Friday Q&A: Practice for All Seasons (Rerun)

Swimming Hole by Brad Gibson

Q: Practice and the seasons: Does your practice change with the seasons and if so how?

A: Where I live, there are seasons (though some people might argue differently), but rarely extremes of weather. But one summer day that was actually hot, I went to my regular Friday morning yoga class, expecting backbends because my teacher always teaches backbends the second class of the month. Our studio, though in a beautiful old building, had no insulation and very little climate control, with poor heating in the winter and no air conditioning in the summer, so it was unusually warm in the studio.

The teacher opened the class with a little smile, saying, “Today we’re going to do some nice cooling backbends.” Everyone laughed, because, of course, backbends are typically not at cooling. But guess what. We did do backbends, but our teacher modified his typical sequence so we did a cooler practice of stretches, passive backbends, and the less effortful, active backbends, rather than a “hotter” practice of standing poses and very active backbends.

That memory of that still makes me smile, but I bring it up today because I don’t necessarily change my practice with the seasons per se, but I’m definitely change my practice to fit the weather and the temperature in the space where I’m practicing.

Today is a cold and rainy day in Berkeley, California and my house is a little bit drafty, so I would incline toward an active, heating practice rather than a passive cooling practice. Trying to do, for example, a restorative practice in a cold room is not only very challenging because you get colder and colder the longer you stay still, but it is also not very effective, because being cold stimulates your nervous system, alerting your body and mind that you may in danger. So it’s very difficult to relax. On the other hand, the active poses warm up both you and the room quite nicely.

Likewise, being too hot is very stimulating for the same reasons; your nervous system warns your body and mind there may be danger. So when it’s hot, it’s a good time to do more passive and relaxing poses. Or, slowly work up to the active poses and take time to rest and cool down.

Naturally you don’t want to do only active practices all winter and only passive practices all summer, but as my teacher did that day, you modify any sequence by adding more cooling poses or heating poses to accommodate the climate, both outdoors and indoor. For your convenience, I’ve categorized the general groups of poses into Heating and Cooling.

Heating Poses:

• Sun Salutations
• Standing Poses
• Active backbends
• Headstand and arm balances
• Twists and abdominal strengtheners

Cooling Poses:

• Restorative poses
• Reclined poses
• Forward bends
• Supported inverted poses

Some other considerations: Your body is stiffer when you are cold, so that’s a time when you may need more stretching. When it’s hot and your muscles are more relaxed, you may not need to stretch as much. The weather also influences how physically active you are outside the yoga room. I also tend to be more physically active outside during warmer, drier months, walking, gardening, and so on. So to balance my body on more active days, I’ll focus more on poses that complement those activities (see Deciding What to Practice). During the rainy season when I spent more time in the house, I’ll naturally gravitate toward more active poses to compensate for being more sedentary. However, some people may spend the winter skiing (yes, I’ve heard tell of that) and the summer hiding out in an air-conditioned apartment (heard of that, too), so each person needs to find his or her own way with figuring out the best practice on a given day.

—Nina

Subscribe to YOGA FOR HEALTHY AGING by Email ° Follow Yoga for Healthy Aging on Facebook

Read More

A Woman Did a Single Yoga Pose and What Happened Next Will Blow Your Mind!

by Nina

She felt better. (see Featured Pose: Legs Up the Wall Pose)

Subscribe to YOGA FOR HEALTHY AGING by Email ° Follow Yoga for Healthy Aging on Facebook

Read More

Are Painkillers Recommended To Deal With Muscle Soreness? By Veeraj Goyaram

Training and Supplements Advice

Are Painkillers Recommended To Deal With Muscle Soreness?

By Veeraj Goyaram
 

I was doing some reading on delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) today and came across some really nice articles, among which is a very nice review in the journal Sports Medicine by celebrated hypertrophy scientist Brad Schoenfeld (Schoenfeld BJ, 2012) I would like to share my findings with you.

Pain killer pills, mainly Non-Steroidal Anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) may be very popular among bodybuilders because of the quick relief they provide to the common aches and pains associated with our battles in the gym. I myself have been guilty of popping pills albeit quite rarely to deal with soreness, not because I am a pussy but because the pain of the previous day's training was standing in my way of training a particular body-part efficiently.

Common NSAIDs include Aspirin, Naproxen and Ibuprofen and are easily available over the counter and on shelves almost everywhere.

How do NSAIDs reduce muscle soreness?

Molecules known as prostanoids are partly responsible for DOMS. They are known to cause inflammation and sensitize your pain receptors so that your sensitivity to pain increases. NSAIDs have been found to block the production of prostanoids by inhibiting an enzyme called cyclooxygenase (COX) involved in the conversion of arachidonic acid to prostanoids.

The problem with NSAIDs.

The problem with NSAIDs is that it may not be a good idea to counter inflammation that occurs after exercise because it plays an important role in muscular development. Prostanoids are involved in the stimulation of protein synthesis in muscle and blocking its production may be counterproductive to muscle growth.

Research using rats corroborated the above as muscle hypertrophy was found to be reduced by 50% if NSAIDs were administered regularly. However, human studies showed confounding results because NSAIDs were seen to increase muscle hypertrophy. Before you rush to the pharmacy to stack up on NSAIDs let me please warn you that is a catch in these findings: the research was done in untrained and elderly subjects. What is happening in these subjects may not be a reflection of what happens in a young well-trained or actively exercising individual.

Another interesting finding is that NSAIDs use can decrease the number of satellite cells. These are "repair cells" which are located next to muscle cells. In response to muscle-damaging exercise like resistance training satellite cells are activated because of the need to increase protein synthesis (Figure below). This activation is prevented by NSAIDs.

NSAIDs prevent the activation of satellite cells which help to regenerate muscle

The take-home messages:

• Do not go overboard with NSAIDs. It may be fine to use them once in a while to treat unbearable pain but don't make this a habit.

• Bodybuilders thrive on pain. Most of us love DOMS because it is an indication that we have caused damage and the muscle is now growing bigger. We feel crap if we aren't sore the next day. In most cases we let the pain go away by itself rather than take painkillers, don't we? 

Note: soreness is not always a good indication of workout effectiveness. 

More on that in another article.

• If soreness is really an issue for you like for instance you play sports in which you will get your butt kicked if you present to your practice or competition sore the next day then there are several treatment options at your disposal. One being the use of L-Carnitine to help reduce muscle soreness. Another article will deal with nutritional treatment of DOMS.

References

Krentz, JR, et al. The effects of ibuprofen on muscle hypertrophy, strength, and soreness during resistance training. Appl. Physiol. Nutr. Metab. 33: 470-475, 2008.

Mikkelsen, UR et al. Local NSAID infusion does not affect protein synthesis and gene expression in human muscle after eccentric exercise. Scand. J. Med. Sci. Sports 21: 630-644, 2011.

Schoenfeld, BJ. Does exercise-induced muscle damage play a role in skeletal muscle hypertrophy?J Strength Cond Res. 26(5):1441-53, 2012.

Soltow, QA et al. Ibuprofen inhibits skeletal muscle hypertrophy in rats. Med. Sci. Sports Exerc. 38: 840-846, 2006.

Join us for discussions on our facebook group
Free advice & daily bodybuilding talk
Your #1 Bodybuilding destination in Mauritius 

BODYBUILDING MAURITIUS

My Bio: I am a Mauritian originally from Roche Bois, Port Louis and now based in Cape Town, South Africa where I work as a research and development consultant (product developer) for the nutritional supplements and functional foods company. I did my postgraduate studies in molecular biology of exercise, looking at the influence of nutrition and exercise in gene expression in muscle. My research is relevant and applicable to exercising individuals, sports persons and diabetic individuals. The knowledge that I share with you stems from my 18 years of experience in bodybuilding and 8 years of university education in the field. I have also published work in the American Journal of Physiology: Endocrinology and Metabolism (2012, 2014), International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism (2013) and co-authored two book chapters on exercise and diabetes. I also presented my research work at the 2012 International Sports and Exercise Nutrition Conference (UK).

______________________________________________________________________________

©,2014 Veeraj Goyaram, Bodybuilding Mauritius. Any reprinting in any type of media is prohibited.

Disclaimer: The Content on this site is intended to be used for educational and entertainment purposes only. It is not intended to be and should not be interpreted as medical advice or a diagnosis of any health or fitness problem, condition or disease; or a recommendation for a specific test, doctor, care provider, procedure, treatment plan, product, or course of action. BODYBUILDING MAURITIUS is not a medical or healthcare provider and your use of this site does not create a doctor / patient relationship. We disclaim all responsibility for the professional qualifications and licensing of, and services provided by, any physician or other health providers posting on or otherwise referred to on this Site and/or any Third Party Site. Never disregard the medical advice of your physician or health professional, or delay in seeking such advice, because of something you read on this Site. We offer this Site AS IS and without any warranties.  Correspondence: vicgoyaram@gmail.com

_______________________________________________________________________________

Read More