HELP

those that follow my log will have noticed mondays leg session was pretty high volume.

due to an awful hanngover i couldnt eat all day yesterday.

as a result of the above my legs are still very very sore. i've just accepted a fight for tommorow night, in know its a subject thats been done to death but has anyone got any tips get me moving in time for tommorows fight?

 

I'd say a massage is in order. If it's available in your area a proper Thai style massage can work out a lot of the issues with soreness from heavy training sessions. In proper, skilled Thai massage they'll use eblows, knees and shins to sort out all the issues. It's essentially much the same philosophy as myofascial self release (MSR) - the foam roller.

If you can't get to a decent massage then your next best bet is a foam roller. Work out all the knots blockages and adhesions with a foam roller. Won't be pleasant at first until your endorphins kick in. MSR is essentially a form of stretching... where you are applying pressure for a set amount of time (around 6 seconds per sore spot/knot/blockage/adhesion) with bodyweight on top of a foam roller until the Golgi tendon organ (GTO) kicks in and causes the muscle fibers to release and elongate - which is by definition a stretch. You'll notice in many instructionals they roll back and forth and while that works... for tough knots/blockages/adhesions you need to hold the pressure on a point for a min of 6-8 seconds for the GTO to kick in and do what it does to release/lengthen the muscle fiber spindles (per the Meyers/Anatomy Trains methodology).

Try to see if you can hook that up your legs will thank you... but that'd be my best recommendation in short order. I don't ever think that a foam roller is a replacement for a competent massage. But it's a great addition to a regular diet of massage - people often regard massage as a luxury - I regard it as a necessity to maintain a healthy quality of life and to allow my body recover and maintain it's range of motion and functionality.

Some examples:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnEiYxbzM4Q&feature=related"]Post-Workout Routine- Corrective Stretching and Self-Massage - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3DhtfCeeKA"]Self Myofascial Release Warm Up Series Legs - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VB0Uegi574M&feature=related"]Foam Rolling The Calves - YouTube[/ame]

 

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ki6roIdrD9Q&feature=related"]Foam Roller Recovery For The Legs - YouTube[/ame]

 

thankyou very much slip, thats awesome.

beleive it or not i had a massage booked in for the time of the fight, ha.

is there a limit to how much rollering i can do? like a point of diminishing returns or when it starts making me worse?

 

I don't think you're ever going to out-roller the spots in your legs that have issues. Everything thinks they're fresh as a daisy until they hit the foam roller and then the tears begin I hit my teres minor/major the day before yesterday and I damn near saw the face of God (from overhead presses and pull ups it gets tender!) So I'd say hit it a few times prior to your fight... and one session or so on the morning of your fight.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ddr0a5EtZfc"]Foam Rolling Upper Body - YouTube[/ame]

What style of fight are you having?

 

boxing.

its the only style i do these days. The karate was fun and all but time and motivation got in the way.

 

With boxing being your style you can't go wrong with a tennis ball or a massage ball up against the wall. They make massage balls about as big around as a orange in varying degrees of hardness and once you have them.... you may never go out again. Just set it against the wall and work your way around on it with it up against your upper back, your lumber etc. It's crazy how much boxing takes its wear and tear on your stabilizer muscles for the shoulder - so teres minor/major take a beating. Unfortunately no one realizes just how sore they are until they start in with this. In about 5 years of running clients and myself through this stuff I've yet to see a single person that didn't have major sore spots in their shoulder stabilizers or their legs... the piriformis in your glutes is also a major spot to work out.

I recently did a workshop with these guys... awesome. Their kit is good. With a bit of a look around the house or garage you can easily find substitutes that match what they're using.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zo_ojoqH2Fs"]Trigger Point Massage Ball - YouTube[/ame]

 

here's the wall/ball method:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Us7YT_1E67A"]How to give yourself a back massage - YouTube[/ame]

 

yeah i've a hockey ball, for that, cant say i do it as often as i i'd like/should.

also hockey ball = really really hard!

 

also, i've ingested a considerable amount of caffine, to help activate my GLUT4 and get more nutrients into the muscles, i've some glycerine that i use for work as it pumps the muscles up, would it help or is it just water that gets driven into the muscles?

 

hmmm.... I don't know enough about either to say one way or the other. The GLUT4 is making for interesting reading as is the glycerine (glycerol. But I've not tried or used either.

 

Ha, yeah the glut4 stuff is a pretty interesting topic, I know mike heldeskey (whom i frequently steal ideas off) says to take 200mg of caffine and do some bodyweight stuff to activate the glut4 before a cheat meal:

http://deathtofitness.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/glut4-and-caffeine-cheat-code.html#comment-form

The glyserien (or glyserol) is a new trick to me, i know a few PLers that use it after a weigh in and BBers for on stage. My new job involves taking my clothes of for women and money If i drink 3 bottles of gatorade each one with 5g of gylerine in the few hours running up to a show i feel pumped all over and look a lot more muscular/ripped. for 69p a bottle too! ha

 

Bookmarked that first video, was covering most of the areas but it's good to see a comprehensive routine. If I'd been doing it after my leg workouts might not have pulled my hamstring last week

:whistle:Hawt

 

more soul-destroyingly degrading but its damned good money and i cant say the attention isnt fun sometimes.