Looking after a weary body...

[4dabush]

Well 5-10% is better than nothing...placebo effect or not!
In the words of someone much older and wiser, "Believe in the force..."

Glucosomine Chondroitin was the good stuff when I used to be in the gym a lot, and I reckon it was good for about 10% less pain and quicker recovery. As a side effect it can help you retain fluid so don't panic if the scales bob up a bit.

My Knees are not quiet, but I really "believe" that the oil makes them feel less old - you know, not sore, not getting noisier, not aching or stiff after a big ride or when getting out of bed in the morning.

 

[smeck]

...................Do you have any tips for treating corks? I've got a Black and Blue hip from arguing with trees and rocks on the wekend!

Are you sure it's a cork? Normally a cork appears in a big patch of muscle, not on a bone. I had two methods for corks depending on who was footing the bill. One is a Physio and ultrasound, it works a treat. The other was Lasinol cream and massaging the cork in one direction to push the bleeding out. Most corks I had were thigh and calves so start below, push hard and run your fingers up to try and squeeze the blood back up to the torso. It hurts like hell, 10mins was generally enough for me to tap out, but it works. Both methods were combined with ice, 10mins on and off for an hour to stimulate blood flow and a compression sock/bandage for most of the day.

 

[Bjorn]

While not entirely on topic, I think this may be of interest to some other Vets.
I suffer from inflexibility, of body not mind, and I used to spend cash I don't have on osteopath visits. I was advised by my osteo' to do Qigong to help keep me loose. I'm pretty slack about it, but when the joints start getting stiff and I feel all crunched up; I whip out the DVD and do a session or two which gets me back on track and avoids having a consultation.
I know if I did it a few times a week I'd be more comfortable and it would help my climbing, but I just use it as a remedial treatment.
Anybody else do similar or perhaps yoga?

 

[jumpers]

While not entirely on topic, I think this may be of interest to some other Vets.
I suffer from inflexibility, of body not mind, and I used to spend cash I don't have on osteopath visits. I was advised by my osteo' to do Qigong to help keep me loose. I'm pretty slack about it, but when the joints start getting stiff and I feel all crunched up; I whip out the DVD and do a session or two which gets me back on track and avoids having a consultation.
I know if I did it a few times a week I'd be more comfortable and it would help my climbing, but I just use it as a remedial treatment.
Anybody else do similar or perhaps yoga?

Yep i practise ashtanga yoga to try stay flexible. I also surf everyday (waves permitting) and find if i dont do yoga i just get very sore and stiff. Helps the muscles recover and lets me play another day

 

[Justin Green]

I think i might start up yoga then, it sounds very beneficial. If your body feels like its been thrown from a low flying plane like mine does occasionally, is there a product that can help me strenghthen/nourish a recently re-constructed shoulder joint and minor knee pain?. Im keen to trial Glucosomine or any recommended alternative. Any help much appreciated.

 

[Deadman]

For Downhill - It might be 'old fashioned' but hitting the weights strengthens muscle, tendons and bones. I don't mean standing in front of a mirror doing reps with nancy weights while the meatheads in the background laugh at you. Get into a program and push challenging weights. If you work up to it there should be no problems. Unfortunately you local GP might not be that well informed about these things and not recomend you doing this for litigation reasons so.........best of luck.

 

[Jackstack]

Thought I'd add my piece after spending another session on the massage table. Find a really good massage therapist, it might take a few go's to find the right one but when you do its definitely worth the agony.

 

[2be]

Fish oil four times a day, but the habit was more for cardio health that joints. I suppose that it's another benefit. A quality multivitamin and I watch my weight since cycling is a power to weight sport, even if you only put on a kilo every year after ten years.... I swim two Km's on a Saturday morning and I don't drink Monday to Friday. Flexibility remains good for me so I must be lucky or doing something right.
I like the idea of Yoga and keep promising to look into it, there seems to be many strains of Yoga i think ' Iyengar' is taught locally ?

 

[Nerf Herder]

I always thought fish oil was for brain functions. I'll have to try some to reduce my

hmmmm ... I'm finding my plateaus after a fitness break through are way longer ... I have never been a stretcher ... but have started doing so semi regularly at night to help with recovery.

This seems to be helping, but I need to be more methodical and persistent ... my diet could do with some discipline as well.

Its also hard that all the lads I ride with are prolly 10-15years my junior ... I'm double a couple of the young punks oh well

 

[Exie]

Its also hard that all the lads I ride with are prolly 10-15years my junior ... I'm double a couple of the young punks oh well

Whats worse is going the other way around. I'm a good 5-10 younger than my riding buddies and they cook me every time. I dont know how they do it!

 

[WOFTT]

Temp Fix

Has anybody forgotten how good a hot bath is - especially after walking back up DH trails all day.

Glucosomine - I agree its a must and lots of stretching and warming up.

 

[harmonix1234]

Any tips?

Went for a big ride two weeks ago. I put myself in the pain cave and think I did some damage to the tendon running down behind my right knee.
The reason I reckon I've done something bad is that there aren't too many nerves in the tendons so if it's hurting then something's going on.

Usually when I go a bit harder than normal I feel a bit of pain for a day or two and I find that riding it out over a couple of days (commuting to work) generally seems to loosen it all up and get things back to normal. But each day I ride to work since going hard (two weeks ago) it just feels worse.

I know I should get it looked at by a professional, but has anyone had a similar experience with this area of the leg and similar pain/slow recovery, and how did they address it? It's the tendon that runs down the back of the leg behind the knee, the tendon closest to the inside of the leg.

 

[Red Peekay]

Lots of fishoil capsules every day keeps my knees quiet.

I'm on 14 fish oil capsules a day.... seems a heap, but mum's rheumatologist told me that for an anti-inflammatory effect you need to take 14mg of fish oil a day. Here is a link to the fish oil info sheet on the arthritis foundation site. Its about the only thing that has been clinically proven to help. The jury is out on the glucosamine, studies haven't gotten the same results as for fish oil

I take it for my aching knees. Am seeing a doc end of the month about stem cell therapy, so hopefully that may work out.

http://www.arthritisaustralia.com.a...o_sheets/english/colour/template_FishOils.pdf

 

[fingerchimp]

Ha! Sounds like we're all screwed! A herniated cervical disc at 30 made me realise I wasn't made of old washing machine parts like previously believed and was indeed flesh and blood like everyone else. Took me two years to get over that properly, if anyone knows what cervical radiculopathy means then you'll know how incredibly painful it can be.

I try to spend a lot more time stretching now than I used to, which means just doing some rather than none. IT (iliotibial) band exercises have sorted my cranky knees, I find it's the rotational movement of the knee when pedalling tired which causes me most pain. I'm (only) 32, still planning to be doing this in 20 years at least.

 

[Red Peekay]

Glucosomine - I agree its a must and lots of stretching and warming up.

Never found the glucusomine to work for me, the jury is still out on the effectiveness of glucosamine and it hasn't really been supported by most of the research.

 

[primal108]

tendons don't get a great deal of blood circulation through them, which tends to make the recovery time longer than bruising or muscular tissue damage.

one product that i use here at my gym is "Rapigel"... its actually for horses. owing a fight gym, we see a lot of soft tissue damage in muscles, ligaments and tendons. and rapigel has been one of those products that tends to work well. in saying that, it does say on the tub that its for animal use only. but then you should see some of the fighters who train with me... they kinda fit perfectly into that category. anyway, you can buy this zesty little product from livestock and pet supplies stores.

if you think of yourself as a bit of an animal, might be worth a crack. works for me!

for normal muscular fatigue etc after riding. make sure you have a good intake of magnesium. blackmore's make one called Bio Magnesium that is great for recovery and clearing lactic acid build up in the muscle groups. L Glutamine is one of the primary Amino Acids that helps the body with recovery also. these suppliments are both healthy additions to the 30+ riders diet.

yoga can help too. without needing to sell your OM to satan, or get all himalayan on yourself. Yoga is a great way to balance out riding or any sport after the age of 30 in my opinion. finding a teacher that doesn't speak in soft soothing pear shaped tones might be a bit hard. but the normal ones are out there if you look (good luck with that though...)

thats my two bobs worth anyway.. i'm 36 and still awesome!!! well atleast thats what my mum says...

 

[ray]

I've found that Fish Oil has been great, i've had half knackerd knees for years, used to be very painfull after every ride, it takes a while, as in a few months to 'get in your system' but i don't have sore knees anymore!

Ray

 

[Bill Gill]

heres my opinion

After epic days in the saddle XC/Enduro stuff. I hit the pool with my kick board and flippers do a dozen or so laps at a brisk pace, put the board away and bang out some freestyle laps, does me wonders. Then get into the stretching routine I do with resistance bands.
I do a strength training 3 times a week mainly to train the core and my main prime mover muscles ie Squats, bench press, deadlift and Overhead press and some cardio circuits designed for me by the gym owner which are bike specific.
I pull up pretty good after most rides the only time I have issues is if I don't keep the water and food up to me.
I maintain a good level of conditioning.

 

[indica]

Went and bought some fish oil today - will let you know how it goes, thanks for the tips.

 

[MrCove]

i've started on the fish oil too
2 capsules a day, plus 2 magnesium tablets (which seen to have got rid of the cramps i used to get)

A