Recovery: What am I missing?

[climb2core]

Isn't icing useful only in the first 48 hours following an injury because the cells become "leaky"?

On the tendonitis, this was suggested to me by Audrey who was suffering bad elbow tendonitis that put her out of climbing: http://www.activerelease.com/what_patients.asp. She got healthy after the first session, but it took 3 for her to be ready to climb again. There are a couple of places in Lex that do this kind of therapy.

Not in my experience. I routinely use cryotherapy in long after 48 hours in my clinic. Again, you need to consider what is happening at the physiological level. Lets take someone that sprained their knee... They may have swelling, rubor (heat generated by the inflammatory response), and pain that may last for weeks.

Adding heat to this scenario is akin to putting gas on the fire...

In general, I tend to choose cold over heat for about 80% of the pathologies that I see...

BTW, if you are interested in heating up your body, a cardio work out has been shown to be more effective at raising tissue temperature compared to the generally very superficial heating gains made with heat applied to the skin surface.

Active release can be an effective technique for managing tendonopathies. Also consider eccentric overload...

http://www.livestrong.com/article/20137 ... exercises/
http://www.nismat.org/ptcor/tennis_elbow

[heavyc]

climb2core you are right on in regards to treating injuries, but the topic was recovery from a training session where there is no injury save that of microtrauma to the muscle fibers, even with that I would agree that applying heat immediately after would probably not be a good idea but 12-36 hours after is a different story

[Artsay]

We just received a new product called Armaid. http://www.armaid.com/
It's a device for performing trigger point therapy on yourself.
I haven't tried it but Ray has a few times (we just got it this week) but it seems to be a well made device for applying proven therapy techniques to reduce tendonities and other related issues in your arms.
We are going to use it for a bit before offering our opinion but anyone suffering from chronic elbow tendonitis may want to start looking into it.

[bcombs]

We just received a new product called Armaid. http://www.armaid.com/
It's a device for performing trigger point therapy on yourself.
I haven't tried it but Ray has a few times (we just got it this week) but it seems to be a well made device for applying proven therapy techniques to reduce tendonities and other related issues in your arms.
We are going to use it for a bit before offering our opinion but anyone suffering from chronic elbow tendonitis may want to start looking into it.

I got a chance to look it a month or two ago. Looks promising, I will definitely be interested in your feedback. And, as Cromlech put it, best part is that its a strap on!

[climb2core]

climb2core you are right on in regards to treating injuries, but the topic was recovery from a training session where there is no injury save that of microtrauma to the muscle fibers, even with that I would agree that applying heat immediately after would probably not be a good idea but 12-36 hours after is a different story

Maybe you misunderstood... I wasn't trying to say whether ice or heat is better. I was just trying to point out the physiological responses to each and when it may be appropriate to use. People always seem confused when to heat or ice so I was just trying to provide some insight that might help them make that decision.

If post work out, you are displaying signs of an inflammatory response, ice.
If post work out, you just have some normal muscle soreness and fatigue, heat might be a good option to increase blood flow and aid with cellular nutrition and toxic metabolic by-product removal. However, I tend to believe that a light work out does more good...

[Lateralus]

I think having more than 3 hard wokrouts a week is a bad idea, especially considering this seems to be kind of the end of your "season". Well coached athletes generally take time off after the season is over, most of these aren't as old as you are either. Most coaches would never in their right mind prescribe 4 "power" workouts in one week to their athletes especially at season end. If this is indeed a lull in your season if you will, consider taking up to a month off and focus on cardio, flexibility, conditioning etc... let your climbing specific muscles rest. Fill your motivation well (though you don't seem to need it) and you will likely come back more renewed and more psyched than you are now and your body will be ready and able to improve. I really believe after an athlete has practiced a sport for more than say 5 years and finally reaches the point where getting better only occurs in very fine increments (if at all), a good rest period is paramount to achieving further improvement. Otherwise you will generally reach a point where you likely won't get any better, you might work harder to do so but the body usually won't go along for the ride if you keep grinding away and increasing workout frequencies and intensities. Once you reach this point of diminishing returns it's time to go pro. Consider charting out your goals and what plan you can put in place to achieve those in a given year. Start w/ the rest phase, base etc etc. Other things to consider are the more intangible inputs to becoming a better performer. You mentioned you get the standard 8 hrs of sleep, how's your diet? Some people can make major gains by simply eating good wholesome food instead of the shit most of America is flushing down their throats. not assuming you eat poorly but it should be mentioned. Also, as Odub brought up, try to improve your technique at all costs, mental ability and toughness are a huge piece of the climbing performance pie (any sport obviously). This intangible stuff can make just as much of an impact to increased athlethic performance as objective workout intensity/frequencies if not more. If you take up the challenge to go pro and chart out the year be as honest as you can and be as holistic as you can. Work on things that might be neglected, such as technique, your mental toughness/approach, stress etc.. have fun

[dustonian]

I tend to agree... taking at least a month off a year is a good idea if you don't like being injured in climbing season. December is perfect for this... keep up the cardio, but no climbing.

[climb2core]

I tend to agree... taking at least a month off a year is a good idea if you don't like being injured in climbing season. December is perfect for this... keep up the cardio, but no climbing.

I agree too... Back in gym Thursday after 4 weeks off...

[tbwilsonky]

lessening the load for a month (sustained easy climbing) seems sensible, but i think you would start to see diminishing 'rest' returns from not climbing after a week or so.

[Gaar]

I told you the other day!!
You need more cams in you diet!!
It is amazing how hard you can crank over a sketch piece