Snowfield Recovery

To most of you people who are reading this article it may come as a surprise that in Australia whereI come from we have snowfields-I live near oneAs an ultra marathon recovery specialist, I am very familiar with cold sore legs and muscles andpeople getting hypothermic from cold and wetness-I am also familiar with the damage that canresult from using inappropriate conventional massage on cold musclesUsing conventional massage in the snowfields for recovery is fine at the end of the day on the fieldwhen you are in a lodge with a nice warm fire and the room is warm and the body is warm, butmany people are doing the resorts as cheaply as they can afford and their finances may not run tothe trained massage therapist to ease their pains awaySometimes the after snow area looks a little like an after ultra marathon eventWhen trying to recover the muscles when they are cold using a manual recovery system there aresome severe disadvantages that the person who is having soreness and overuse problems has toconsiderA major consideration is that if the skier/snowboarder is cold, they need to disrobe to have oil putonto to skin to provide lubrication between the hands of whoever is doing the massage and the skinof whoever is being worked on-this can make cold muscles even colderCold muscles are like an elastic band that has been left in a refrigerator-the fibers lose flexibilityand are difficult to stretch until they reach room temperature-the muscle fibers are already sufferingfrom micro tears and uncontrolled manual pressure into these can damage them causing an injurythat may put a stop to any snow field activities until it healsCold is also used in many medical situations as an anaesthetic-it dulls the pain receptors in the skinand muscle tissues-the same is also true for the disrobed skier-it prevents them feeling how deepthe fingers are going into the muscle tissues by altering pain perceptionThis dulling of the pain receptors in the skin and muscles prevents feedback to the brain that maystop the fingers from being too intrusive and causing injury

Recovery after a day on the slopes does not need deep intrusive manual work onthe muscles-there is basically nothing wrong with them to fix-so to help them torecover is quite easy

Recovery

In the normal course of events there is very little injury other than small micro-tears in the over usedmuscle tissues-unless there has been a problem from an exterior sources such as impact from fallingover or bio-mechanical causes (the snow surface, blisters from ski boots) to increase muscle stressAt this stage, the muscles will just be sore and fatigued-not injured in the conventional sense-sothey do not need a specialized method of soft tissue care to fix them, they just need a

change

of approach to dealing with them that does

not

include giving them more stress than they have hadalready

In recovery the need of the muscles is to get rid of by-products and wastes that haveaccumulated in the tissues while they are in the 'window of opportunity'-While they are still warm and pliable

Recovered muscles allow the snowbunny to get back on the fields without the inconvenience theywould normally associate with after-effects of intensive use of the legsThe muscles being enlisted to assist in their own recoveryUsing conventional methods of recovery is not appropriate at this time and it may be ineffective asthese are being repaired by the body itself, any intrusive outside interference will slow this process.If the legs could recover faster in between and after being in the snow their ability to absorb impactand shock from the snow surface would improve and they would be less prone to injury caused bynot being flexible enoughHow to do this is an area where there is very little knowledge available on how to do something thatis safe; simple and effective to useIn the photo above I am demonstrating the World Run Recovery System-notice the lack of equipment I have to do this-all I am using is my hands-this being the case, it is easy for someoneout on the slopes to use on an exhausted snowbunny!This is a great advantage because there is

nothing

to carry and they do not have to take any bootsor clothing off!

*Some research has shown that conventional systems do not help with recovery if it is done within 2 hours of the end of the event-but all agree the athlete is still benefiting from the psychological effect more than the physical as it gives aftercompetition winds down.

The World Run Recovery System

The World Run Recovery System offers an alternative way of assisting recovery without interferingwith the healing processes that are already happening at the micro-cellular level of repair-and itdoes this without putting the muscles at risk of being injured by too much pressure generated by theends of the fingers working into the tissues.The system works by using the bodies own mechanics of bones, joints, and muscles to push usedblood and toxins from the lower legs-these can then be replaced by fresh blood-oxygen filled bloodwhich will enhance recovery time and speed the recovery of the sportsperson

Enhancing recovery quickly and easily using the principles of

•

Simplicity

•

Predictability

•

Consistency

Using these 3 principles it is possible to not only enhance recovery times, but to do it without theinconvenience of disrobing or using oils or equipment such as massage table towels or needing thehandskills or techniques of modern massage practises.This places easy recovery for anyone to use with very little training and without any equipment tobuy or maintainMy only equipment for 24 hour run consisted of a chair next to the bottles to maintain the legrecovery of 20 people when I looked after the Danish team at the world championships in 2007