Yesterday's Straits Times (ST 051111) Article On Sports Massage

If you read yesterday's article in the Straits Times on page C22 under the Sports section (Rubbing The Right Way), you would have read the author's personal opinion on Sports Massage on various conditions like  DOMs (or delayed onset on muscle soreness).

We have written on DOMs before. There are actually mixed results on published evidence that sports massage helps with DOMs. For every paper you find that says it helps, there will be a few more that says that the results are not significant.

With regards to blood circulation, there is actually very poor evidence that sports massage increases blood circulation (Wiltshire et al, 2010). This has been confirmed in many other studies as well.

Most beneficial effects seemed to be increased perceptions of recovery and increase in psychological well being.

Reference

Hertbert RD and De Noronha M (2007). Stretching To Prevent Or Reduce Muscle Soreness After Exercise. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. Issue 4. The Cochrane Collection.

Szymanski, D (2003). Recommendations For The Avoidance Of Delayed-onset Muscle Soreness. Strength and Conditioning Journal 23(4): 7-13.

Wiltshire EV, Poitras V et al (2010). Massage Impairs Postexercise Muscle Blood Flow And "Lactic Acid" Removal. Med Sci Sports Exer Jun 42(6): 1062-71.

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.

*Picture from Flickr

Kinesio Taping For Horses

Dr Kase Started taping race horses in 2005

Gudron demonstrating her taping

Yes, you read correctly, Kinesio taping can be done on horses as seen from the pictures..

Ever since Harvey Makortoff, a physical therapist from USA started taping his dog, Dr Kase has also taped race horses since 2005. In fact, Dr Kase mentioned that animals seem to respond even better to Kinesio taping than humans.

Dr Gudron Collins treats race horses in the UK and she did a very interesting presentation at the recertification in Albuquerque. In fact, Kinesio Taping Association is in the midst of preparing a Kinesio Taping course to train vets to be able to use Kinesio tape to treat the animals they see.

Kinesio Taping Instructor (CKTI) Recertification In Albuquerque

Many, many interesting updates for Kinesio taping. Gino is currently attending his Kinesio Taping Instructor recertification course in Albuquerque, New Mexico in the United States from 14-16 October.

Some pictures of his visit there. Will write on the updates on later posts.

Dr Kenso Kase himself

New World Record In Berlin Marathon 2011

Patrick Makau has broken the Emperor Haile Gebrselassie's world record in Berlin this year by 21 seconds after running 2:03:38 hrs.

 Makau made a big surge at around 27km and Geb stepped off the road briefly. To make things worse after he resume running, he soon lost touch and dropped out and lost his world record as well.

The big news is Geb DNF again, his second in two races after New York which he "retired" and came back and now more questions will be asked if he will return.


Paula Radcliffe in her comeback race after two years out finished 3rd in 2:23:46 and qualified for the London Olympics next year.

Here are the splits for the men's race.

5km-14:36 (2:03:13 pace)
10km-29:17 (2:03:34)
15km-43:51 (2:03:21)
20km-58:30 (2:03:25)
Half-marathon -61:43 (2:03:26)
35km-1:42:16 (2:03:17)
40km-1:57:15 (2:03:41)
Finish-2:03:38

*Photo by Getty Images

Remembering 9/11

Lest we forget.... Our hearts go out to those who lost their loved ones.

*Pictures from NY Times

Women's 200m Final in Daegu 2011

VCB, Carmelita Jeter & Allyson Felix 

A picture with VCB when she was in Singapore in 2009

Yes Usain Bolt ran a fantastic race in the 200m to redeem himself but most entralling race for the day for me was watching Veronica Campbell-Brown (VCB) outrun Camelita Jeter and my current favorite female sprinter Allyson Felix in the women's 200m race.

Not many people had expected VCB to win, certainly not me, as she had lost the 100m to Carmelita Jeter. In fact Jeter did try to haul VCB back in the closing stages of the race but VCB managed to hold her off with a storming finish after her brilliant start.

3-time 200m defending champion Allyson Felix rounded off the medals after placing 2nd in the 400m earlier. Felix tried to do the 200m & 400m double here and I guess that foiled her chances.

*Picture from Tracktownphoto.com
*Also see this.

Saving Lives By Sharing Bikes

Cycling is cleaner for the environment & much cheaper than driving cars (especially so here in Singapore). Now there may be more reason to do ride your bikes to work.

In a paper published by Spanish investigators in the British Medical Journal early this month, they found that bike sharing (in 181 982 participants) can actually help save lives in urban environments.

After accounting for air pollution and traffic mortality, the authors found that bike sharing prevented the deaths of at least 12 people each year as a result of the exercise.  Annual carbon dioxide emissions were reduced by about 9 062 344 kg.

Reference
Rojas-Rueda D, de Nazelle A et al (2011). The Health Risks And Benefits Of Cycling In Urban Environments Compared With Car Use: Health Impact Assessment Study.  BMJ 343: d452.

* Picture from Flickr by Steve Caddy.