Delayed Onset Muscle Soarness

Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) is that feeling you get when you've worked out for the first time in a long time or overworked to your capacity. It's that feeling that your arms or legs feel like they are about to explode when you go to use them. It's that feeling that your legs feel like 100 pounds each - going up or down stairs. It's that feeling that when you wake up in the morning you feel like you're still lifting the weights from the day before.

Any of us who have worked out from one time to another have experienced this pain. So what exactly is this soreness and where does it come from? Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) is that feeling that comes on a day or two after the workout. It's been around since the caveman and cave woman...it was studied in the early 1900's and it continues to draw attention from the scientific community. Popular theories have been that the pain is due to a buildup of lactic acid and that has shown more recently to be Dead WRONG! This has been the prevailing thoughts since I first read about 20 years ago. The problem is that blood lactate levels rise during intense exercise however the lactate levels begin to decrease and return to normal between 30 and 60 minutes post exercise.

What is causing the intense soreness two days later? There may be two causes. One being a high concentration of (+) positive charged calcium ions left over from the rise in lactic acid. This caused a positively charged area and can drop the normal level of blood entering in and out of the area. Blood is responsible for transporting oxygen to the muscle tissue and also carries toxins away from the damaged area. If the damaged area is positively charged then the cells can't properly communicate to one another. When communication is reduced between the cells blood flow is altered reducing oxygen. Without the normal flow of blood in and out of the area toxins are not taken away properly causing a back up.

The second reason is that studies have shown damage to the connective tissue structure of the muscle. This connective tissue damage includes the fascia and connective tissue matrix (the substance that binds the cells together). When the muscle and by products break down there is a breakdown of protein. This can cause cellular inflammation which can cause an increase of scar tissue build up (again positively charged) as well as increased metabolic activity including a rise in temperature. When this process advances, local receptor sites responsible for pain become excited - beginning the delayed response.

So as you can see even though lactic acid is returned to normal within 24 hours the pain from extensive training can't be directly linked to lactic acid. If the two were linked together then it would be expected that you should be sore within hours of working out...not 72 hours after. According to Jay Schroeder, "Muscles are in a constant battle between anabolism and catabolism.
        (Anabolism: Anabolism, or biosynthesis, is the process by which living organisms synthesize complex       molecules of life from simpler ones.)
        (Catabolism: is the breakdown of large molecules down to small molecules)
        (Together both anabolism and catabolism equals your metabolism)

It is the ability to keep them on the anabolic side that is the goal of training. One method to assist this is to stimulate one's muscles through proper exercise; training one's muscles while in an eccentrically elongated (properly lengthened) state. This is traumatic, as exercise is always supposed to be executed at a higher level than what one is currently able to recover from in order to initiate adaptation processes. One of the benefits of this kind of exercise is that the resulting damage to the muscle fibers stimulates the release of growth hormone during pre REM sleep. In order to take maximal advantage of this, one would not like to resolve this soreness for 24 - 36 hours after its onset. [Typically 3 - 8 hours after completion of a proper stimulating exercise plan.]"

No Such Thing As A Bad Athlete

No Such Thing as a Bad Athlete

The competition out there is getting tougher and tougher. With young children beginning to specialize earlier and earlier, the bar is being raised ever so slightly each year.

Here is my fundamental belief about all athletes.

 “There is no such thing as a bad athlete. There are some

athletes who mature faster, some athletes that develop faster,

and some athletes that figure it out faster. But given the

chance to properly develop, recruit, and hold muscular

positions in the manner a muscle was intended, any athlete

can improve to a level way beyond his or her expectations or

the expectations of others.”

There are some kids who “just have it.” Some kids just seem to be able to do it all. They seem to have been given a little bit more in their snack packs when they were born. You’ve seen them, the kids who can do anything on the field or court and make it look easy. There are

many reasons for this that scientists are still arguing over. It’s the same as the kids in school, who can just pick up a book, read it once, take the test, and get a perfect score. They’ve been given an extra gift. If your child doesn’t have it, don’t worry. It’s no indication that your child can’t or won’t succeed to high levels in sports. There are no scientific indications that your son or daughter can’t succeed to higher levels. It just may take longer.

I can show you countless number of kids who started out labeled as young “phenoms,” and as time went on, they ended up fizzling out. The reason for this is that some kids mature faster than others, and at an early age, that makes a big difference. Some children advance quicker physiologically than others, giving them the appearance of being gifted. But as time continues on and the other kids begin to mature, the playing field starts becoming more level. When these types of players rest on their laurels, thinking that they are the next Cristiano Ronaldo, their talent levels slowly erode as time goes on. They need to learn the discipline of hard work to continually take their talents to the next level. I’ve seen firsthand young, less-than-average players work their way up to Division I scholarships. They understood that, through endless hard work, they could develop the talent needed for that level of play.

Let’s face it parents, we’ll do some crazy things for our kids. If you really want to help your children become better athletes, help them believe in themselves. This is by far the number one thing you can do to help them. This is more powerful for your children to learn early

than hiring a dozen personal trainers.

To become any type of true athlete, it is going to take hard work. Nothing, but nothing, takes the place of hard work...nothing. Success can be achieved by both proper mental and physical preparation. Most athletes don’t understand what it takes to become a real athlete. Most

athletes think that because they spend an hour or two in the gym working out a halo instantly arises over their heads.

“Real Athletes Do The Things That Other Athletes Don’t

Want To Do”

As helpful as many parents are to their children, there are other parents who push them way too far in practice and in life. Some parents I’ve witnessed refused to feed their children who they thought were not at an acceptable weight to play competitive tennis. Another athlete told to me that, in order to prepare the young tennis player to become more mentally tough, the European parents put him in the closet for up to two days in order to learn to not to show weakness on

the court. Can you believe that? I mean I thought some of the U.S. parents were crazy. Well, I still do, but that’s another story. Locking your child up in a closet or refusing to feed them — my God, what’s wrong with these people?

As I’ve gotten to know numerous professional athletes, it is apparent that some of this parental “passion” can and has left long lasting mental scars on some of these athletes. The last time I looked, a child is still a child, and children continue to require motivation, compassion, discipline, and love. In the immortal words of my dad, Robert T. Conway, Sr., “I’ve never seen a child die from too much love.” I’ll be the first to tell you that I believe in hard work, mental

toughness, and desire, but there is a fine line that can be crossed in attaining those goals with a young athlete. When that line is crossed not from good intention but by being over-bearing or degrading in coaching, pathology can set in, and long-term harm can take place.

There are certain athletes that have internal drives that cannot be coached. They have a passion for excellence fueled by internal psyches that no coach on this earth can answer how to develop. When you have an athlete that is self-motivated and has a “drive” for success, you will have a champion on your hands. If you have to continually prod your young athlete to practice or play, it’s time to look into another sport. They either have “it” deep down inside, or they don’t. If they don’t have it, it’s okay. Just realize that the chance of getting to the very top of the sport is not as good.

Sports Injury: What Parents Need To Know

For any parent there is no other joy in the world but to watch their kids having fun and excelling on the playing field. But what happens when their child encounters their first sports injury?  Then sports aren’t so much fun. For some parents this part of sports participation can cause nervousness and anxious period of time.

It doesn’t have to be such an anxious part of your life. New sports parents learn this – “if your son or daughter plays sports they will get injured at some point.” It may be just a little strain or it can be a full blown concussion. You can drastically reduce their risk of injury by 80% or more with proper training.

Before we get into that let me first explain how injury occurs in the first place. All young athletes are built different and they will respond to sports differently when compared to one another. Some kids have been allowed to venture out to explore faster than other kids. Growing up in rural areas kids will be out exploring and playing earlier than some kids that grow up in the cities. Climbing rocks, swimming in lakes or ponds, running in fields playing on jungle gyms allows for the neuromuscular system to develop faster than someone sitting on their duff.

On the other hand some kids are sheltered more not being allowed to get out and experience unrestricted play. Some kids learn that exercise is sitting on the couch playing video games and other electronic devises.

Either way, this will give you a little idea why some kids develop faster than others. But understand, this doesn’t mean that any kid can’t excel in any given sport. High performance is an article for another day today we’ll just concentrate on sports injuries.

Your bones provide the structure for your body. When two bones come together it is called a joint. A joint is a movable area where two bones come together and held together by ligaments and cartilage. Muscles are there to propel the body. Muscles allow you to move the bones and allow the joints to go through their range of motion. Muscles also are designed to absorb force just like a shock absorber of a car. The shock absorber is designed to absorb the force or impact of all of the bumps, pot holes and other road deterrents so that the force doesn’t go up into the chasse of the car.

Well, the muscle does the same exact thing. The muscle is designed to absorb the force before that force can be transferred to the joints of the body. The joints are surrounded with ligaments, tendons, fascia and cartilage (also known as soft tissue) which ARE NOT designed to absorb force. The soft tissue can break down which will begin to cause a buildup of inflammation which then send a signal to the brain that is interpreted as damage. The brain then in turn sends a signal back down to that area to protect the area by decrease nerve signal to the area.

You see, in most cases where you feel that pain is not where the damage began. Many times the pain area is where the pain ENDED UP not where it began.  That is why in hundreds of cases the pain continues on for longer than it has to.

Another unknown problem is when the area of damage is fascial related. Fascia is that transparent film you see on a raw chicken breast before you cook it. Fascia covers everything in the body and in the muscles and joints when it becomes disrupted it can be “the” pain generator. By correcting this disrupted fascia the patient can experience immediate pain relief, reduction in swelling, and increase in their range of motion.

So how do you help your son or daughter prevent injury? As best as you can, get them outside to play. Get them involved in as many sports or other activities as you can properly fit into theirs and your schedule. The more varied the activity the better the body can continue to adapt to the many different variations that come their way.

Schools are cutting back on physical education classes due to funds and political correctness. Get active to make sure that your children are out there moving. Let them do what they like to do now what you like them to do.

Where Are We Going in Sports And Life?

Where Are We Going in Sports And Life?

Dr. Malcolm Conway

www.ConwayClinic.com

In the light of $2600.00 seats at the new Yankee stadium it looks like sports in general is much like the economy….going down the tubes.

In an HBO special with Bryant Gumble, the show highlighted the “New Physical Education” being taught in our schools.  They are proposing or have enacted changes in physical education that caters to everyone emotions.  It’s not about ‘no child left behind’ it’s now about no child’s feelings left behind!

There is a move on to eliminate the century old game of Dodge ball.  The man wants it eliminated from school because it can hurt young children's feelings when they get eliminated from the game too early. They have gone as far as to eliminate playing ‘tag’ in the school yards.  They feel that there are too many bumps and bruises caused by such a rough game.  I personally thought that was part of being a youngster. 

They have instead initiated “shadow tag”…where the kids have to step on each other shadows for them to be ‘it’.  This way they can’t get offended if a faster kid catches up with them to tag them. The genius head principle of this particular school took it one step further and will not allow any touching at all in the school.  That means no pat on the backs, no hugs, no high five’s!  The kids have to do “air high five’s” which means that they can go through the motion but can make contact.  They can wrap their arms around each other as long as they don’t make any contact.

What the hell is going on with our society? 

Have we all gone nuts….has political correctness taken over the minds of educated individuals?

I doubt very much that if we reviewed the studies that most serial killers where the ones who were put out of dodge ball first.  I doubt that most mass murders were tagged too hard and therefore developed a lifelong obsession to seek revenge.

I can’t even imagine what the Olympics will be like when the bulk of these kids grow up in the future.  I can see it now, the start of the 400 meter run.  We can’t shoot the gun because that may upset one of the runners (well I guess I’m too late for that one – they don’t shoot a gun anymore).

We’ll have to start each runner individually because starting all at once may be too stressful and may promote low self esteem.   I can see that there will be no finish line… “Just stop when you get tired…we don’t want you to get too stressed out about the finish.”

Hey folks, let’s get real here.  Feelings whether good or bad are a natural part of life.  If your “feelings get hurt” it’s more your problem than anyone else because you’re the only one that can allow those feelings to get hurt in the first place.

Sports promote competition amongst others and amongst yourself.  Many individual sports such as golf, swimming, and running are just a few that  allow you to push yourself to areas that are needed for you to grow as an individual.

If sports are so bad in developing self esteem than why don’t the same educators drop all grading systems in school?  If Johnny gets and A and Mary gets a C what happens to her self esteem?  Well then if this happens in sports then it can as easily happen in educations, music, art and everything else in life.

Then what do we have then…. “ladies and gentlemen the Boston Pops now will play Mary Had A Little Lamb….we tried to play Beethoven but it was too stressful for our musicians.”

So where are we going in sports?  Sports are about physical accomplishment, sweat, hard laborious work, time away from your family, injury, commitment and competition. 

Competition against yourself, competition against another athlete, competition against another team and competition against another country…it’s how humans measure themselves against one another.  And with competition comes winners and losers. 

Competition drives our society.  Competition actually drives our economy…the more hard work and success the more money will follow.  That is why that everyone on the planet can’t become a medical doctor, lawyer, physicist because it takes effort, sweat, laborious work, time away from your family, commitment and yes, shall I say, competition.

We compete for money…the more value that you add to yourself and others around you then you are rewarded with more money.  Telling everyone that they are special, that they are equal, that they are entitled to have everything without producing a viable exchangeable product for that work is criminal.

I believe in one very strong principle… “It’s not what happens to you – it’s what you do about it that makes a difference.” Sports is a reflection of life and it is the outlet for many Americans to view the ultimate in human competition. Competition doesn't promote a feeling a poor self esteem. It produces a feeling of production which normally spills over in life. A person who has developed a strong work ethic can take that "feeling" to help his family, neighbors and community better experience a better life.

The more we get away from nature the more complicated our lives become. Nature in its purest form can be harsh at times but it continues to thrive decade after decade. Nature is competition. Trees grow or die, animals in the wild eat or get eaten all of nature competes for survival day in and day out. When left alone, it seems to take care of itself.

Balance is the nucleus to life...Moderation initiates balance…and Common Sense is the engine that drives it all.

Sports Parents, Emotion and Scholarships - Is It All Worth It?

When I was a young kid I played many different sports. I can't count on my hand how many games my parents came to watch me play. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't abandoned or slighted it was just a different time period. Most parents were busting their but to make ends meet and many times they couldn't make it to your game... let alone your practices.

Today is much, much different. Go to any softball, soccer or youth football game this summer and you will see the rows of chairs of parents lining the sidelines of the field. Setting up strategically in an effort to cheer their kid on to victory with the hope of someday they will be sitting and cheering their kid in a Division I stadium.
Parents sacrifice time, expenses and even other siblings in order to push their kid to the top of the sporting world. Taking time off from work, using vacation time or sick time to attend specialty camps and other hosted events all in the name of scholarship.

Over time, parents are racking up some serious tabs of expenses attempting to get their kids name out on the radar screen. The problem comes when reality hits when they learn that the majority of scholarships barely cover a third of the college expense.

On the sidelines emotions run deep. Many parents have a difficult time maintaining proper fan decorum while attending a game. Some parents find it extremely difficult controlling themselves by quelling their emotional outbursts. Yelling at coaches, officials and even their own kids some parents find it necessary to find fault with many of the participants of the game.

This and many other issues lead me to write a book for parents on Raising Elite Athletes.
Raising Elite Athletes was written to help parents better understand what it takes to become a better athlete. In many cases, many parents are downright delusional when it comes to their children's abilities or performance. If they only knew the facts about college scholarships I submit that they would have better behavior on the sidelines.

Some parents, coaches and family have a difficult time controlling their emotions on the sidelines. Which brings home the point that if this behavior is being displayed in public what is going on at home? Here is a video that you need to see concerning some "out of control" parents and coaches pertaining to youth sports: http://tiny.cc/a2khv With more and more kids getting involved with youth sports many parents think it's their mission to make sure that there kid is getting a "shot at the big time." Well, I'm here to tell you that in the majority of cases most kids will either end up quitting the sport or finish playing the sport by the time college rolls around.

According to Jenny Dial of the Houston Chronicle, "the number of Division I scholarships offered in a given year accounts for less than half a percent of high school participants. The sport with the highest percentage of high school participants earning at least a partial athletic scholarship is girls golf at 1.6 percent. Football ranks second, with 1.4 percent of its high school participants in a given year earning a scholarship at a Division I university."

Basketball parents spent an average of $4,900 over six years, and parents of junior and senior soccer boys and girls spent an average of $8,000 for two years. With 1.4 percent of its participants going on to earn a college scholarship, football is the most economic sport for high school athletes. On average, a football player spends about $300 a year for off season expenses.

When it comes to gaining a "free ride" to college parents really need to take a step back and look at the numbers. Football for example has approximate one million high school participants for only roughly 16,000 scholarships. When you do the math it comes out to be 1.4 % chance of attaining a full college scholarship for football.

It gets worse from there, boys baseball the percentage is at.6% and in boys soccer it's a whopping.4%. Girls don't fair out any better, girls softball is at.7%, girls swimming is at 1.2% and girls basketball at.9%.
Most parents mean well. They want their young child to excel and advance in everything they do. The problem comes when they have a difficult time in controlling their emotions and second not fully understanding what it really takes to get to the top of any sport. If you are looking to help your son or daughter advance while keep your relationship in tack pick up a copy of Raising Elite Athletes. It will help you become a much better and informed parent allowing you to help raise a better athlete.

Dr. Malcolm Conway is recognized as one of the nation's leading specialist in sports injuries and rehabilitation. As a treating doctor for over 26 years, Dr. Conway has treated some of the biggest names in sports. Dr. Conway has authored five other books in the field of sports injury and rehabilitation. Dr. Conway's latest book written especially for parents called Raising Elite Athletes uncovers the myths of how to become an elite athlete and how parents can help. http://www.RaisingEliteAthletes.com