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Pain Relief Without Ibuprofen
Dr. Jason E. Barker at www.drjasonbarker.com is a great resource for information on nutrition and certain supplements. He's a naturopath, specializing in nutrition and therapies for athletes. I found the following article in his newsletter archive to be particularly useful.
Natural Pain Medications & Therapies
Athletes are undoubtedly susceptible to various aches and pains resulting from physical activity. Alleviation of these symptoms is important for two reasons, one being a prompt reduction in pain in order to continue performing, and the other to halt the pain-inciting inflammatory process prior to development into a chronic inflammatory condition.
Tendonitis, bursitis, arthritis, sprains, strains and other inflammatory conditions resulting from athletic activity have been treated traditionally with over the counter non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications (NSAIDS). However, these medications do not provide the most desirable results for inflammatory injuries, as NSAIDS are associated with increased cartilage degeneration via inhibitory effects on cartilage growth. Additionally, NSAIDS can slow the production of the protective stomach mucus, resulting in stomach pain and ulcers after time.
Various plant-derived anti-inflammatories can be used to achieve immediate prevention of inflammation in acute and chronic injuries.
Bromelain:
An enzyme derived from the pineapple, bromelain can halt the inflammatory process as a result of over exertion and swelling. Bromelain can also provide some measure of pain relief as a result of its effects on the inflammatory process. Bromelain should be taken away from food for best results; when taken with food it will assist in the digestive process (not always a bad thing…). Bromelain has few side effects-the most notable is a ‘warm’ sensation when taking on an empty stomach.
Curcumin
Curcumin is the yellow pigment of the spice turmeric. Curcumin displays various properties that are beneficial for the athlete. Namely, curcumin acts to stimulate tissue repair, which allows it to assist in muscle regeneration after traumatic injury. One recent study showed that muscle regeneration is greatly enhanced following the systemic (taken by mouth) administration of curcumin. Because of curcumin’s role in regulating muscle growth, it is an applicable treatment for sports-related muscle injuries. Additionally, curcumin has long been known as a potent anti-inflammatory agent, working to inhibit various aspects of the inflammatory process. Similar to bromelain, curcumin shares similar side effects such as stomach warmth.
Prolotherapy
Prolotherapy is an extremely safe orthopedic procedure that stimulates the body's natural healing processes to strengthen ligaments and tendons weakened by traumatic or over-use injury. With a precise injection of a solution directly on the site of the torn or stretched ligament or tendon, prolotherapy creates a mild, controlled inflammation that stimulates the body's natural healing mechanisms to lay down new collagen fibers on the weakened area. In effect, prolotherapy is "spot-welding" for your body.
Prolotherapy may be helpful for chronic musculoskeletal pain, including:
• Partially torn tendons, ligaments and cartilage
• Arthritis
• Knee pain
• Neck pain
• Fibromyalgia
• Carpal tunnel syndrome
• Sciatica
Trigger Point Therapy
Trigger points are intensely spasmed areas of muscle that can be quite painful, inhibiting normal use of the affected muscle. Sometimes pain will radiate away from the muscle leading to pain in other seemingly unaffected areas of the body.
Trigger point therapy is directed at muscle spasms that do not resolve on their own. This involves injecting a small amount of local anesthetic directly into the spasmed muscle, or trigger point. The anesthetic, in addition to relieving pain, ‘resets’ the nerve impulses that are causing the muscle to spasm. This allows the muscle to relax, resulting in no more pain. Improved range of motion and mobility, less pain, and healthy muscle function are the result. Trigger Point Therapy is used for acute or chronic muscle spasms.
**********Nasty Nine Workout for tomorrow 6/1***********
"Helen's Gone Hyphy"
3 rounds for time:
400m Run
12 Kettlebell Swings (53#/35#)
21 Pull-ups
My body has taken a beating from the last three workouts. How have you been tending to your sore, tired muscles? Post to comments.
That workout is absolute bullshit Mikey!!!! I hate pullups!!!!!!!!
mike hyphy is dead. you didn't get the memo? please don't make your next workout "ghost ride the whip murphy". thanks for your
For my aching muscles, I had a massage yesterday. It was one of the weirder massages I've ever had. Instead of the usual cha cha cha, roll over for some more cha cha cha, this woman focused on delivering signficant/painful localised pressure. Similar to poking someone really really hard.
She did something to my shoulder joint, something like accupressure, that eliminated the pain I've had for a few months. Just amazing.
Oh, and we had some really interesting dialogue about a binary world, humanity, breathing (massage from the inside) and sex.
All in all, pretty good, feel great!
Mini, you were doing such a great job programming! What happen??? Couldn't find your lululemons this morning...
Tammy- what time you going tomorrow? we have been meaning to have a helen-off for some time now....
The muscles are feelin good after a day off, and consuming copious amounts of alcohol in celebration of a new job! Cant wait to break in those new pull up bars!!!!
Damn, Tami!
Journey's calling you out. What're you gonna do about that?
Mike- aka- shit starter
Anytime that's good for you Journey, I'm capable of dominating at any hour.
My quads were fried after the first 3 workouts.
Daniel, great job on the new bars. We get to try them for real tomorrow.
Tamara - I gotta say, Journey might just have your Helen number....
Congrats to Adam Vollmer for getting hired with Southern Marin Fire Department. He has worked hard to be where he is. Good job man.
Sounds like Bad Brad stopped by our old neighbor's place for a "massage" on his day off.
The first 3 wods were hard on the body. I like to recover by sleepin, stretchin, protein and wata.
The new bars are beautiful but I am worried about slippage. Can I tape them up tomorrow?
We'll allowing taping of every other bar, but no more.
For all of you keeping score at home, here's the Men's Master Score Sheet for the Nasty Nine, updated through the first three workouts (no results for the Squat Clean 3RM workout yet).
Men's Master Score Sheet
I'll do my best to get the Women's Master Score Sheet up tomorrow morning.
Mike, Nicole, Franklin,
thank you for all of your hard work at the new box!
Daniel,
The new pull-up bars are sick. They look and feel amazing.
I also second Travis' (no, I don't go with the second "s," despite the the leanings of grammar traditionalists) sentiment. Franklin, Nicole, and Mike, the Box looks legit. Thank You.
Mike,
If the bars have to be taped (I'm presently against this practice), how about using black athletic tape, rather than the standard white athletic tape, to minimize blemishing the pull-up bars' current beauty.
I'll try and pick up some black tape at Sports Authority this morning.
as much as i like seeing myself in 19th place, i'm afraid neither my workout 2 nor 3 was rx.
oh well, maybe next year.
Are these bars slightly bigger than at the old box? For some reason I have a very hard time holding onto them. I'll be using the taped bars.
Journey if you haven't already gone, I can't make it until 4pm.
T - Journey came at 9 and smoked it. You might just want to skip this one and save yourself the embarrassment.
Speaking of which (smoking and embarrassment), I wasn't too unhappy with my 12:10 when the big man, MJJ, came along and did it in 10:45. That man is a machine.
> How have you been tending to your sore, tired muscles?
I have transcended pain and physical limitations and now exist in a state of metaphysical bliss. Sore muscles, achy knees, and painful hip joints are a thing of the past for me. The only limitations to my performance come from whatever small challenges remain in my quest to unify my consciousness with the cosmos. I am developing an exorbitantly priced set of self-help DVDs that will help you reach the same exalted place. Look for it soon in all fine retailers.
Just say "no" to tape on the pullup bars. The finish is already a bit "grippier" than the previous bars, which may obviate the need for additional tape to prevent slipping. I vote against despoiling these works of fitness art with a porous, grungy, bacteria laden coating whose spent adhesive can only be removed by patient scrubbing or the use of solvents. Yum. More staph please.
Speaking of Staph, there is a staph outbreak in SF that was tracked down to originate at Gold's Gym (I'm serious). (Well, I'm serious in the fact that someone told me that)
And speaking of Gold's Gym, I was in LA this weekend visiting a friend of mine who works out at Golds Gym Hollywood. It was absolutely incredible. I was going to make up the snatch/pushup NN workout but when I got there, between the lounging tweety-bird (huge upper, small lower) gym patrons, tanning oil-laden diamond-knurled pullup handles, and nautilus density, there was absolutely NO feasible way to do anything remotely close to this workout. So I ended up doing chest and tri's with my friend.
I would like to state as fact that CF GPP does NOTHING to prepare you for a good chest/tri's workout. I am sore as f*ck.
T- I will show up to support you at 4, or so that you can put my throne back on...actually all this shit talking is probably doing nothing but motivating you to smoke me
I agree that scrungy tape on the new bars is not an ideal solution. Maybe there is something we can do to make them less slippery?
Is it too late to make the remaining bars a slightly smaller diameter? I think part of the problem is that they are bigger than at the old box.
What ev, Tom. You are like 7 ft tall and your hands are a foot long. Have some empathy for the women and our wee hands that need tape. I'm agro, must be time for lunch.
Oops. Not just women, but all grip-lacking people.
Actually, the bars are the same diameter as the bars in the old box. I think the problem is that they are brand new so they are a bit slicker than what we are used to. I know the tape isn't cute but it seems to do the trick. It was cool to see all 15 6am-er doing pull-ups at the same time.
Mike,
I can't seem to do pullups at all on the new bars. Oh, wait. I couldn't do them in the old box either. Looking forward to that pull-up progression...
Can we just get a boatload of those LYNX grips for the gym? Let's put it on the wish list...
JP: FINALLY a shout out to the bodybuilders. Want to get a little back and bi's after the 6:00 pm?
Can't wait to get my turn on the pullups. On a side subject about gluten. SFGate has an article about gluten intolerence in school meals.
http://bit.ly/VMHxz
The pullup bars are beautiful! Thank you Daniel -you are a true artist.
It seems that instead of the bars being violated to satisfy the needs of the athletes, the atheletes should find a way to accommodate the bars. However, this opinion is coming from someone who uses a band for pullups, so take it for what it's worth...
Regarding pain relief - nothing beats ice (and whiskey over ice) for natural pain relief - in my incredibly humble opinion.
Megan, clearly the answer is to become taller. This, as with all other things that are worth doing, can be accomplished most effectively through the liberal consumption of whole milk and performing heavy squats.
Daniel, for the record, I lauded your metallic accomplishments in yesterday's post. They are impressive pieces of design and fabrication. I love the pullup bars, but I cannot say that I love chest to bar pullups. I blame Mini for making me do them.
Daniel - wow.
Nice bars too.
Unlike, Joseph, who not only knows what hyphy means but is hip enough to know it's passe, I had to look it up on urban dictionary. Had I just looked at the wod for today, I would have understood right away.
re: slippy bars--a little sweat and chalk roux works just great. Tasty too.
These were the winners of the Iceland Qualifier:
Male: Sveinbjorn Sveinbjornsson
Female: Annie Mist Thorisdottir
I'm going to try to get in touch with them and see if they can come by CFO for a workout. That would be pretty cool.
Everything looks fabulous at the new space, I can't even imagine how we all fit in the other place! Thanks so much to everyone who contributed.
Recently, I was reading about color theory and the different effects color has on people and I found this very interesting, "Studies show weightlifers are able to handle heavier weights in blue gyms." Seriously, who knew? Let's paint the place blue and get to setting new PR's!
I'll keep looking for the magic trick to chest to bar pullups... stand by
for reference: http://www.webdesign.org/web/web-design-basics/color-theory/color-psycho...
for those interested, we used black athletic tape on 1/2 of our bars in our space and it kind of sucks. it looks really good, but it's oily, so you slip, and therefor tear more.