In the interest of recovery…Do you elevate your legs at night? How?
I have tried it with a pillow on top of a blanket. It feels really good, but my setup gets all messed up by the middle of the night.
Are you supposed to elevate just your knees (over a bolster) - or your legs entirely?
I don’t have a bed that tilts. Looking for some simple suggestions.
Thanks!
I don’t elevate them at night, but do try and get them up in the evening or when it’s convenient for 15-20. I have some vascular issues in one leg (venous insufficiency and some phlebitis). Elevating them does seem to help. I also wear compression socks to work and any time I drive or fly long distances. I am also just starting to use them for running.
No…but my wife does…
sorry, couldnt resist
lmfao joke of the day!!
what makes you think that elevation of your legs would help with any aspect of your recovery??
Telephone books under the foot posts of the bed frame.
A physician told me to do it after surgery from a sports injury in high school.
When I got into endurance stuff, I figured it couldn’t hurt. It is a very slight effect and not noticeable at all when sleeping.
after an injury is a completely different thing. In that situation you are trying to decrease swelling and get blood and fluid to flow OUT of the extremity. After training wouldnt maximal blood flow be a good thing?
I think after hard training you want fluid to leave the damaged goods (aka the legs).
Many top runners sit in ice baths after hard training runs and definitely after races to help recovery. I would assume triathletes would as well. Obviously, the purpose of the ice bath is to reduce swelling. Elevating your legs would, in theory, have a similar effect.
The phone book thing is 100% not obtrusive and is covered by a bed skirt to keep the misses happy.
I can tell you that I know the sports medicine literature backwards and forwards and there is not one shred of evidance or any study that has shown that elevating legs (or an ice bath for that matter) aids recovery after a tough workout. There also have been many studies looking at massage,and this also has no effect on subsequent performance.
I haven’t read any literature on the subject.
It seems odd that virtually all professional runners (as one example) do something that has no value.
what? what about RICE???
Yeah. RICE!!!
Off-Topic
79, I’m a long time fan. Been a hardcore lurker for years.
sorry, rice only applies to a traumatic injury, where swelling is going to be a problem.
It is odd, but folklore is a very strong thing, and is passed from athlete to athlete from generation to generation. Its fine, these things dont hurt anyone, they just arent based in science.
No.
I do not claim to be an expert in the field of sports medicine, but I can say that in my experience with triathlon and run training, a post ride ice bath does SIGNIFICANTLY improve recovery time. When I began incorporating ice baths into the routine last year, I was able to increase run frequency, overall run volume, and (knock on wood) I have not been injured since. I found them most beneficial after long runs more than two hours. Not to say that these improvements are exclusively the result of taking ice baths (I would like to believe at least SOME of it has to do with improved fitness), but in my opinion, to say that ice baths are useless for increasing recovery is just plain wrong. I will continue to take ice baths after hard training days.
Mis dos pesos.
I spend about 5 minutes when I first get into bed using biofeedback training to bring extra blood to wherever I feel I need it. In a few minutes I can make any of my fingers (or hands or feet ) about 10 degrees warmer than any of my others but I use it mostly on my lower back and sometimes my knees. It’s a great way to relax and I find it fits nicely into the ideas of John Sarno (the it’s all in your mind doc) on back pain. A previous employer provided lessons for free and for the first lesson they showed a video of Joan Benoit running in slow motion to demonstrate how to breathe (with your entire diaphragm and into the belly).
every once in a while, yes, kind of.
if you sleep on your back, putting a pillow under your knees can relieve some of the stress on your lower back. so, on occasion, i do that.
otherwise, no.