Muscle Damage Affects Your Running Gait

Picture from Aspetar

I was away for my Kinesio Taping recertification for Instructors last week and had to exercise in a new environment. As the gym was much bigger and had equipment that I do not normally have access to, I chose to use mostly those. 

As a result I ended with muscle soreness almost all over. I went for a run a day after I came home and my running stride felt 'off.' Turns out I was not imagining it. That is how our bodies try to protect itself. So is that good or is that a problem?

Turns out it may be both (Markus et al, 2025). The muscle soreness indicate that adaptations are beginning. However, that soreness can also change our running form, increasing injury risk.

To assess how exercise induced muscle damage (EIMD in this study) or delayed onset of muscle soreness (DOMS) affects running biomechanics and recovery, researchers got their subjects to run downhill for 60 minutes. This was done on a treadmill at -10 percent gradient. The runners ran at 65 percent of their max heart rate.

The researchers tracked running gait changes, muscle soreness, blood markers for muscle damage and also did MRI scans of thigh muscles immediately post run, 24, and 48 hours after.

The runners took shorter steps 24 and up to 48 hours after that run, likely as a compensating mechanism since taking a smaller stride is the body's way of reducing impact when muscles are fatigued or damaged. Damaged muscles were verified (significantly elevated) using blood markers (creatine kinase and lactate dehydrogenase) and MRI scans showed thigh muscles damage. 

Take home message? If you just had a hard training session or especially a race, you have to expect some biomechanical changes for at least 48 hours after that if you still want to run. Since you have a reduced stride length, your pace will be slower and you will be running less eficiently. 

Anything else that will help? My personal experience suggests that performing reduced intensity and low volume exercise will increase blood flow to the affected muscles and often reduce pain. Pedaling at low resistance on a stationary bike is ideal as you don't have to worry about traffic (if you ride on the roads). An easy swim or just walking in waist or chest height water works well too.

 Wearing compression garments will help reduce it as well. These above mentioned strategies do have some support in the research.

Or better still, give yourself a few days of well earned rest (especially after a race) before going hard again. 

Reference

Markus I, Arutiunian A, Ohayon E et al (2025). Kinetics Of Recovery And Normalization Of Running Biomechanics Following Aerobic-Based Induced Muscle Damage In Recreational Male Runners. J Sci Med Sport. DOI: 10.1016/j.sams.2025.01.002

Tight Or Just Tired?

Who says my hamstrings are tight?

I always hear my patients telling me that their muscles are feeling 'tight' or tense. Does this mean that their muscles are 'short' or have poor range of motion? Or is it that the area that they complain about is tight and does not feel relaxed or 'loose'. Perhaps there is a vague sense of discomfort, not pain, just an unpleasant feeling, but too mild to be painful.

I always explain that when I put both my hands on their e.g. trapezius muscles that they feel the same, one side is not 'tighter' than the other. 

If I get a dollar each time my patients tell me how tight they feel when they come and see me I will have many extra dollars for sure.

A patient ran a very hard 21 km road race recently and complained of 'tightness' in his hamstrings for the past 5 days came to see me in our clinic this week. He said his hamstrings felt very hard, achy and 'tight' of course. They even threaten to cramp when he tried running or doing some strengthening exercises. 

However, he can easily put his palms on the floor in a forward bend. (Note: there are other patients whose hamstrings do not feel 'tight' but they can barely get their hands past their knees while bending forward).

He tried stretching but other then feeling a little better for less than a minute the 'tightness' came back quickly. Upon assessment he definitely had some delayed onset of muscle soreness (DOMs). I told him his 'tightness' was actually fatigue from his training and racing.

I suggested resting and focusing on his recovery. Definitely decrease his intensity and mileage. My personal experience after a hard race would be doing any of the 2 aerobic exercses outlined below at reduced intensity and low volume.

These low intensity exercises will increase blood flow to the affected muscles and often reduce pain. Pedaling at low resistance on a stationary bike is ideal as you don't have to worry about traffic (if you ride on the roads). An easy swim or just walking in waist or chest high water works well too. Wearing compression garments will help reduce DOMs as well. These above mentioned strategies do have some support in the research.

After he recovers fully, I suggested testing for strength imbalances and deficits as weaker muscles do tend to fatigue more rapidly. Specific strength training will address that.

In most other cases of patients feeling 'tight', the reason is obvious. If the stay in the same position/ posture for too long, their muscles need a rest or change of position to reduce the lack of blood flow or metabolic stress that is causing the noxious stimuli. Think of the last time when you spent hours in a car, plane or behind your computer, after you move/ stretch, the symptoms of stiffness/ tightness will be alleviated.

Remember this, when you feel stiff and 'tight', it is just a feeling and not necessarily a physical shortening that needs you to structurally change it. Like other things that you feel, you may feel it more sometimes compared to others. Like other forms of sensitivity, those feelings will change if you improve your overall fitness, strength and health.

Reference

Stanton TR, Moseley GL, Wong AYL et al (2017). Feeling Stiffness In The Back: A Protective Perceptual Inference In Chronic Back Pain. Sci Rep. 791): 968. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-09429-1

Evidence For Using Floss Bands

showing how Flossing is done

Remember the floss band courses we used to teach? We often had participants asking what is the evidence behind increasing joint range of motion (ROM), sporting performances, helping with recovery and decreasing pain. In short, they all wanted to know how it works. 

I wrote previously that you've got to try it to believe it, well there is now a published *scoping review article for floss bands (Konrad et al, 2021), referenced below.

The review paper summarizes the existing evidence for the effect of floss band treatment on range of motion (ROM), sporting performance (strength or jump performance), recovery (due to DOMS) and pain (due to disease or injuries).

In all, 24 studies met the inclusion criteria with a total of 513 subjects. 15 of the 24 studies investigated the effects of a single floss band application on the ROM of several joints. On the ankle joint, flossing was found to have a significant change of 11.17% in the dorsiflexion ROM.  

4 studies investigated the effects of calf flossing on the ankle, showing a very large increase of 19.95% in dorsiflexion of the ankle.

Similarly 4 studies measured thigh flossing and found a significant increase in knee bending (3.61%), and knee straightening (7.38%). However, another study showed no improvement in hip ROM after flossing the thigh. None of studies showed any decrease in range after flossing.

Of the two studies that investigated the effects of flossing on DOMS, one study reported significantly reduced DOMS 24 and 48 hours post exercise in the study group (in the upper arms) compared to the control group. The other study (on leg muscles) found no difference in the intervention versus control group following 12, 24, 36, 48 60 and 72 hours post exercise.

When comparing flossing to other treatment like dynamic stretching, flossing had a more noticeable effect in increasing hip range of motion and maximal eccentric knee extension (Kaneda et al, 2020b). With regards to static stretching and flossing, rate of force development was more pronounced in the flossing group compared to the static stretching group (Kaneda et al 2020a). Kaneda and colleagues concluded in both studies that flossing should be applied as a warm up rather than as a stretching exercise. This is exactly what my patients who do CrossFit tell me. They normally use a floss band for warm up before they start their easier routines, before the heavy lifting.

I know all athletes are after improved performances. Results from the individual studies showed that 11 of of the 44 performance measures showed a significant improvement (comparing pre and post floss band application, Table 3 in article). There is some evidence that joint flossing (ankle and knee) can increase jump height, although sprint performance (5 to 20 m sprints) seems to be unaffected after ankle flossing. (Personally, I would floss the quads and hamstrings and calf muscles if I wanted to improve sprint times rather than the ankle). 

One study showed improvement in maximal voluntary contraction (strength) in the quadriceps muscle and hamstrings after thigh flossing.

The researchers suggest this is possibly due to hormonal responses related to the flossing. Similar to other occlusion (or blood flow restriction methods), enhanced growth hormone and norepinephrine levels increase may be responsible for increase in performance reported. More importantly, the review concluded that from the involved studies there was no detrimental effects on performance from a single floss band treatment.

Evidence also show that a single floss band treatment is able to increase ROM of the related joint and can positively affect jumping and strength performance. Possible mechanism is suggested to be changed neuromuscular function rather than changed mechanical properties.

after surgery in 2016

After Ronald Susilo (above) ruptured his patella tendon and tore his anterior cruciate ligament at the same time, he came to see me after the surgeon reattached his patella tendon. He did not have the range to even pedal one round on the stationary bike. I definitely increased his knee ROM with a single floss band treatment. He could pedal immediately after a single floss band application. 

Yes, back then it was only one subject (or n=1), however it was a definite improvement. Those of you reading then may be critical and probably not even believe it, but I have since replicated it many times in our clinic. Hence I feel that clinical evidence (what we see in the clinic) is just as good as published evidence (like this scoping review).

There will probably be long term studies about the effects of flossing treatment on joint ROM, sporting performance, whether it helps with recovery and decreasing pain. I am sure there also will be studies that say there are no benefits to it. The question is does it work for you?

Reference

Konrad A, Mocnik R and Nakamura M (2021). Effects Of Tissue Flossing On The Healthy And Impaired Musculoskeletal System: A Scoping Review. Front. Physiol. 21 May 2021. DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2021.666129

*A scoping review has a broader scope compared to traditional systematic reviews with correspondingly more expansive inclusion criteria.

Let's do the twist

Thera Gun Caused Rhabdomyolysis In A Cyclist

Picture by LLL@ Zouk

I've written in August about the effects of thera/ massage and vibration guns and whether they really work. I've also written about the scary effects of rhabdomyolysis before. 

Guess what? There has just been a published case report of a cyclist being administered thera/ massage gun treatment by her coach for recovery and ended up with rhabdomyolysis.

This 25 year old female cyclist rode in a gym for two consecutive days for only about 30 minutes each day. Her coach used a thera/ massage gun immediately over both her thighs for about ten minutes to help with her recovery. The coach did not check the medical history of the cyclist nor did he check with qualified health professionals about using the thera/ massage gun on her.

The cyclist subsequently developed significant pain/ tenderness in both thighs on that same evening and multiple hematomas (or bruises) were present. She also had urine discoloration (tea colored). She went to the hospital and her serum creatine kinase levels (> 30,000 U/L) were through the roof. This is an indication of severe muscle damage.

Normal values are usually 24-195 U/L. Not saying this with pride, but when I had hyponatremia back in 2000, my creatine kinase levels were 240,000 U/L. But that's another post.

Patients with rhabdomyolysis commonly present with muscle pain. weakness, aches and bruising. It is rare, can be life threatening and is often caused by extreme exercise. It occurs when muscles that have been overworked, dies and leak their content to the bloodstream. This ends up straining the kidneys and can cause severe pain.

Anyway, back to this cyclist. She has a medical history of mild iron deficiency which had been untreated and it's potential association to rhabdomyolysis must surely be considered. 

Her coach was unaware of her mild anemia. Cycling for two days in a row would not be considered as extreme exercise since she had previously cycled two days in a row and not developed rhabdomyolysis.

In her case, it is probably the repeated use of the thera/ massage gun after cycling that damaged her muscle fibers leading to rhabdomyolysis. The coach may also have used the thera/ massage gun incorrectly. She was in hospital for 2 weeks and thankfully recovered well.

A published study found 29 cases of exercise induced rhabdomyolysis admitted to the emergency department of a hospital between 2010-2014. The most common cause was indoor cycling classes.

A few of my patients have had rhabdomyolysis. All were active in sports and definitely not couch potatoes. They all felt that the exercise that they participated in (indoor cycling) did not seem strenuous at that time. 

Remember this when you try a new exercise. Start moderately first and and don't be pressured by the coach/ instructor if you're not comfortable.

References

Brogan M, Ledesma R et al (2017). Freebie Rhabdomyolysis. A Public Health Concern, Spin Class-Induced Rhabdomyolysis. AJM. 130(4):

J Chen, F Zhang et al (2020). Rhabdomyolysis After The Use Of Percussion Massage Gun: A Case Report. Phy Therapy. DOI: 10.1093/ptj/pzaa199

Thanks to my patient LLL for both the pictures. Never thought Zouk would end up hosting indoor cycling. Unprecedented times indeed!

Is CrossFit Safer Than Running?

Picture by Kylie Siu 

There, I thought that headline will catch your attention. More on that statistic later in the article.

CrossFit comprises of calisthenics, Olympic weightlifting, powerlifting, plyometrics, high intensity interval training (HIIT), gymnastics, running, rowing and other exercises. Participants complete daily WODs (workouts of the day) to build cardiovascular endurance, stamina, strength, flexibility, power, speed, agility etc.

CrossFit Inc was founded by Greg Glassman and Lauren Jenai in 2000 in Santa Cruz, California. It was started earlier as Cross-Fit In 1996. After the couple fell out, Glassman bought over her share with a huge loan.

CrossFit was also made popular by military personnel, law enforcement agencies, fire departments etc who can do WODs anywhere by accessing it online.

I've seen many CrossFit athletes come to our clinic, mostly by word of mouth referral. I'm told by some of them that they like to see me because I don't ask them to stop training as they're often when they see someone else when they have an injury.

Other doctors and other health care practitioners often tell them that CrossFit has a high risk of musculoskeletal injury. I usually allow them to train (modified of course) while getting them better. One such patient asked if I can write about CrossFit injuries.

So here's what I found from published articles. Those of you reading this because of the title, thank you for reading this far.

Most of the research suggest that CrossFit is not more dangerous than other strength based training. like weight or power lifting. Researchers found CrossFit results in roughly 2.1 injuries per 1000 training hours. It was actually higher for endurance sports like running. Recreational running resulted in 8 injuries per 1000 hours of training. For novice runners the figure shot up to 18.

Athletes new to CrossFit (less than 6 months) were definitely injured more often. This finding is important and coaches and athletes need to focus on correct movement patterns. Workouts need to be modified for beginners.

Common injury locations were in the knee, lower back and shoulder. Majority of the injuries were reported as chronic/ overuse in nature. Possible causes included bad/incorrect form to lift a heavier weight, fatigue, old injury and too little/ bad coaching.

Because the WODs were constantly changing and varied, CrossFit athletes are often sore or will have some discomfort from training. This can result in an inability to do the next day's workout fresh, resulting in a higher chance of injury.

Majority of injuries we see in our clinics tend to be chronic/ overuse in nature. They can definitely be remedied by coaches through modification of complexity, volume and intensity of workouts. The healthcare practitioner treating such athletes will need to modify their training around their current injuries. A simple example is an athlete with a Right lower limb injury is still able to continue CrossFit by training the upper body and L lower limb.

Bear in mind that CrossFit for general strength and fitness is different from competing in CrossFit competitions. While competing, you need to go all out with fixed weight and exercises. When performing workouts for general fitness, you can reduce the weight, drop the reps or change to a similar but less technical exercise.



References

Claudino JG, Bourgeois F et al (2018). CorssFit Overview: Systematic Review And Meta-analysis. Sports Med Open. 4:11. DOI: 10.1186/s40798-018-0124-5.

Mehrab M, De Vos R et al (2017). Injury Incidence And Patterns Among Dutch CrossFit Athletes. Orth J Sp Med. DOI: doi.org/10.1177/2325967117745263.

Poston WSC, Haddock CK et al (2016). Is High Intensity Training(HIFT)/ CrossFit Safe For Military Fitness Training. Mil Med. 181(7): 627-637. DOI: 10.7205/MILMED-D-15-00273.

Older Men And Calf/ Hamstring Injuries

Both the calf and hamstrings

After last week's post, I was just talking to my colleague and she noticed that (just like me), she has also seen a few cases of patients tearing the calf muscles too. All happened to be male patients on the older side of 40 years old.

I thought of my own patients with calf muscle strains/ tears and realized that they too tended to be the older male patients too.

I was pleasantly surprised that our observations was spot on. A recently published article in the British Journal of Sports Medicine investigated over a thousand articles on the risk factors of calf muscle strains. Ten articles satisfied their inclusion criteria of which more than 5000 athletes in football, rugby union, Australian rules football, basketball and triathlon were involved.

As you get older, your aging athletic body has a few things going against you. You have a higher incidence of disc degeneration and the potential of L5 nerve root compression as mentioned in last week's post.

Older athletes lose some muscle power output and rate of force production. (Trust me on this, I have definitely experienced this).

Moreover, as the athlete gets older, your testosterone levels and production start to decline and this may limit your muscles' rate of recovery, which can lead to accumulative fatigue.

The most predictive risk factors were down to age and previous injury of calf strain. Having previous hamstring or groin strain was also a contributing factor. A possible proposed mechanism for this is a change in the change in the muscle architecture following a muscle strain.

When your muscle heals after a previous injury, the damaged muscle is usually replaced by a fibrotic scar tissue. It is often common to get future damage in the areas adjacent to this scarring.

Another factor that may play a role is due to a change in the length and shape of your damaged calf muscle. Shorter muscle fascicle length has been noted as a risk factor for repeat hamstring strains too.

We can't help you when it comes to your age and previous injuries to the calf and/ or hamstrings. But what we can do along with treating you is to ensure you have a sound rehabilitation process with some definite focus on eccentric exercises.

Here's a tip for those who you who haven't seen us in our clinics. Do your eccentric training at the end of the day when you have no training scheduled or only light training the next day. This minimizes the risk of DOMs or delayed onset of muscle soreness.


Reference

Green B and Pizzari T (2017). Calf Muscle Strain Injuries In Sport: A Systematic Review Of Risk Factors For Injury. BJSM. 51: 1189-1194.

How To Prevent Fading In Your Next Marathon

Exaggerated "float" phase of the run

You were running really well in your key marathon. You've trained very well, started conservatively despite feeling great hoping to have a strong negative split. You've hit all your target times at each 5 km split that you've written down on your hand.

To your greatest horror, you start to tire in the final miles of the race. Your dreams of a personal best begin to fade too.

What was the fade due to? Was it dehydration? High core temperature or low blood sugar? Apparently, none of the usual suspects according to a paper that studied 40 marathon runners immediately before a race and within three minutes of them finishing the race.

The best predictor of the runners fading was in fact muscle damage.

With each stride you run, your quadriceps and calf muscles contract "eccentrically" (lengthen instead of shorten). The muscles shorten when you push off, but they lengthen whilst you are in mid air in the double swing (or floating phase). See picture below.

This causes an accumulation of microscopic damage to your muscles. It's this eccentric contraction that causes delayed onset of muscle soreness (or DOMs).

The above mentioned study of the marathon runners showed that the eccentric contractions can literally hobble you during the race. Runners whose pace dropped more than 15 percent from the beginning to the end of the race had levels of creatine kinase and myoglobin (both are by products of muscle damage measured in blood tests) 53 and 112 percent higher than the runners who managed to maintain a steadier pace.

When I read the paper, my first thoughts was that the runners who faded did not train enough as those who didn't. However, the researchers suggested that age, running experience and training were not significant enough to explain the differences.

The authors suggested three ways to prevent fading in your next marathon.

Doing your long run close to your target marathon pace is crucial to get your muscles stronger. A 30 km run at or close to your target race pace three to four weeks before to simulate the effort will lessen the chance of muscle damage in the race.

Due to the "repeated bout effect", it will be harder to trigger as much muscle damage once they have recovered. You will need to run harder or faster to trigger similar damage.

The second way to increase your ability to withstand eccentric muscle damage is with weight (or resistance) training. Eccentric lunges and squats of at least 80 percent of the heaviest weight you can lift will help prevent damage to your muscles. Do the weight training twice a week during your training cycle and cut back to once a week when you are tapering for the race.

Be sure to practice downhill running if your race has downhill sections. Running downhill causes lots of eccentric contractions, a sure fire way of triggering muscle damage. Experiment with your stride to find the best way of descending as lightly as possible to minimize the muscle damage.


Reference

Del Coso J, Fernandez De Velasco D et al (2013). Running Pace Decrease During A Marathon Is Positively Related To Blood Markers Of Muscle Damage. PLoS One. 8(2): e57602. DOI: 10/1371/journal.pone.0057602.

Eccentric Exercises

I was talking with a patient of mine earlier who exercised by climbing up and going down the stairs at his 40 storey flat while carrying a 16 kg backpack. He knew about my past results climbing stairs and wanted to know why walking down a flight of stairs seems to be more effective at building his muscle strength than walking up the same flight of stairs.

Going down the stairs with his 16 kg backpack meant he had to really control his step and lower himself down slowly rather than just letting himself go. This meant that he was doing an eccentric exercise.

Say you want to train your biceps (arm muscles). When you bring the dumbbell up, the muscle is shortening, that is also known as a concentric muscle action. If you lower the dumbbell slowly (which is more difficult), the muscle is lengthening or an eccentric muscle action.

Eccentric exercises are more demanding on the muscles and fatigues then far more than concentrically. It also damages (or breaks down the muscle) to a greater extent, so there is greater stimulation and subsequent growth.

Try this if you want get better leg strength in a shorter time. Bend your legs more deeply when going down stairs of hills. Your legs will be sore from DOMs or delayed onset of muscle soreness. Once your muscles recover (after a few days), they'll be stronger and it will require much more eccentric exercises to get the same effect.

In fact, this was exactly what researchers found in a group of elderly men with chronic heart failure. Going down stairs appeared to be easier and more pleasant compared to the climbing stairs which the subjects found to be more demanding.

Changes in muscle strength were similar or even greater when going down stairs compared to going up stairs after six weeks of training.

To put this into practice, try bending your legs more deeply when going down stairs or slopes, lower your body more slowly doing push ups or pull ups. You'll be amazed at the results ..... after recovering from  the soreness.


Reference

Theodoru AA, Panayiotou G et al (2013). Stair Descending Exercise Increases Muscle Strength In Elderly Males With Chronic Heart Failure. BMC Res Notes. 6:87. DOI: 10.1186/1756-005-6-87.

Is It Necessary To Cool Down After Exercise?

Stretching after a run in the rain

Back when I was working at the old National Stadium, I'll very often before work or during lunch time run on the track or grass surrounding the track.  Straight after I was done, I'll head right in to the clinic. A person walking past commented how I could do that.

I said I just stopped after running and am heading for the showers as my next patient was due soon. He said I should be doing a cool down after such a hard run.

Well, I was in a hurry to get ready for my patient. I'm sure the patient wouldn't like a sweaty, dripping physiotherapist treating him.

Looking back since primary school, I recall our physical education teachers telling us that we need to cool down after exercise and especially after a race/ competition.

Personal trainers will tell their clients that slowing to a jog and/ or lessening the intensity of the workout followed by stretching to transition out of the exercise session so as to prevent muscle soreness and improve recovery.

Some exercise machines in the gym automatically include a cool down period. After your work out time that you keyed in, the machine automatically reduces the workload and continues for five minutes so you can cool down.

I tried looking for scientific evidence regarding that and it seems none of those beliefs were true.

A study had subjects do a strenuous one time session of forward lunges while holding barbells. This is certain to make untrained people extremely sore due to DOMs over the next few days.

Some of the subjects warmed up before by cycling 20 mins gently. Others didn't warm up but did a cool down after the lunges with a similar 20 mins of gentle stationary bike riding. The rest of the group just did the lunges without warm up or cool down.

The next day, the subjects who warmed up had the least pain while there those who did the cool down and the control group had similar pain. Cooling down brought no benefits to the group.

Two other studies I found on professional football players performing cool down versus no cool down yielded the same result. Measures of performance, flexibility and muscle soreness were similar.

One valid reason to cool down after exercise is to prevent venous pooling (or build up of blood in your veins) after vigorous exercise. Blood vessels in your legs expand during prolonged vigorous exercise, allowing more blood to move through them to supply oxygen. When you stop exercise abruptly, the blood stays in your lower body. This can lead to dizziness or even fainting.

It's easy to avoid venous pooling, just keep walking for a few minutes at the end of your workout/ race and you'll maintain normal blood supply to the brain. Would you consider that as a cool down?

So, there's no real published research showing any negative effect if you don't cool down. If you are used to performing a cool down after your exercise, you can definitely carry on. If you don't feel like it, then you probably don't have too.

Unless future research shows otherwise, don't worry if your friend/ trainer/ coach tells you that you need to cool down after exercise.

References

Olsen O, Sjohaug M et al (2012). The Effect Of Warm-up And Cool Down Exercise On Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness In The Quadriceps Muscle: A Randomized Controlled Trial. J Human Kinetics. 35: 59-68. DOI: 10.2478/v10078-012-0079-4.

Rey E Lago-Penas C et al (2012). The Effect Of Immediate Post-training Active And Passive Recovery Interventions On Anaerobic Performance And Lower Limb Flexibility In Professional Soccer Players. J Human Kinetics. 31: 121-129. DOI: 10.2478/v10078-012-0013-9.

Rey E Lago-Penas C et al (2012). The Effect of Recovery Strategies On Contractile Properties Using Tensiomyography And Perceived Muscle Soreness In Professional Soccer Players. J Strength Cond Res. 26(11): 3081-3088.

Can Antihistamines Decrease Muscle Soreness?

I still shave/ wax my legs. Not as often as before, but I still try to keep them hair free.

Ever since my racing days, I've been making sure my legs are free of hair. Why is that so you should be asking?

In the event of a bike crash and the resulting abrasions, the wounds are easier to clean if there is no hair on the skin.  From time to time I need to take Clarityn (which is a relatively mild antihistamine) for my hives that result from the ingrown hair.

Easier to clean the wounds with no hair

I sometimes use Clarityn for mild allergies as well. Piriton (or chlorphenamine) is stronger, but it makes me very drowsy.

So I was surprised to read that taking a single dose of antihistamines can help lessen delayed onset of muscle soreness (or DOMs) after a hard workout.

After a hard workout, blood flow to your muscles remain elevated for a while. Histamines (part of your body's immune response) play a role in triggering this post exercise blood flow, which may be linked to inflammation and subsequent repair of muscle.

The researchers' aim was to investigate if blocking histamines with antihistamine medication would reduce post exercise blood flow, reduce inflammation and increase muscle damage and DOMs.

The subjects had to run downhill on a 10 percent grade for 45 minutes after taking the antihistamine medication (control group didn't take). Blood flow, inflammatory markers, pain sensitivity, perceived soreness and strength were measured for three days.

Results showed that blood flow to the legs was reduced by 29 percent an hour after exercise in the antihistamine group. There were however no differences in markers of inflammation.

Creatine kinase (used to determine muscle damage) levels were very different. This seems to supports the idea that blocking histamine receptors resulted in increased muscle damage.

The control group (didn't take medication) was 19.3 percent weaker the day after the hard workout compared to the group that took the antihistamines (7.8 percent weaker).

Before you rush to the nearest pharmacy to buy some Clarityn, do bear in mind that the results were a little more complex after you examine them closely.

This is very similar to what I wrote a few weeks earlier about the balance between recovery and adaptation.

The researchers themselves do not know exactly why this is so. It is possible that the antihistamine medication make you feel less pain and soreness (even if there was more damage in your muscles).

This makes antihistamines a double edged sword. They may make you more prone to muscle soreness even though you may not feel it.

If, however you want an edge to reduce next day soreness and strength loss when you have back to back races or games then taking antihistamines may help.

If you interfere with the recovery process to make yourself better soon (or recover faster), do you then risk delaying the repair or adaptation process? It is a short term versus long term trade off.

Reference

Ely MR, Romero SA et al (2016). A Single Dose Of Histamine-receptor Antagonists Prior To Downhill Alters Markers Of Muscle Damage Andd Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness. J Appl Physiol.
DOI: 10.1152/japplphysiol.00518.2016.

Too Much Lactic Acid Causes "Crystals" To Form In Your Muscles?

*What a load of  sh--!

One of my massage therapist asked me today if it's true that with too much exercise, lactic acid can form crystals in your muscles? His friend had been been told by a massage therapist that "crystals" can form in his muscles with too much running and no sports massage to "break the crystals."

This is the 3rd time in two weeks someone asked about this. The first two were my patients.

Apparently they had gone to this particular massage place and were told by the massage therapist there that if "the crystals" in the muscles were not "broken up" it's bad for them and they can't run well. The massage therapist(s) then WhatsApp their patients an article to read.

Now I find this really ludicrous to say the least. I've addressed this issue before. Massage does not flush lactic acid from your muscles.

Any textbook on Exercise Physiology (or you can check online) will explain that you can only accumulate lactic acid in your muscles during intense exercise (e.g. while racing or running intervals). As there is not enough oxygen available, a substance called lactate is formed. Our bodies then try to convert this lactate to energy without using oxygen.

However, this lactate or lactic acid can build up faster in your bloodstream than you can use it. The point where lactic acid starts to build up is called the "lactate threshold." So if you run just below your lactate threshold you won't fill the "burn" in your muscles.

That is what interval training is all about - trying the raise your lactate threshold so you can run at your race pace longer without incurring oxygen debt (or that burning sensation in your muscles).

This "burn" you feel is temporary. Once you slow down and/ or stop exercise, your body can then easily convert the lactic acid to energy. After a short while there isn't any more lactic acid in your muscles. The "burning" sensation in your muscles happen only during intense exercise.

Lactic acid clears very quickly on its own. By the time an athlete has a chance to "use" anything that claims to flush out lactic acid, the lactic acid is probably gone. You don't need help to dissipate it.

Lactic acid definitely does not cause soreness. The soreness you sometimes feel in your muscles a day or two (especially if you've pushed too hard) isn't from the lactic acid accumulation in your muscles. It's most likely delayed onset of muscle soreness or DOMs.

Back to my conversation with my colleague. He then said that his friend said that after a massage session there "to break his crystals" he normally can't run for three days! That's how sore he got. More likely how brutal or how heavy handed the massage therapist was.

When I was still racing, I get sports massage done so I can train/ run long and hard the next day and the day after and after. That's what the sports massage is supposed to do. Helping me to recover better so I can run long and run hard every day if possible. As an athlete, that's what I want to do. If I have to rest three days after a sports massage how do I get my training done?

So be very wary if your massage therapist or even physiotherapist tells you that that you need to "get your crystals broken" or that you need to flush the lactic acid out of your muscles.

*Thanks to my patient for forwarding the article to me.

Massage Does Not Flush Lactic Acid From Your Muscles

Picture from our Sports Massage course in July 2013

Finally, a published paper that suggests massage does help reduce inflammation in your fatigued muscles.

Hey, didn't the title say something else? Please read on to find out how massage reduces inflammation.

Many massage therapists, physiotherapists etc will say that massage can relieve your pain, DOMs (delayed onset of muscle soreness), promotes circulation, flushes your lactic acid/ toxins from your body, relieves your joint strain etc. However, published evidence does not totally support their claims fully.

Well, Sefton and colleagues (2012) can finally set the record straight. Massage cannot push toxins from muscles to your bloodstream. It also cannot flush lactic acid from your muscles. So do not believe anyone who tells you otherwise.

What massage can do is it can soften your fascia (which is found all over your body covering your muscles beneath your skin) and make your tight muscles relax. It can also remove adhesions between fascia and muscle (which can restrict your movement).

Crane's study also found 30 % more of a gene that helps muscle cells build mitochondria (mitochondria turns a cell's food into energy and facilitate its repair).

Well, great news for runners, athletes etc who rely on limber joints and muscles for pain free movement to ensure you perform optimally.

This also mean that regular massage can let runners, athletes etc tolerate more and harder training since it can hasten recovery and allow them to ability to train hard again two days later.

Other research suggests that besides reducing inflammation, massage also improves immune function. This suggests it may also help chronic diseases.

For more on Sports Massage please also see this and this.

Calling all runners, athletes, patients with chronic pain, call our clinics to book your Sports Massage appointment.

References

Crane JD et al (2012). Massage Therapy Attenuates Inflammatory Signaling After Exercise-Induced Muscle Damage. Sci Transl Med 4, 119ra13. DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.3002882.

Rapaport MH, Schettler P et al (2012). A Preliminary Study of the Effects of a Single Session of
Swedish Massage on Hypothalamic–Pituitary–Adrenal and Immune Function in Normal Individuals. J Altern Complement Med. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2012 March 01.

*Many thanks to Lim Ting Jun for the articles.

Got DOMS?

This is what one of my patients who had DOMS did with his pain (cupping), hope you didn't do the same.

DOMS or delayed onset of muscle soreness is a condition where you have muscle pain, soreness or stiffness that is usually worse 2-3 days after exercise, hence the word delayed, and the pain usually subsides over the following few days.

Certain activities are more likely to cause DOMS. Those that require your muscles to forcefully contract while lengthening (eccentric contractions) seem to cause the most soreness. Ever took part in a race where there were lots of running downhill? Then you should know the feeling in your legs a couple of days later. Other examples of eccentric contractions are going down stairs or lowering your barbell slowly during weights. 

I've also seen patients/ athletes who had DOMS at the beginning of a new an exercise program (especially a new gym/ weight program), after a change in sports activities, or after prolonged or higher than usual intensity efforts.

DOMS is different from the muscle pain or fatigue you experience during exercise. The onset of pain from DOMS always occurs 2-3 days after the cessation of exercise. This helps differentiate it from more acute injuries such as a muscle rupture or sprain.

The soreness will go away on its own after a few days. There are a few things you can do to help. Icing or contrast baths (hot/cold) seems to help although no clear evidence proves they are effective. I had severe DOMS in my legs after my first half marathon race about 12 years ago and tried contrast baths and they didn't seem to help much. Gentle stretching of the affected muscles has also been recommended although there is again no real published evidence found.

There is some evidence that massage seems to help alleviate DOMS by about 30%, but it had no effects on muscle function.

Wanna know what seems to work? My personal experience suggest that performing reduced intensity and low volume exercise will increase blood flow to the affected muscles and often reduce pain. Pedaling at low resistance on a stationary bike is ideal as you don't have to worry about traffic (if you ride on the roads). An easy swim or just walking in waist or chest height water works well too. Wearing compression garments will help reduce it as well. These above mentioned strategies do have some support in the research.

Can you prevent it? Szymanski (2003) suggests the repeated-bout effect as a way of reducing DOMS. This is a progressive adaptation to eccentric exercise. If you perform repeated bouts of lower intensity eccentric exercise 1-6 weeks before your key event,it will help reduce DOMS and exercise induced muscle damage. Thus, a gradual introduction of eccentric exercise, over a period of weeks, is encouraged.

References

Herbert,RD and De Noronha, M. (2007). Stretching to prevent or reduce muscle soreness after exercise. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. Issue 4. The Cochrane Collaboration.

Szymanski, D. (2003). Recommendations for the avoidance of delayed-onset muscle soreness. Strength and Conditioning Journal 23(4): 7–13.

Zainuddin, Z et al (2005).Effects of massage on delayed-onset muscle soreness, swelling and recovery of muscle function.Journal of Athletic Training.Jul-Sep;40(3):174-80.