I never take these things for body pains. Usually if you warm up slowly the pain will go away. If it doesn’t, take a day off.
I take Advil maybe once or twice a month, and only on weekend nights after a really long workout where I need it to sleep better (the harder I work out, the harder my body works to heal itself, the less I’m able to sleep soundly). Never take it for daily aches/pains or during exercise.
No coffee. One afternoon Diet Coke during weekdays to keep me awake and productive. Skip caffeine on the weekends.
Drink beer and wine whenever possible. A good run needs a good hangover.
Every time this topic comes up my lower back starts to hurt. Before I knew about the possible dangers of NSAID and dehydration a Dr. gave me Vioxx to take for a ITB problem. Training in the summer heat and took one of those baby and was pissing blood after about 16 miles. Scared me silly. That was three years ago and I had a Dr. check my kidneys since then, but, scarrrry. Ok, I still take IBUPROFEN about every other day for sinuses and drink about 8 cups of coffee a day, however, I’m now drinking over 100oz of water a day. You’ll have to pry my coffee cup from my cold dead hands.
Interesting. Will Brink on his site, somewhere, says that Flax Oil reduces inflammation or soreness, in addition to so many other things, and he said its been common for athletes to say that once they got on the Omega supplements,which Flax Oil is loaded with, there was some joint and inflammation reduction, for some reason.
http://www.brinkzone.com/index.html
I saw that somewhere on his site. Here’s what he says:
"
Many bodybuilders and other athletes are starting to see the many benefits of flax oil for all sorts of uses. One obvious use of flax oil is a reduction in pain due to any type of inflammatory condition, including joint troubles. To understand why this is so, the reader must now endure a crash course in the topic of essential fatty acids and the many products made by these fatty acids found in the body. If you already know all this stuff you can skip over this material, but if you don’t know it, you will need this information for the rest of the article.
The definition of an essential nutrient is anything the body cannot make itself and therefore must be obtained from the diet. We need to eat an assortment of vitamins and minerals, approximately nine to eleven amino acids, and two fatty acids to stay alive and healthy. The two essential fatty acids (EFAS) are called linoleic acid and alpha-linolenic acid. The first being an Omega-6 fatty acid and the latter being an Omega-3 fatty acid. If the term “Omega-3 fatty acid” rings a bell for you it should. Fish oils are also well publicized and researched Omega-3 fatty acids (see below) that have been shown to have many benefits. “So what does all this have to do with my aching joints?” you are thinking. Ok, here is the skinny on why you had to endure that previous section. Flax oil is exceptionally high in Omega-3 fatty acids (alpha-linolenic acid). Omega-3 fatty acids, from fish, flax, etc., have been shown in the scientific/medical literature to reduce inflammation of any kind. Remember the “-itis” part of the word relating to joint problems? How do you think non- steroidal anti- inflammatories work? They reduce inflammation, but they also come with potential side effects and health problems. So how does flax oil do this wonderful thing? From both of the essential fatty acids the body makes something called prostaglandins. Prostaglandins are very short lived hormone-like substances that regulate cellular activity on a moment to moment basis. Prostaglandins are directly involved with regulating blood pressure,inflammatory responses, insulin sensitivity, immune responses, anabolic/catabolic processes, and hundreds of other functions known and yet unknown. The long and the short of all this, without going into a long and boring biochemical explanation, is: Omega 3 fatty acids are responsible for forming the anti -inflammatory prostaglandins and the Omega 6 prostaglandins are responsible for making many of the pro-inflammatory prostaglandins, and other products derived from EFAS. A high intake of Omega 3 oils reduces inflammation (and pain) by this mechanism. Obviously, it’s a lot more complicated than that, but hey, I only have so much space to write.
People who add in 1-3 tablespoons a day of flax oil to a protein drink, or over a salad, often notice a reduction in pain in their joints, not to mention all the other great things EFAS can do for the hard training bodybuilder. Flax oil can be found in any large health food store under such brands as Flora, Omega, Barleans, and several other names (Even better than flax perhaps, Udo’s Choice oil is a great blend of different oils. More info can be found at Udo’s site connected to the links section of this web page).
"
I have been taking “Glucosamine, and MSM” and I really can’t tell, much, if it works. Flax for general health.
tom wrote: So many people pop a few pills b/c they’ve gotten into the habit of doing so whenever there is slight discomfort.
Isn’t that the truth? Chronic or severe pain is one thing, but goodness knows…thinking you have to take something for every little thing is stupid. Pain does happen for a reason. The old…" if it goes away when I warm up, I’m OK" trick is a pretty good one. THEN you might do yourself a favor to take an anti-inflammatory…like ICE, for instance. Or rest.
I know a woman that is CONSTANTLY dosing her children with something. I have never been around her and her children longer than an hour that she hasn’t funnelled some drug down their little throats like a mother bird to her chicks. This also reminds me of a time I saw a child at a resturant happily eating a bowl of cornflakes…he was more than halfway done, very content, and his mother said, “Oh, no, I forgot the sugar!”…then dumped a couple of spoonfulls on the remainder of the child’s cereal. Wow, talk about off topic…
hey KP12345, thanks for the infomation. I usually put ~ 4 tablespoons of ground flax seed into my morning cereal (just grind it in a coffee grinder for 10 seconds). Is this sufficient, or should I go for more ? I’ll also look into glucosamine sulfate. Have heard good things about it.
I used to take advil 2 to 5 days a week. Last summer it finally go to me, i had horrible stomach pains and they attributed to ibuprofen. Cant use it anymore. Now I have to be more careful with my training, recovery, and fun nights on the town.
I seldom use advil or any painkillers.
I drink a fair amount of coffee. However, I don’t think this would be any different if I was not a triathlete.
Half my family (mom’s side) is Swedish and they don’t drink anything but coffee. I’m serious. My mom said that she had to become accustomed to drinking water (at all) throughout the day when she moved to a drier/hotter climate in south (of the U.S.).
Growing up I thought I would never be a coffee drinker… …Then I came to my senses:)
Justin D
Flax seed through the coffee grinder is great. I am not sure of the amount of Omega 3s you’d get per tablespoon.
Other whole food sources of Omega 3s:
<< salmon, mackerel, anchovy, cod, bass, snapper, shellfish, trout, and tuna all contain omega-3s. Oils other than flax that contain omega-3s include grapeseed, canola, soybean, and sesame oils.>>
kp
(aka Kevin Purcell, D.C.)
kp12345 was used when I registered because ‘kp’ was already taken.
I suppose I should sign on here at Slowtwitch using Kevin P.