain of the body – including the low back, glutes, hamstrings, and calves.

Why Work The Posterior Chain?
Working the posterior chain not only gives you a nice looking backside and a pair of legs to go with it, but it helps prevent injury. We’ve already discussed the importance of lifting heavy, and if those chain muscles are strong, the heavier you can lift, the stronger you will become. It’s been proven that a strong back and strong hamstrings lead to huge strength gains in the squat and deadlift.

What If I Don’t Work The Posterior Chain?
First off, a couple things can go wrong: You can become a quad dominant athlete and lack hamstring flexibility, because all you do is work the front side of your body. You develop constant pains in the lower back, tight hamstrings and tight hip flexors. Lastly, of course is your back going out and you wondering why you are constantly injured. This is what happens when you forget to work the backside.

Posterior Chain Movement Patterns
There are two important movements involved in the posterior chain:
Hip-Dominant (deadlift, good mornings, pull throughs) & Knee Flexion Dominant (glute-ham raises, rev leg press)
It’s important to include exercises from both movement patterns to complete the posterior chain development.

Hip Dominant & Knee Dominant Exercises
These types of exercises mainly focus on a flat back and require movement by the hips. Both types work the hamstrings and gluteals. The glutes are the main muscle through the movement, especially at the end when you squeeze them as hard as you can
• Deadlifts,
• Pull Throughs,
• Romanian DL,
• Single Leg RDL,
• Good Mornings,
• Reverse Hip Extensions,
• Glute Hams,
• Ball Leg Curl

This is the key to becoming more athletic, faster, stronger, more healthy and less injury prone…all by training one commonly overlooked set of muscles — the posterior chain!
Next we’ll work on getting those glutes fired up and in the game!

The end of the year is already here. Did the year go as planned for you? What actions do you have in plan for next year? Are they short term goals…stop drinking, lose weight or buying something we couldn’t this year? These types of wishful thinking goals never last and you end up being in the same position you’re in right now, with not much being accomplished throughout the year. How can we live a more successful life, and better our performance each year? What kind of actions must take place so we’re not in the same situation by the end of the year?

Plan.

This month’s CGP is to begin every year with a set of goals. This goals could be new each year or older, all progressing towards that long term goal. A goal starts with planning:

1. Write a personal plan for yourself

2. Plan to reach those goals for the next year

3. Write down at least 20 goals you would change for the coming year

4. Make a side-by-side list of 20 positive and 20 negative things that happened in your life the current year

5. Make a list of the problems and solutions for the coming year.

As you see, it can sure take some work and thought to start planning, but well worth it in the end. Start off slow and easy. Jumping straight into a goal isn’t going to make it come any faster. For example: Maybe you’re late for school/class/work a couple times a week. Set your alarm 10 minutes earlier to help compensate with the time. Setting your alarm 30 minutes early may get you out of bed, but probably not. Slow and steady wins the race.

Start planning your goals for the new year and you will see how much easier it will be the next time around.

Have a great one!

Happy New Year from Cover Ground!

It’s impossible to live without…
It’s an essential element for our body to survive…
It composes more than half of the human body…
It aids in digestion, transports nutrients…
It regulates our body temperature…
It can kill you if you don’t have enough…
It can kill you in excess….

Yet, its so underrated in training and many people just do not understand how important it is to stay hydrated.

During one hour of exercise, our bodies lose more than a quart of water. If there isn’t enough water to cool the body it enters into a state of dehydration. During dehydration, individuals can experience muscle cramps and fatigue without enough water in the system. In extreme conditions, dehydration can lead to heat exhaustion and even heat strokes. So, this month’s CGP (and an important one) is to stay hydrated to stay healthy!

Water makes up 75% of muscle tissue. Did you know that? Because I didn’t at first. My massage therapist in Toronto, use to tell me all the time that my muscles were dehydrated. How did that happen?!  I thought I was drinking enough then but I guess not. To explain it simple enough, a dehydrated muscle is like glue stuck in between the fibers. It prevents the muscles from sliding fluently to perform the action that it needs to do. A hydrated muscle is like a well working chain for a new bicycle, no sticking and one constant motion.

To prevent dehydration, you must be drinking fluids before, during and after your workouts. Signs of feeling thirsty are a way the body tells us that we are already in a state of dehydration. So it’s important to drink even before we feel thirsty.

Not only is thirst a key sign for dehydration, but your urine color can help you out too. If you have a really pale yellow to clear urine color, that is normal and that is what is should look like. If your urine is darker, then you need to start sucking back some water immediately and brighten that up. Your body will thank you!

Hydration Tips:

• Drink at least 8 glasses of water each day…and even more if you are in hotter weather (and if you split it up throughout the day it doesn’t seem as much)
• Remember to drink before, during and especially after practice…don’t wait to be thirsty!
• Carry a couple of small water bottles with you throughout the day, so you always have water on you (my massage therapist told me that tip…and it definitely works!)
• Stay away from alcohol…If you’re serious about your training, you shouldn’t be drinking alcohol anyways because all it does is dehydrate you and very quickly at that

Earlier this month, I talked about a Dynamic Warm-Up vs Static Warm-Up. Here is where the static stretching comes into play. This is an important process where Static Stretching is greatly beneficial towards improving your speed and maintaing your body’s health, and this month’s CGP.

Static Stretching

Static means just that – “a fixed position, lacking movement”. You stretch to the farthest point you can, bite your lip, hold the stretch, make all the faces you need to and continue holding that stretch. There will be some discomfort but you should NEVER feel any pain (if you do obviously stop). The CGP this month is stretching every night before you hit the sheets…and really one of the few times you should be holding your stretches.

Stretching every night allows your body to become use to the constant stretching of the muscle. Research showed that stretching everyday, at least once per muscle group for 30 seconds, can result in an increase in range of motion. Especially in activities that demand a high range of motion, sprinting in football, quick bursts in mixed martial arts, the reaching in tennis, stretching really is important. Attempting to do certain movements in these kinds of activites without enough flexibility will either injure you or you just won’t be able to perform that action.

Working on flexibility is more important that you would think it is. I spent many years not worring about stretching and it bitt me in the butt, HARD. As my coach use to always tell me… “Justyn you’re as tight as a camels A*S!” – PAUSE, How he knew what that was like?!? But, anyways…you get the point.

Build a small routine to go through every night before you head to sleep:

How to Come Up With a Routine

1. Warm up first! A light run, warm shower or some calisthenics (squats, jumping jacks)…for at least 5 minutes. An activity will help the muscles generate some heat, allows the muscles to relax, and provide the maximum stretch your muscles can take.

2. Stretch all major muscles. So focus on your hamstrings, quads, glutes, hip flexors, groin & back. Also stretch areas that are just generally tight.

3. You can start with dynamic stretching, where you stretch for a second, come back, stretch, come back. But at night should be the only time to do static stretching, where the stretch is held for 10-30 seconds. This will greatly increase your range of motion. Static stretching is slowly elongating the muscle through its full range of motion, then holding it at full extension. There should be some discomfort but NOT pain.

A great book to help you with a stretching routine is Stretch to Win by Ann Frederick.

Having a higher degree of flexibility gives your muscle more range of motion, more range of motion, that much longer your stride can be, and a longer stride equals more ground that you cover…and of course a faster 100m sprint, 40y dash, faster stolen base etc.

When it comes to injury prevention, flexibility is a key component!

Are you caught up in the world of late night TV & not getting to bed at a decent hour?

Well no matter the situation our bodies still run on natural light and dark cycles. Without getting to technical and confusing the mess out of you, our brain and hormonal system respond to light (a form of stress) causing us to think it’s morning. When this happens are body begins to release cortisol, which is a stress hormone, to activate the body and prepare us for movement or whatever is necessary. Cortisol levels peak as the sun rises from 6:00am to 9:00am and slowly decrease as the day continues. As 6:00pm rolls around, cortisol levels are really low which allows for the release of melatonin and the increase of growth and repair hormones. This is how our bodies recover at night for another days work.

Our body begins winding down as the sun sets and at this time is when we should start preparing for a good nights rest. From 10:00pm to 2:00am is when the physical repairs on our body occur the most. After 2:00am is when mental repairs take place, which lasts until we wake up.

So as you continue to watch your late night TV shows, work late or sit in front of your bright computer screen, your body is going through continuous stress. This will cause your cortisol levels to remain above normal because your brain continues to interpret the lights as morning. Cortisol can take many hours to clear your blood system so this in turn would prevent the release of the important immune factors cutting into our repair and healing time. Going to bed after 12:00am means you have already lost about two hours of your physical repair time. Your body can bounce back from short-term circadian stresses but chronic stress often leads to depressed immunity, illness and chronic fatigue.

Get the most of your repair system…sleep!