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Today, I have an excerpt from my book, Tap Out:
Strength & Conditioning For Combat Sports.
This is from the bonus section and is written by my
close friend and colleague Keith Scott of
KeithScottTraining.com. Keith has a masters degree in
exercise science and sports science, and more importantly
than that, 17 years of in-the-trenches experience. He is
also one of the brightest guys I have ever met.
Call me old school about recovery, but in my experience,
old school recovery modalities seem to get better results
than some of the newer things out today. I have used
about every modality on different athletes throughout
the years and some seem to work better than others. But
before I jump into what I feel works the best, a quick
word about recovery.
In my mind recovery is the athlete's ability to reach and
then maintain a normal and better yet, optimal level of
complete physical and mental functioning. It's the time
that it takes for any kind of repair of tissue damage in the
body that occurred from training or competition. This
occurs from the time that training stops, up to and into
the beginning of the next training session. Nutrition and
rest are important for this to occur. Since nutrition was
already covered in this book, I will present some
modalities that will aid in overall recovery and
restoration of normal or optimal functioning.
Cold Therapy
It seems that most athletes who have never used cold
modalities (such as ice, or ice baths) don't like the idea
of using it for a recovery method. But for those athletes
that have, they welcome it and it becomes part of their
daily routine. At first cold modalities can seem
extremely intense and very uncomfortable and to be
honest, they are. No one really likes to stick their feet
or other parts of their bodies in a bucket of ice water.
However, in my experience, cold therapy is one of the
best ways to quickly slow down the inflammation
process and combat the muscle and joint pain that can
occur frequently from hard daily training.
Ice Bags - I counsel my athletes to strap a bag of crushed
ice on their sore and painful areas immediately after their
training session comes to a halt. This is even before the
hot shower. Out of the gym, into the ice. For sore
shoulders, elbows, knees, ankles, or just about any other
body part, use ice bags as part of your daily routine and
you won't be sorry. Get some crushed ice, place it into a
zip-lock baggie and put it right on the skin. Ice for no
longer than 20 minutes at a time with at least an hour in
between icings if you are going to ice again. If you are
on the go, use an ace wrap or some kind of sleeve to keep
the ice in place.
Ice Baths - This is a more extreme method of cold
therapy but also one of the best. I usually use this on my
athletes that have chronic pain or inflammation in their
feet, ankles and/or lower legs. (i.e. Shin Splints, ankle
soreness) and even some that have bad knees and can
find a large enough bath for the ice water. Fill a large
bucket or bath tub with ice and water. Place your foot,
ankle or leg into the water. Be forewarned, this is not
easy. I have watched some of t he toughest S.O.B.'s in
the business cry and scream like babies for the first few
minutes of doing this. Stay tough and wait for about 3-5
min. After that you will go numb in the area and it won't
bother you much at all. I have witnessed athletes with
extremely inflamed joints and painful conditions come
out of this ice bath feeling like brand new. Again, no
more than 20 minutes in an ice bath at a time.
Ice Massage - This is yet another intense form of cold
therapy, but a very good one. If you have a very sore or
inflamed smaller area, like the tip of your shoulder,
patellar tendons, or elbow, give the ice massage a try.
Just get a few small Dixie Cups and fill them with water
and place them in the freezer. Take one out and peel
around the top of the cup and your ice massage is ready
to go. In a very fast motion, rub the ice around the
affected area in a small circle, never stopping the motion.
Do this for about 5-10 minutes, no more. This is
extremely intense to the area and you may even get a
small welt forming from it. If you see a welt forming,
don't worry, it's just a reaction from the ice. Simply
stop and throw your ice away. You are done for that
session. I have used ice massage with my athletes very
successfully over the years and have seen incredible
results.
Cold Shower- This is the final cold recovery method that
I will discuss and probably the most controversial of
them. Many people believe that cold showers (when I
say cold, I mean all cold, no hot water at all) don't do
much except torture the person taking them. However,
like with most things, people are different and have
different opinions. Some of my athletes love to take a
very cold shower after an intense workout. It seems to
invigorate them, take away some of the aches and pains
that were induced throughout the training session and
help their overall recovery. Others think it makes things
worse. Either way it is something else you can try and
see how it works for you.
Heat Therapy
Once you get home and get showered and calmed down,
heat can be a great way of helping relax different parts of
the body. Heat has a great way of reducing pain and
inflammation as well. Word of warning; Heat should
NEVER be used for the first few days on an area that has
an suffered an acute injury, meaning a brand new injury
to the area. Use ice on fresh, acute injuries always and
start heat safely a few days later.
Hot packs: Whether an electric heating pad or a moist
hot pack, hot packs are great to use over areas of the
body. I tend to use hot packs with my athletes that
suffer stiff, and nagging injuries that don't seem to go
away. 20 -30 minutes of heat on the right place can
make all of the difference when suffering from aches and
pains.
Hot Baths: Like cold or ice water baths, hot baths can
have a tremendous effect on recovery and let's face it,
are much more comfortable to use than cold. A hot bath,
Jacuzzi hot tub, or spa will do the trick. Try not to stay in
for more than 30-40 minutes at a time. You can become
dehydrated pretty fast sitting in hot baths and hydration
is extremely important. I tell my wrestlers to hit the hot
tub each night before they go to bed. It can help relax
them, calm down muscle spasms, and always seems to
lead to a great night's sleep. Remember, rest is one of
the big keys in total recovery.
Massage: Chances are that you will suffer some muscle
spasms or knots along the way. Most athletes do. I
always recommend getting a good, deep tissue massage at
least once a month, and better twice a month if possible.
Getting those knots works out will help you with your
stiffness, pain, muscle integrity and mobility. Massages
are one of the best recovery modalities around.
To read more of this great bonus chapter on recovery,
rehab and prehab by Keith Scott, go to
http://www.combatconditioningsecrets.com/ right now.
********************************************
"As a performance coach I'm alwas looking for "go-to"
resources when it comes to training athletes. As it is, you
simply can't train every athlete or compete in every sport,
which is why you need guys like Jason Ferruggia on your
side.
In Tap Out, Jason covers every aspect of training combat
athletes, from strength to conditioining, to diet and making
weight. He has outlined all the factors that can make you
successful and how to maximize your performance each
and every time you enter the ring.
Weather you are a coach, athlete, or somewhere in between,
Tap Out can take your performance to the next level."
Mike Robertson, MS, CSCS, USAW
Jason Ferruggia
Strength & Conditioning For Combat Sports.
This is from the bonus section and is written by my
close friend and colleague Keith Scott of
KeithScottTraining.com. Keith has a masters degree in
exercise science and sports science, and more importantly
than that, 17 years of in-the-trenches experience. He is
also one of the brightest guys I have ever met.
Call me old school about recovery, but in my experience,
old school recovery modalities seem to get better results
than some of the newer things out today. I have used
about every modality on different athletes throughout
the years and some seem to work better than others. But
before I jump into what I feel works the best, a quick
word about recovery.
In my mind recovery is the athlete's ability to reach and
then maintain a normal and better yet, optimal level of
complete physical and mental functioning. It's the time
that it takes for any kind of repair of tissue damage in the
body that occurred from training or competition. This
occurs from the time that training stops, up to and into
the beginning of the next training session. Nutrition and
rest are important for this to occur. Since nutrition was
already covered in this book, I will present some
modalities that will aid in overall recovery and
restoration of normal or optimal functioning.
Cold Therapy
It seems that most athletes who have never used cold
modalities (such as ice, or ice baths) don't like the idea
of using it for a recovery method. But for those athletes
that have, they welcome it and it becomes part of their
daily routine. At first cold modalities can seem
extremely intense and very uncomfortable and to be
honest, they are. No one really likes to stick their feet
or other parts of their bodies in a bucket of ice water.
However, in my experience, cold therapy is one of the
best ways to quickly slow down the inflammation
process and combat the muscle and joint pain that can
occur frequently from hard daily training.
Ice Bags - I counsel my athletes to strap a bag of crushed
ice on their sore and painful areas immediately after their
training session comes to a halt. This is even before the
hot shower. Out of the gym, into the ice. For sore
shoulders, elbows, knees, ankles, or just about any other
body part, use ice bags as part of your daily routine and
you won't be sorry. Get some crushed ice, place it into a
zip-lock baggie and put it right on the skin. Ice for no
longer than 20 minutes at a time with at least an hour in
between icings if you are going to ice again. If you are
on the go, use an ace wrap or some kind of sleeve to keep
the ice in place.
Ice Baths - This is a more extreme method of cold
therapy but also one of the best. I usually use this on my
athletes that have chronic pain or inflammation in their
feet, ankles and/or lower legs. (i.e. Shin Splints, ankle
soreness) and even some that have bad knees and can
find a large enough bath for the ice water. Fill a large
bucket or bath tub with ice and water. Place your foot,
ankle or leg into the water. Be forewarned, this is not
easy. I have watched some of t he toughest S.O.B.'s in
the business cry and scream like babies for the first few
minutes of doing this. Stay tough and wait for about 3-5
min. After that you will go numb in the area and it won't
bother you much at all. I have witnessed athletes with
extremely inflamed joints and painful conditions come
out of this ice bath feeling like brand new. Again, no
more than 20 minutes in an ice bath at a time.
Ice Massage - This is yet another intense form of cold
therapy, but a very good one. If you have a very sore or
inflamed smaller area, like the tip of your shoulder,
patellar tendons, or elbow, give the ice massage a try.
Just get a few small Dixie Cups and fill them with water
and place them in the freezer. Take one out and peel
around the top of the cup and your ice massage is ready
to go. In a very fast motion, rub the ice around the
affected area in a small circle, never stopping the motion.
Do this for about 5-10 minutes, no more. This is
extremely intense to the area and you may even get a
small welt forming from it. If you see a welt forming,
don't worry, it's just a reaction from the ice. Simply
stop and throw your ice away. You are done for that
session. I have used ice massage with my athletes very
successfully over the years and have seen incredible
results.
Cold Shower- This is the final cold recovery method that
I will discuss and probably the most controversial of
them. Many people believe that cold showers (when I
say cold, I mean all cold, no hot water at all) don't do
much except torture the person taking them. However,
like with most things, people are different and have
different opinions. Some of my athletes love to take a
very cold shower after an intense workout. It seems to
invigorate them, take away some of the aches and pains
that were induced throughout the training session and
help their overall recovery. Others think it makes things
worse. Either way it is something else you can try and
see how it works for you.
Heat Therapy
Once you get home and get showered and calmed down,
heat can be a great way of helping relax different parts of
the body. Heat has a great way of reducing pain and
inflammation as well. Word of warning; Heat should
NEVER be used for the first few days on an area that has
an suffered an acute injury, meaning a brand new injury
to the area. Use ice on fresh, acute injuries always and
start heat safely a few days later.
Hot packs: Whether an electric heating pad or a moist
hot pack, hot packs are great to use over areas of the
body. I tend to use hot packs with my athletes that
suffer stiff, and nagging injuries that don't seem to go
away. 20 -30 minutes of heat on the right place can
make all of the difference when suffering from aches and
pains.
Hot Baths: Like cold or ice water baths, hot baths can
have a tremendous effect on recovery and let's face it,
are much more comfortable to use than cold. A hot bath,
Jacuzzi hot tub, or spa will do the trick. Try not to stay in
for more than 30-40 minutes at a time. You can become
dehydrated pretty fast sitting in hot baths and hydration
is extremely important. I tell my wrestlers to hit the hot
tub each night before they go to bed. It can help relax
them, calm down muscle spasms, and always seems to
lead to a great night's sleep. Remember, rest is one of
the big keys in total recovery.
Massage: Chances are that you will suffer some muscle
spasms or knots along the way. Most athletes do. I
always recommend getting a good, deep tissue massage at
least once a month, and better twice a month if possible.
Getting those knots works out will help you with your
stiffness, pain, muscle integrity and mobility. Massages
are one of the best recovery modalities around.
To read more of this great bonus chapter on recovery,
rehab and prehab by Keith Scott, go to
http://www.combatconditioningsecrets.com/ right now.
********************************************
"As a performance coach I'm alwas looking for "go-to"
resources when it comes to training athletes. As it is, you
simply can't train every athlete or compete in every sport,
which is why you need guys like Jason Ferruggia on your
side.
In Tap Out, Jason covers every aspect of training combat
athletes, from strength to conditioining, to diet and making
weight. He has outlined all the factors that can make you
successful and how to maximize your performance each
and every time you enter the ring.
Weather you are a coach, athlete, or somewhere in between,
Tap Out can take your performance to the next level."
Mike Robertson, MS, CSCS, USAW
Jason Ferruggia
