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How to recover from life's more common ailments: you can repair the damage after you've gone too far - Special

Men's Fitness, May, 2003 by Roy M. Wallack

No one said life was supposed to be easy. The same stuff that can make you feel great--working out, relationships, booze, sex--can also leave you reeling. Learning how to bounce back from life's travails is key to enjoying a happy life. Here are some time-tested tips to speed you on the road to recovery.

HOW TO RECOVER FROM ... A STRENUOUS CARDIO WORKOUT

Whether you just finished a run, bike ride or killer session on the elliptical machine, don't forget about tomorrow. While it can take three or four days to recover from a harder-than-normal workout, you can avoid lots of the pain and repair muscles quicker if you warm down properly and eat and drink immediately after exercising.

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* Warm down. Following the session, briefly--and easily--walk, bike, swim or do other low-impact activity, then stretch, do some self-massage and elevate your legs above your chest. These actions lengthen muscles that have been contracting for a long time, dilating blood vessels and speeding the removal of lactic acid and other waste-product buildup that can leave you stiff and hurting the next day.

* Eat and drink now. Don't wait. During warm-down, suck down a sports drink to replenish your potassium and sodium stores and restore normal cell and nerve function. Also, carry food--protein bars (Nitro-Tech or Designer), a protein shake (Myoplex Ready-to-Drink), fruit--in your fitness bag and wolf it down in the locker room. Score extra points for foods rich in antioxidants, which help repair tissues damaged by the workout. Remember, it's best to eat a small meal of complex carbs and protein soon after exercise to expedite healing.

* Why eat so soon? Not only is your fuel tank empty, but your glycogen and protein "windows"--the period in which your muscles' ability to recover and quickly rebuild peaks--begin to close down after 45 minutes. Waiting an hour to eat after a workout is too long. "The first 30 minutes gives you the most bang for the buck," says Paul J. Flakoll, Ph.D., of Vanderbilt University, who has led studies examining protein synthesis. He says a 5'10", 170-pounder should get 20 to 30 grams each of both protein and carbs soon after aerobic exercise.

* Get warm, get rest. Cover up and sleep well after a hard workout, which can temporarily compromise the immune system. A good sleep will enhance release of growth and recovery hormones like testosterone and HGH.

HOW TO RECOVER FROM ... A COLD

Cold fact: You will get a cold. There are 250 rhinoviruses capable of causing a two-to-seven-day bout of sneezing and runny nose; you can't become immune to all of them. Although there's no cold cure, here are some tips from Karen Collins, a registered dietitian with the American Institute for Cancer Research, that can aid your recovery:

* Stay hydrated. Extra liquids (water, tea, juices) keep nasal linings moist and speed the outflow of mucus. Hot fluids--like chicken soup--expand capillaries to flood the throat and mouth with virus-fighting white blood cells. Hot showers, a humidifier, and gargling with warm saltwater aid drainage, shrink inflamed membranes and soothe sore-throat pain.

* Take meds. Zicam, a nasal gel available over the counter, has been clinically shown to reduce a cold's duration. Zinc lozenges may also be effective if taken in the early stages of a cold, although not all studies agree. Likewise, the jury is still out on the effectiveness of large doses of vitamin C, though make sure to take at least the daily recommended amount. Also, take cough drops, throat lozenges or hard candy, which will make you salivate, keeping your throat wet and suppressing coughing.

* Wash and rest. Scrub your hands to protect yourself and others; rest longer when you get home from work; and get extra sleep to help your body fight off the infection.

HOW TO RECOVER FROM ... LIFTING TOO HARD AT THE GYM

"If you get sunburned, you don't go lay out at the beach without sun-block the very next day," says Ken Kinakin, D.C., C.S.C.S., founder of the Toronto-based Society of Weight-Training Injury Specialists (SWIS). "The same logic applies to overdoing it in the gym."

Recuperation is essential after a hard workout, but you don't need to forgo training. If you strained your pecs while bench pressing, says Kinakin, simply train the muscles around them or move to the lower body for your next workout.

Also, you can do a regular set with an unloaded bar, which provides a dynamic stretching motion without aggravating the strain. Other recuperation tips courtesy of SWIS:

* Ice strained areas immediately after exercise. Even better, take a "contrast shower"--alternating 30-second streams of very hot and very cold water. Result? Changes between vasodilation (from heat) and vasoconstriction (from cold) cause an expansion/ contraction pumping of blood through the muscles that dramatically speeds waste removal, nutrient delivery and overall recovery.

* Drink lots of water (overstressed muscles are dehydrated).

* Take an Epsom Salts bath. The combination of heat and high magnesium content helps increase circulation, promoting general detoxification and the release of lactic acid from the muscle tissue.

How to recover from life's more common ailments: you can repair the damage after you've gone too far - Special

Men's Fitness, May, 2003 by Roy M. Wallack

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