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Seniors Leg Recovery-Michael Gillan Ultra Marathon Recovery SpecialistCopyright 2008 Michael Gillan
 
http://www.aching-legs-relief.com/basic_recovery_for_older_athletes.html 1
Senior Sports Legs RecoveryLeg recovery using anenvironmentally friendly recoverysystem
The senior athlete has special needs in the recovery area
I have worked with young and senior athletes down through the years, and while they get similarproblems concerning recovery, they have different needs in the recovery area after their eventsIn many after event recovery areas, senior athletes, or masters are treated in much the same fashionas the young footballers, hockey players or rugby players without regard to the fact that many (mostof them do not have the same muscle bulk as they probably once hadWhile discussing recovery, there is no reason while the younger athletes need to be treated roughlyeither because however senior in years, the basis of muscle fatigue and recovery are similar
To demonstrate why recovery is similar I have drawn up the following graphicTo get to the stage where recovery is needed, the muscles go through the following stagesEvent starts
Fresh legs Gets into stride Muscles tighten Muscle soreness Muscle fatigue
0--------------1-------------------2-----------------------3-----------------------4--------------------
Stages 0-3 conventional massage systems appropriate stages 3-4 not appropriateUp to stage 3, conventional systems are fine because the tissues still have integrity-beyond this,they are as tight at at bowstrings, and soreness is caused by micro-injury to themOne effect of working
on
and into the muscles is that like a bowstring that is overstretched orstressed, they can be damaged by too much pressure, causing injury or provoking an older one
Stages of recovery after running/walking
Muscle fatigue Acute or Immediate Sub Acute RehabilitationPost Event recovery Post Event Recovery
0----------------------1-------------------------------2----------------------------3--------------------4
Stage 0-2 the body is recovering at Micro Cellular level-any work done
on
the muscles may impacton and break into the bodies own recovery processes leading to them having to start repair againStage 2-3 Sub Acute-Micro Cellular repair is well under way, but can still be disrupted by working
on
the muscles-any work done to assist the body’s recovery at these stages should be light relaxingwork that will not add further stress to the already ‘at risk’ muscle tissuesStage 4 rehabilitation-Conventional working on the muscles can now be done which includessorting out any injury and problems that have developed on the run or walk 
The main objective is to assist the muscles recovery without interfering with therepair being carried out at the micro-cellular level
 
Seniors Leg Recovery-Michael Gillan Ultra Marathon Recovery SpecialistCopyright 2008 Michael Gillan
 
http://www.aching-legs-relief.com/basic_recovery_for_older_athletes.html 2
Massage and recovery
Massage in sport is one of the most commonly used (and cheapest) forms of recovery from stiffnessand soreness after an event-it is also one of the least understood-if considering this as part of arecovery program and considering getting someone to work with you, there are 2 basic rules indeciding the best method for you
•
 
The body recovers itself-anything used is just there to assist or facilitate that
•
 
No matter how good the therapist-the last man who could heal with his hands using touchdied 2000 years agoMany therapists have a belief that they know what is best for recovery and tend to work too hard onthe muscles; they may accidentally cause damage to the tissues which the body then has to repairTo illustrate my point-I recently officiated as the recovery person at a 24-hour 100 mile event, Ihave my own area slightly away from the track where people come in when they have pushed theirboundaries too far, and I am usually kept busy from about the 12 hour mark I did not know there was a massage therapist pulling the walkers off the track for work until one of the first aiders on a walk around caught him digging into one of the walker’s muscles and reportedwhat he saw to the official in chargeIt was too late, the damage had been done, she had a bad injury to her buttock muscles which madeit impossible to continue-her event came to an abrupt finish and she went home devastated becausesomeone considered that he was going to fix her soreness issues with his handsIt turns out he was a qualified massage therapist, but had only worked with huge football players,and while he may have been good in that area, did not have the slightest idea and could not adapt torecovery of slightly built runners and walkers who had just pushed things too farIf someone is considering massage, they should be aware of what is happening; using the examplefrom Sandra Brown to stress how important the correct approach to muscles is.“The second tear (at least I have matching legs with old tears on both sides) was caused, to my greatannoyance at the time, by an overenthusiastic physio who was supposed to be helping me to warmup gently before a 24 hour race and got carried away. I am now more wary of having physio at anytime, and make sure that I stay in control, by saying at the outset what I want and don’t want to bedone to me. Having never had a persistent injury (my varied training pattern means that any niggleshave the chance to heal quickly, rather than get hammered and go critical,) I have never had regularphysio or a steady relationship of trust with any physiotherapist who knew me and my needs. Theclosest I have come to this was receiving massage from Michael Gillan during the Nanango(Queensland) 1000-mile race in 1996. I had no hesitation in having a massage from Michael againat the end of the Melbourne 100 miles walk in 1999. Michael’s approach is very gentle at all times,and always works with the athlete and puts the athlete in control, thus minimizing the risk of harmand maximizing the benefit
Source:http://www.surreywalkingclub.org.uk/Training?Advice/Articles/training_for_ultras_by_sandra_br.htm#Trainin
g
 /forUltras_SB
 SANDRA BROWN 1996 Ladies 1000 Mile World Record Holder
 
Seniors Leg Recovery-Michael Gillan Ultra Marathon Recovery SpecialistCopyright 2008 Michael Gillan
 
http://www.aching-legs-relief.com/basic_recovery_for_older_athletes.html 3
Fast RecoveryFrom this
After being on the track for 3 days
To thisTo this-
In easy steps-
without 
injury-just by changing the approach from workingon the muscles to working
with 
them
 
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