Excessive Kneads

If the picture looks familiar, you are right, it has been taken from yesterday's Sunday Times (111009) Life section, page 9.

As the article pointed out, there are no published studies showing that too many massages are bad. However, let me share a true experience from the 2004 Athens Olympic Games. Our Team Singapore medical team consists of only a doctor and 2 physiotherapists (only) for the whole Team Singapore contingent. Besides looking medical and sports injuries' needs of the athletes, all three of us had to double up and do sports massage for the athletes as well (since we don't have a sports massage therapist with us).

One of our swimmers (who shall remain anonymous) insisted of receiving 3 sports massages a day (even after the competition). If it was before the competition and if time permits, I'll say no problemo. And if the swimmer came back with a medal, I'd say alright I'll do it (after the competition as well). But the swimmer was really quite far away from even making the finals so I said to the swimmer "if you get 3 sports massage sessions a day, does that mean you will swim 3 seconds faster?"

The swimmer stormed off and didn't speak to me for a few days. What I am trying to say is that yes, sports massage does have some benefits (if done properly and at the right time), but 3x a day? Through my experience of working with athletes, I know that some prefer (and can handle) a sports massage close to their really important events (1 or 2 days before). Others prefer 4-5 days before their big event. Now, every athlete is different and have different preferences. You all know that you shouldn't wear new shoes, running shorts, vests, etc before your race, well same for sports massage, nothing new or nothing you aren't familiar with.

One other comment though, caught my attention. The comment was made by a principal physiotherapist at a local hospital --"a massage using non-professional and forceful techniques can lead to problems such as nerve damage and cerebrovascular accidents such as stroke and bruising".

Personally, I feel that there is no justification at all for that comment made by the principal physiotherapist. Especially if you come to our clinic, our staff all all extremely well trained and experienced. If you search the current scientific databases, there is currently no documented or published evidence (in Pubmed, PEDRO etc) of such claims. A cerebrovascular accident or stroke involves arteries inside the cranium (or skull),so unless the massage therapist performing the massage fractures the cranium and so disrupts the blood supply, there is virtually no chance of a stroke happening.

As for nerve damage, it would really take quite a fair bit of force to inflict any "damage" to our nerves as nerves are actually quite hardy.

*Picture ST Photo: Terence Tan

Does Exercise Increase Damage To Your Joints?

Most runners may have heard or read in some way or another through inaccurately written articles that too much exercise may be harmful to their joints. Most of the general community perception is similar too, that too much running or exercise are mostly harmful to joints. Well, all runners (and other athletes) will be real pleased to know that exercise does not cause osteoarthritis (OA) but might actually help to prevent it.

Well, here is the good news, there is actually no strong evidence supporting the fact that regular exercise can cause harmful effects in normal joints (i.e. joints without any pre existing injury) according to a review of studies published in the article cited below.

The review paper was a joint effort between German and American researchers that looked for a relationship between exercise and osteoarthritis which found none, except in elite athletes in sports where they incurred knee injuries. In fact for comparisons between runners and matched controls (who didn't run), the runners were found to have lower rates of OA compared to their sedentary counterparts.

The researchers found that there was a higher likelihood of elite athletes sustaining sports injuries leading to an increased risk of OA in the damaged joints. Count me in, I've had 3 knee operations between 2002-2003 when I was still training and racing. (Thank the good Lord, it was really difficult, but I managed to get back to training and racing at my previous levels and have had no problems ever since). Guess that's where pain free running helps. More info here.
The researchers concluded that for most other people though, vigorous, low-impact exercise is beneficial for both physical and mental benefits.

So, if you do not have any prior existing injury, keep running and exercising. If you do, there's always pain free running.

Reference
Hunter DJ and Eckstein F (2009). Exercise And Osteoarthritis. The Journal Of Anatomy 214(2): 197-207.

* In the picture above of a body composition DEXA scan, the brighter areas in lthe ower limb bones correlate to stronger bones.

Should You Be Training Like The Caveman

More on our caveman folks. Alright, before you carry on reading, I must say that this particular post has got no research or scientific backings. They are just what I feel personally. Now that you know, I will let you know a foolproof way to achieve running success. In short, to enable you to run faster and stronger.

The secret - run as hard as fast as long as it seems right. I guess I can call it a back to basics sort of training, sort of like the caveman.

If the caveman had a training program it would probably have just 2 words - run hard. Or else no dinner. Worse if the caveman was running away from say a fierce lion, the outcome would be disastrous if he wasn't quick enough.

In an age where there are so many gadgets and recommendations to help with our training like GPS, heart rate monitors, mileage advice (how many miles you should log a week), supposedly better running shoe technology, fuel belts, lactate and V02 testing etc. You can even run against your friends, track their training etc with the Nike+ devices (I've never tried it tho').

I am sure that in the era of the caveman, he definitely didn't have all these gadgets and our caveman had no trouble covering more than 10 miles a day tracking down their dinner.

My uncle was the person that got me started on running. I remember when I was just a 10 year old kid my uncle Simon used to bring me running with him. I didn't know what pace or distances we ran. I just tried my best to follow him, to keep up with my uncle. Definitely didn't know what sort of times we clocked on our runs. Later in secondary school (high school for our American readers) when I began running longer, further and faster I still "just ran" even when I started winning track and cross country races.

Now we have running experts, coaches and exercise physiologists saying we should train at this particular pace, run intervals, and long runs etc.

Well, here is the good news. Running can be as simple or as complicated as we make it. You want the graphs, charts, bells and whistles, etc go ahead and use all the available technology. Want to go the old school, stripped-down, and bare bones version? Just run.

*Picture from Flickr

Eating Like A Caveman Part II

I first read about the Paleolithic diet back in 2005. In his book "The Paleo Diet for Athletes, the author Loren Cordain states that the Paleo diet will make you fitter and healthier. The author also calculated that Paleo man got 55% of their calories from meat (more protein than what is currently recommended) but the Paleo diet also contains much more fiber, calcium, vitamins, iron, folate and essential fatty acids, but much less sugar, salt and saturated fats than we now get from our current diet. The meat from Paleo man's era were also not burgers or anything like the Atkin's diet.

To the author, grains were the original fast food back then as it is fairly cheap, easily obtained and overly processed (humans first began cultivating grains about 10,000 years ago). Moreover, grains have a lot less nutrients than fresh fruits and vegetables. Since most of our current available grains were only available in the last 10,000 years, our Paleo ancestors ate no bread, pasta, pancakes, kuay tiao, bee hoon or rice as these "modern" grains were not available then. Cordain believes that we live healthiest when we consume a diet similar to what early (or Paleo) man ate as even now our digestive systems are not adapted to process grains properly.

I was rather skeptical upon reading this as I had been brought up on a diet of pasta, bread and rice especially (since I am from Singapore where it's fried rice paradise).

Well, this is what Joel Friel, renown triathlon, multisport and cycling coach who has written "The Training Bible" series of books on cycling, triathlon etc had to say. He first tried the diet to actually proof Cordain wrong. In Friel's first two weeks, he felt terrible but by the third week, he felt strong enough to increase his training by 50% and another 50% on the fourth week and since then he's been a true believer.

Friel explained in great detail on how to get the best carbohydrates before, during and after training or races. He is especially particular about the post exercise or post race period breaking it into 3 separate stages where you eat/ drink fruits and fruit juices to potatoes and sweet potatoes and finally to the last stage where you mix carbs and protein.

According to Cordain, the Paleo diet will likely increase your protein and fat consumption while lowering your carbohydrate intake slightly. But since your carbs are mostly coming from fruits and vegetables, you will have a lot more micronutrients. Protein is from lean meats with low saturated fat levels and from fish (with high levels of healthy omega-3 fats) and fats from canola, walnut and olive oil (which is healthy monosaturated fat).

I feel like having a big greasy burger for lunch after this with my favorite fries especially since I'm no longer racing. But after writing all that, I think maybe I should have steam vegetables instead.....

Reference

Loren Codain (2005). The Paleo Diet for Athletes: A Nutritional Formula for Peak Athletic Performance. Published by Rodale Inc

*Picture from Flickr.com

We're Open This Weekend

Yes, we are open for sports massage on this Hari Raya long weekend on Sunday 200909 and Monday 210909. Please call us to make an appointment especially if you have been training hard and need a sports massage.

Should I Be Eating Like A Caveman?

Or should I stick to the more popular but unhealthy western diet like burgers, pizzas, and french fries etc?

Most of us know that too much of the typical western diet leads to numerous chronic diseases. But would a Paleolithic hunter-gatherer diet do better? A what diet you say? A Paleolithic diet (also known as Stone Age diet) is one that is similar to what our pre agricultural hunter-gatherer ancestors (or caveman) ate before. The Paleolithic era is one that is nearly 2.5 million years ago.

The Paleolithic diet consists of foods that can be hunted and fished, such as meat and seafood, and that can be gathered, such as eggs, insects, fruit, nuts, seeds, vegetables, mushrooms, herbs and spices. This diet included more low fat proteins, healthy fats and much less carbohydrates than most of us eat today.

A group of researchers decided to find out, feeding 9 healthy, non-obese volunteers a Paleo diet for 10 days (no grains, dairy & legumes). The protocol was designed to ensure the volunteers did NOT lose weight, which would have influenced results.

The results? Compared to their prior diets, the volunteers experienced significant reductions in blood pressure and plasma insulin. Moreover, there were large, significant reductions in total cholesterol, LDL, and triglycerides. All this in just 10 days. Impressive or what?

Stay tune as I will discuss in my next post on how the Paleo diet can help in your training and racing.

Reference

Frasetto L et al, (2009). Metabolic and Physiologic Improvements from Consuming a Paleolithic, Hunter-gatherer Type Diet. European Journal Of Clinical Nutrition. 63: 947-955

*Picture taken from Flickr.com

Aqua Based Rebabilitation- Reported by Red Sports

You've seen it here on 300409, the Straits Times covered it on 130609 (http://www.straitstimes.com/STI/STIMEDIA/pdf/20090613/ItsASplash.pdf).

Red Sports published it on their site (http://redsports.sg/2009/09/03/aqua-based-rehabilitation-deep-water-running/) on 030909.

We have classes twice weekly, please contact us if you are keen on learning it.