ADVISES ON NUTRITION ,WARM-UP AND GETTING READY FOR A RACE @ cosman sport science
ALKA12™x COSMAN SPORT SCIENCE
ALKA12™ is a proud sponsors at Action Asia in providing Prizes and Massage Magnesium Therapy to runners at post-race suffering of muscles injuries.
Sponsoring and volunteers at Action Asia races in Sport Injury Care, Chiropractic, Foot Orthotics, Chiropractor Cosman worked with various athletes from every level since over 3 decades and pleased to share the following advises, tips & tricks.
As team, we massaged hundreds and hundreds of runners ! And this is Cosman statment :
“I have never seen a magnesium so pure and so concentrated as this one. ALKA12™ is a real bomb. The effect is immediate , it’s a real miracle to see runners half broken back on their feet in less than 20 minutes. It's incredible “
Whatever the sport you practice - No matter how hard you train & push yourselves, the real work-out starts before and after the work-out.
1) USEFUL NUTRITION NOTES FOR HIKERS & RUNNERS
Bio-available magnesium and calcium are both known for reducing muscle cramping, but there is more to it than that. Magnesium is a cofactor for the synthesis of ATP, the body's main immediate fuel for cellular activities. Sweating may decrease tissue magnesium levels, and it is tough to get sufficient magnesium in a regular diet. Normalizing magnesium through supplementation lays claim to improved aerobic performance, greater strength, and less exercised-induced muscle injury. Calcium loss through sweating can affect the buffer system, making the body too acidic. With low calcium, the body will balance itself by borrowing calcium from storage; yes, from your bones. Osteoporosis and kidney stones are then threats. Stones can develop from bone calcium (oxalate) released from “calcium storage” of the bones; this occurs when the body detects low calcium levels. Avoiding calcium in the diet is not the best way to prevent kidney stones! Unfortunately, calcium in food is commonly avoided because it is usually would come from vegetables reputed as gas producing. Supplements of calcium and magnesium are therefore quite valuable. Many anti-inflammatory drugs can irritate the stomach, and can cause intestinal bleeding.
Other useful information
Ask your doctor. Concerning electrolytes, too much sodium can causes problems that are commonly confused with heat stroke. Sodium supplementation has its’ place, but it is commonly overdosed by many athletes who self-prescribe, thinking that extra doses of commercially available sodium-based electrolyte replacement products will increase performance.
Distance runners commonly experience digestive problems including burning pain, sharp pains, and sudden desperation to find a “natural” toilet for diarrhea, as happens with “runner’s trots”. These problems can often be described and controlled. Intense emotional and exercise stress results in the adrenal glands producing higher than normal secretions of a hormone called cortisol. Too much cortisol affects activity and integrity of the hugely important mucous lining in the respiratory tract, bladder, and yes, in the intestine. Changes in the protective lining and enzyme-secreting intestinal cells causes problematic digestive imbalance. The mucous linings collectively contribute to the immune system, therefore, high cortisol also leads to immune suppression. This can explain why extreme athletes can have problems with upper respiratory tract infections and problems with their gut health. With shedding of mucous lining cells, stressed-out athletes can develop both “leaky gut syndrome” (where nutrient absorption is reduced), and food intolerances and intestinal disturbances such as casein (milk protein) intolerance. With athletes, reducing exercise is not always an option; one therefore needs to restore nutrients in safe and effective fashion. Treatment and prevention can be offered with supplemental nutrients, enzymes, herbs, and homeopathy. Natural medicine is best taken on the recommendation of NDs – Doctors of Natural Medicine. Naturopathic Doctors are highly trained in assessment and diagnosis, and helping to bring the body into homeostasis or equilibrium; the key to physiological health. Taking advice from websites, friends health food store clerks, or from a magazine piece is a hit and miss system. There are many considerations. Adaptogenic herbs (those that help body deal with stress) like rhodiola and gingseng are both immune modulating and help to regulate cortisol levels. N-acetyl glucosamine and glutamine help to rebuild the mucous lining. Probiotics are also useful for normalizing gut flora and rebuilding the lining. These are just a few. After testing for IgG food intolerances and removing these, the gut lining could heal more easily. In a double-blind trial, supplementation with 10 g of glutamine after running a marathon or ultra-marathon, significantly decreased the incidence of infections over the next 7 days. One hundred fifty-one marathon and ultra-marathon runners received (in double-blind fashion) either 5 g of glutamine, or placebo in 330 ml of water immediately after the run and again 2 hours later (total glutamine dose was 10 g). In the 7 days following the event, infections occurred in significantly fewer individuals in the glutamine group compared to the placebo group (19.2% vs. 51.2%; p < 0.001). Emotional stress-reducing considerations include occupational and relationship stress. Introducing meditation and breathing exercises can lower cortisol. Sufficient sleep (at least 8 hours a night) is very important for restoration. The healthy physiology of the body requires a natural chemical equilibrium known as homeostasis, and experienced sports doctors will team up with NDs, using their special education and qualifications to address the complexity of how the stress of intense training and racing can throw the body out of balance.
2) ON WARMING UP
Your warm up routine should be routine, or fairly consistent, whether you are going for a long easy run, preparing for a speed interval track workout, or if it is race day. A proper warm up routine for a 16-year-old athlete should remain fairly consistent throughout the person’s athletic life, be it recreational or competitive. Warm ups
are sports specific, but there will be more commonalities than differences.
The goal is to wake'up and warm'up'the'nerve/muscle'reflex systems to truly prepare the whole body for running. A five minute jog followed by five minutes of stretching is a minimal warm up at best. Drills to stimulate neuro-muscular
coordination should be incorporated into the warm up. The standard drills I teach for this are called “powerFspeed drills”. The idea of an effective warm up is that the nerves in fascia (the body’s global network of connective tissue), muscles and joints help coordinate smooth motion from segment to segment in your body; they send coordinated messages to other segments and to the brain. The brain sends reflexive messages back to the muscles,
telling the muscles how to react. Without warm up activation, reflexes might be slow and muscles can be uncoordinated; this can result in injuries. Old injuries and stuck (adhered) fascia can inhibit coordination from body segment to body segment. Runners should always incorporate a thorough consistent neuroFmuscular warm up
into their program; it prevents injuries while improving technique and performance.
3) GETTING READY FOR A RACE
Eight Weeks To The Race
Your training checklist for 3 days in Mongolia (off-road/mountain ultra marathon with technical challenges) is probably quite thorough. My advice is this: Don’t assume that the basics are beneath you. Effective and efficient basics can be far different than what many recreational runners are familiar with.
Technique Basics: A common problem after the first race-day is pesky knee pain (patella tendon and/or ITB irritation). While providing therapy services at many Action Asia Events races, the knee-afflicted group would gather around the campfire, and I would share some sports-science basics of running technique. For most of these athletes, the information and mini workshop was implemented next day, and their running became more efficient, with instant reduction of knee stress and symptoms. I advise runners to not wait and see what happens at the end of the first day, because these common problems can be prevented with preventative running wisdom and management implemented now, during training, well before the race.
Other Basics: In mid May 2015, I will lecture on the specifics of this “wisdom” to the Mongolia race participants at an AAE lecture, four weeks before the race. We will discuss technique basics, the inside story on foot orthotics, and other subjects such as hydration myths and truths. We can also discuss much of the following:
• Hydrate for a race the same as you should hydrate for training. Don’t “top up” pre-race with sugar, sodium & potassium.
• Inefficient technique results in sluggishness and possible injuries.
• If you run with no specific technique, then you either have no technique, or you are “born to run” like a cheetah.
• The technique that you race with should be developed during training and used in the race.
• Efficient running technique involves a few basic fundamentals. Most people are not aware of these basics.
• Running is a sport; any sport requires technique. I have taught basic fundamentals of running since 1985.
• Training for a race requires a blend of strength/endurance, speed, and tempo.
• Tempo and interval running are different species / kettles of fish.
• The task at hand during training and racing is running; concentrate on running, not on the music or your job.
Q: Is the injury muscular, joint, nerve, fascia or is it a misalignment problem?
A: Usually all of the above; they all affect each other. We implement combination therapies specific for the case.
By Dr. David Cosman, for Action Asia Events
Dr. David Cosman is the official chiropractor and therapy provider at Action Asia Events races. Dr. Cosman has worked in athletics since 1984 at levels ranging from novice to world class. Other sports covered by DC includes tennis, boxing, bobsleigh, skeleton, basketball, windsurfing, golfing, swimming, diving, and water polo.