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Thursday, November 30, 2017

Friday Food: Oven Roasted Chick Peas

Looking for a quick on the go snack that still packs a little bit of crunch?  We know that is typically our downfall with snacks is the salt and the crunch and this recipe is a great alternative and one that we will definitely be trying to utilize.  Check it out below.

Ingredients: 
-2 (15 oz) cans chickpeas (also known as garbanzo beans) thoroughly drained and rinsed (about 3 cups)
-2 tablespoons olive oil
-1 tsp ground cumin
-1 tsp chili powder
-1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
-1/2 ts sea salt

The Game Plan:

  1. Heat the over to 400degF and arrange a rack in the middle.
  2. Place the chickpeas in a large bowl and toss with the remaining ingredients until evenly coated.  Spread the chickpeas in an even layer on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until crisp, about 30-40 minutes.
  3. THATS IT!!!



Source: Oven Roasted Chickpeas

Thanks to Kyle from Clinically Pressed for the recommendation.

Wednesday, November 29, 2017

Study Spotlight: Physical Recovery, Mental Detachment and Sleep as Predictors of Injury and Mental Energy

By: Joel Luedke

Exercise can be a great form of mental detachment from your busy life.  It can revive you with energy and really help your body get into an optimal state.  You can however take that overboard and all of the sudden the thing you were going to use to detach can be all consuming.  This study takes a look at how being able to detach yourself from physical activity can help you both mentally and physically.

What They Did:

Researchers did a survey guided by the Demand-Induced Strain Compensation Recovery Model of 161 recreational athletes.  What researchers were looking for as how people responded to physical recovery, mental detachment and sleep in injury rates and mental energy.  Recreational athlete were a previously unstudied population in regards to these factors.


What They Found:
Results showed that being able to mentally detach was related to both physical health and mental well-being.  Being able to mentally detach was strongly related to mental energy, more so than to injury.  It was also positively related to sleep quality and amount of sleep as well.

What It All Means: 
These results may not seem overly surprising, at least they weren't to me, but then I started thinking more about the actual application Mentally detaching from work and not taking things home with you  has been shown to be very helpful in helping with mental health and sleep quality.  Everyday people can use recreational sports and exercise as a 'release' from work and a form of detachment.

When people can potentially get themselves in trouble is when they begin to focus on the external activity too much and they aren't able break themselves away from those activities.  People can use these activities as a release and have them take over and then that can affect their ability to avoid injury and drain their mental injury.

The take home point is don't let something (exercise) that is supposed to be a release from mental stress become the focal point of more stress.  Allow yourself to mentally detach from these activities and also physical recovery in order to get the most benefits.

Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Inflammation and Your Life

By: Joel Luedke

The research continues to expand showing that a lot of the root causes of so many problems we are dealing with is excess inflammation in the body.  Inflammation has had a potentially confusing definition depending on what level of health and wellness you are at.  Here we are going to discuss a couple of the differences between 'good inflammation' as well as 'bad inflammation' and then talk about what are some steps you can take to control excess inflammation in your life.

"Good" Inflammation

Inflammation is the initial part of any recovery process that takes place in the body.  Whether you injure your ankle playing basketball or just have soreness from a hard workout inflammation is right there on the scene.  This is the type of inflammation that is natural and what we want to occur when these things happen.  Along with this inflammation comes the bodies defense system to start cleaning up and repairing the injured area.  This occurs to the same extent with hard workouts as your body is working to repair and adapt as you make muscular adaptations.  All that being said, we don't want too much.

"Bad" Inflammation
When inflammation stay around too long after an injury you can start moving into an area where it might be detrimental to your body.  When this occurs the inflammation can cause congestion in the area and not let the proper blood flow and corresponding nutrients make it into the area to finish up the healing process.  This is when ankles are swollen for far too long and delays in the injury recovery process occurs.

'Bad' Inflammation doesn't just occur with injury.  This can happen to your body over time if you are consistently putting in 'inflammatory' foods that tend to spike blood sugar and your body has to work harder to deal with and store away.  Along with this storage process can also come associated water storage and inflammation.  The foods that appear to be the biggest culprits for this are simple and refined carbohydrates.  Sugar taking most of the blame.  Long term ingestion of these foods leads to chronic build up of inflammation which we will talk about how clear up below.  The good news is to start the process doesn't take a long time.

Controlling Inflammation
Increase Water
These seems overly simple but it makes a huge difference.  Having enough water and fluid in your body to help keep your blood running smooth (think liquid vs. motor oil) makes a huge difference in how your body can handle everything in your body.  For me personally I know when I'm not hydrated as a vein in my lower leg disappears as fluid is sitting in the vessel space outside of it with no transport to leave (simplified, yes).  When I make hydration a focus everything functions better and your body is better able to handle the stress you place on it.

Anti-Inflammatory Diet
This is as much elimination as it is an addition diet.  The more you can limit 'inflammatory foods' such as simple carbs and sugar the better your body will respond.  Often times you can feel these differences in as few as a couple days if you eliminate quite a few things.  Replacing these simple carbs with vegetables or more complex carbs (i.e. sweet potatoes) as well as fruit (some debate on this but the fiber seems to help keep the spike in blood sugar relatively low) can make a huge difference in how your body reacts.

Other items you can add are monounsaturated and versions of polyunsaturated fat to your diet.  This could include things such as nuts, fish, avocados and utilizing more olive oil as a dressing or as an addition to your meal. By adding these you are helping up the anti-inflammatory aspects of your body and letting them work on a higher and more efficient level.

Movement
We have discussed movement when it comes to injury and evacuating swelling before and we want to echo that for control of general inflammation.  The lymphatic system in your body does almost all of the work with 'waste' removal throughout your body.  It processes all the junk and cleans it out but it is a PASSIVE system.  This means it needs something to make it function and how it gets that is through muscle contraction.  Think of the muscles as squeezing the excess fluid and junk out of the area in order to move it back to the core of your body to be processed and gotten rid of.

While this can help clear out a swollen ankle it is also highly beneficial when it comes to inflammation overall.  This doesn't mean going nuts when it comes to exercising and doing hours a day but it does mean getting up and moving throughout the day and also going for some walks to help keep your muscles contracting and that fluid moving.  This can make a huge difference.  Obviously you can add more exercise just be careful not to go overboard and great more inflammation than you are moving out.

These are just some basic areas to start but the basics can work wonders.  If you're looking to take your anti-inflammation to the next level try 'Flame Off' by Paragon Nutrition and use code "CP15" for 15A% off at check out.  This will help load your body with more things to help combat inflammation.  Let us know if you have any questions by reaching out at info@totalathletictherapy.com

Sunday, November 26, 2017

Mobility Monday: Mobilizing at the Point of Restriction


We know this one starts off a little strange but the information that eventually comes out of it is well worth listening too.  Dr. Starrett makes some great points about moving through some restriction areas and also on knee placement and movement and what can be good and bad for your knees.  Well worth making it through the awkward kayaking portion.



Things It Helps:
-Hip Mobility
-Finding the Best Position to Mobilize
-Reducing Low Back Pain

Wednesday, November 22, 2017

Study Spotlight: Massage Therapy Attenuates Inflammatory Signaling

By: Joel Luedke

Massage therapy is a lot of peoples favorite way to relax and recover.  If you ask those people I don't think you'll find many that would argue its positive effects.  All that being said there hasn't been a lot of compelling research out there to show the physiologic changes on how massage affects those things.  While feeling and 'knowing' it works is good evidence it is always reassuring to see the
physiologic research back up the 'know'.  Check this one out.

What They Did: 
IN this study the researchers were looking at how massage would get a response in inflammatory signaling vs. no massage treatment.  They used separate quadriceps of 11 male participants after exercise-induced muscle damage.  The way they looked at these inflammatory signals was using muscle biopsies (ouch) from the lateral quad at baseline, immediately after a 10 minute massage and then after a 2.5 hour recovery period.

What They Found:
Like we mentioned this article got very deep into the science but we wanted to make sure to sum it up here.  There was NO effect on muscle metabolites (glycogen, lactate) but massage attenuated several inflammatory signals that thereby mitigated cellular stress resulting from the muscle damage.  Those were inflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interluekin-6 while reducing heat shock protein 27 phosphorylation.

What It All Means:
You don't always need to have all the science to know if something anecdotally works for you.  While this isn't the strongest type of research out there it can be effective.  What this study accomplished is looking at a physiologic reason to help explain why massage appears to be beneficial for recovery from muscle damage.  This remains an area that needs more research but these results are promising in favoring that you can help mitigate/control some of the inflammatory process that comes with breaking down tissue through workouts/competition.

There is more work to be done but if you believe in massage either as a client/patient or practitioner this study adds more science behind how it can be beneficial and why that is.  If you think massage works keep on going with it and like they reference in the article is may be a great alternative to some other pharmaceutical options.

Resource: Crane, Justin. Massage Therapy Attenuates Inflammatory Signaling After Exercise-Induced Muscle Damage.

Tuesday, November 21, 2017

Is the Turkey Really Making You Sleepy at Thanksgiving?

By: Joel Luedke

The big Thanksgiving meal (or meals depending on your day) is coming up and along with that comes the almost inevitable overconsumption of food.  It happens to the best of us.  Along with this meal comes the traditional Thanksgiving nap.  This nap has been long blamed on the turkey but is it really the turkeys fault?  He has had a rough enough day the way it is.

The idea that turkey makes you sleep due to tryptophan has been around for a long time.  While it is true that tryptophan is present in turkey and it is true that is a precursor to melatonin and can contribute to sleep it might not be the full on culprit to your post meal nap that you think.  The media boom around this idea is the same as the presence of resveratrol in wine.  While it is true that it is present in wine the levels at which it is might not have all the health benefits you were hoping for.


Now back to the turkey.  Again tryptophan is present in the turkey but there is another potential explanation for why you get so tired after you eat.  First, some basics in digestion.  The blood in your body concentrates where it is present most based on what activities you are partaking in.  In activity your blood focuses it work on the muscles as that is where most of your bodies activity is occurring. When you are eating your blood focuses is work to the digestive tract to help with the breakdown and  digestion of the food.


With all that being said your stomach is highly efficient but with some lines of thinking it can only handle so much of certain types of food at a time.  One line of thinking looks at both carbohydrates and protein as 'concentrated' foods and that the body can only really handle one of these at a time.  This line of thinking also looks at vegetables as very neutral and being able to combine with either food (fruits are another story for another day).

The idea behind this is when you consume large amounts of both protein and carbohydrates in a meal your stomach starts working overtime in order to try and break down both of these foods in combination and that is where things get difficult.  Your body basically starts working overtime in order to accomplish this task and while it doesn't feel like a workout your body is putting out a lot of energy to get this process accomplished.  By some estimates to fully breakdown that huge meal it can take 6-8 hours.

The bottom line of it all.  Do you have to skip Thanksgiving meal or completely change it around?  No that's not what we are saying.  Try this though.  After lunch do you get tired and feel like you need a nap?  What did you have for lunch?  Was it a huge sandwich with fries or a burger?  Did that make you tired at all around 2-2:30pm?  Try switching it up the next day and having a salad or just focusing on protein one carbohydrates for the day.  See how you feel and if that helps with that mid-afternoon 'lull'.

Don't blame the turkey for everything and try some mini-experiments to see how your body responds.  It may be as simple as the food combinations you put together.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Monday, November 20, 2017

Mobility Monday: Highly Skilled Sitting

There are a lot of fun things to do around the Thanksgiving Holiday and unfortunately a lot of those things revolve around sitting.  While it is good to relax and take it easy you still don't want all of that to completely wreck your body by being stuck in a seated position all weekend.  Here is a great video to help break down how you can 'effectively' sit to make sure to not get yourself into a complete bind while you enjoy the holiday weekend.

Things It Helps:
-Reducing hip tightness
-Reducing low back pain
-Maintaining free moving hips


Tuesday, November 14, 2017

Process

By: Joel Luedke

Football season started for most back in the middle of August.  No more two a days this year but still plenty of time spent in the athletic training room, the sports performance center, meeting rooms and the practice field.  Take all those things and extrapolate it out over the next 3 months while adding school to the list and that has the recipe for a long season.


Our season at UWL has ended and each year we have the privilege of listening to the seniors talk

about their experience and pass on information and advice to not only the younger players but also the staff that will be back next year.  There seems to always be consistent themes going through those message and one is embrace the grind.  Another is buy into the 'process' and that is what we are going to talk about today, 'the process'.

Very little in life comes quick and almost never easy.  What you do on a daily basis will almost always be a direct reflection on the results that you will get.  Angela Duckworth in her book 'Grit' talks directly about this.  It is the micro improvements on a daily basis that leads to the results you are looking to achieve and the days you don't want to do those little things are the days you need to the most.  That is embracing the grind and adding to the process.

One of my favorite strength coaches out there, Nick Winkelman had the best description of looking at your "job".  In an interview Coach Winkelman discusses his two passions in life, his family and his profession.  He makes it very clear that it is not his "job" as he doesn't believe that description does his work justice.  He is very proud of his profession and embraces that he gets to be in a constant process of evolution and growth in his work.  This outlook has made him extremely successful and a highly respected coach.

I think we all too often forget to enjoy the day to day grind.  We look past what we can get done today in an effort to see what tomorrow might bring us.  Time goes by quickly and we often find out that we thought was going to last forever doesn't and we feel like it slipped away without any of our own control.  When it comes to your life and your pursuit of anything whether it be your profession, your family, or you health make sure to embrace every minute of it.

A phrase I've tried to work in this year and need to continue to improve on it "can I/we do it better".  I tried to work this in not to ever downplay what I/we/my team is doing, that isn't the purpose.  We implemented it as a way of constantly challenging ourselves of can we better the process.  Can we make small changes on a daily basis that will lead to much bigger outcomes.  I think if you add something like this to your life the improvement and success is almost sure to follow.

Embrace the grind, enjoy the process and when it comes down to it, get after it every single day.





Sunday, November 12, 2017

Mobility Monday: Heel Cords and All Their Tightness


Ever dealt with tight calves?  Yeah, us too and it can really put a lot of stress on other parts of your body directly tied to the muscle group.  Tightness through your calves can cause you all types of pain and issues in your ankles,  your knees and even going up to your hips.  If you go along with Anatomy Trains tightness in your calves can also contribute to potential headaches.  A long story short, make sure you get to work on these structures.


Things It Helps:
-Ankle Pain
-General Knee Pain
-Calf Tightness


Tuesday, November 7, 2017

Study Spotlight: The Efficacy of Repeated Cold Water Immersion on Recovery Following a Simulated Rugby Union Protocol


There are many ways to recovery and some are more expensive than others.  One of the easiest is hoping in a cold tub or some form of an ice bath.  Is it effective though?  This Study Spotlight takes a look at how cold water immersion could help you recover after a heavy duty competition.


What They Did: 
Investigators took a look at how male rugby players responded to cold water immersion (CWI) compared to a control group that did not do CWI after a simulated rugby match.  The markers that were tracked were creatine kinase, perceived muscle soreness, counter movement jump (CMJ) and maximal voluntary isometric contraction on the knee extensors.  These markers were looked at pre, post-exercise, 24 hour and 48 hours following exercise.

The protocol was 2 x 5 min immersions at a temperature  of 10degC (50deg F) separated by 2.5 minutes seater at room temperature. 

What They Found: 
There were several large effects sizes observed for muscle soreness at both 24 and 48 hours post exercise with lower soreness values in the CWI group.  These effect sizes were observed for CMJ at all points in time and at 24 and 48 hour post for maximal voluntary isometric contraction.  There was also a moderate effect size observed for CK immediately post exercise followed by larger effect sizes at 24 and 48 hours post exercise.

What It All Means:
Through all the effects the bottom line is that doing cold water immersion following a simulated rugby match appears to provide enhanced recovery compared to not doing anything. While this study looked only at rugby that basic premise can be applied to most contact sports even if they aren't as violent as rugby.  This is a very simple and easy way to recover and get a jump start on prepping for your next workout and/or competition.  Give it a try.

TAT Article: Cold Water Immersion on HRV 


Resource: Barber, Sean. The Efficacy of Repeated Cold Water Immersion on Recovery Following a Simulated Rugby Union Protocol

Sunday, November 5, 2017

Mobility Monday: "Knees Out" and Proper Foot Loading


Whether you think you should focus on the foot and work your way up to the knee or if you need to focus on the hips and work down this video is a great resource.  While often we get stuck in it has to be one way or the other this is an example of when you need to take the whole system into account and make sure that it is all working properly to get the results you are after.


Things It Helps: 
-Squat form
-Knee pain when squatting
-Patellar tendonitis



Wednesday, November 1, 2017

Study Spotlight: Foam Rolling and Muscle Activation


We talk a lot about foam rolling on the TAT blog.  We really do believe doing variations of your own soft tissue work can be highly beneficial in many aspects of your health.  It can help relieve tight areas and trigger points and in that way reduce pain.  It can help your body down regulate and settle in for the evening and recovery (think relaxing massage).  We haven't talked a lot though about the timing of foam rolling and when it could be helpful and also potentially harmful.  We focus on that in this Study Spotlight and also give some recommendations at the end.


What They Did: 
Researchers wanted to see if foam rolling the hamstrings and/or quadriceps would affect hamstrings and quadriceps activation in men and women.  The conditions included rolling of the hamstrings, quadriceps, both muscle groups and a control group (did nothing).  EMG activity was then analyzed in both the quad and the hamstrings on a single leg single leg landing from a hurdle jump.

What They Found:
After just foam rolling the quads the hamstring, biceps femurs, had its activation significantly reduced.  There was no significant change in quadricep activation when only the hamstrings were rolled out.  There was no effect on activation when both the quadriceps and hamstrings were rolled out.

What It All Means:
Is foam rolling now bad?  No, not at all we just have to be smart with the timing.   We don't recommend a lot of foam rolling pre-activity as you can do some muscle damage and in effect hurt your workout.  This was shown to a degree in this study where you can actually decrease the activation of your hamstrings by just rolling out your quads.  This could lead to potential for injury to increase and problems to ensue.  So what is the solution.

Our Recommendation:
If you feel the need to doing any rolling prior to a workout or competition make sure to make it general.  That means hitting a little bit of every major muscle group to make sure to not suffer the fate of your hamstring activity turning down and setting you up for more chance of injury.  A 'general' roll out can help this.

For after activity focus on the areas that are really tight and causing you some issues and at this point we don't worry as much about the potential decreases in muscle activation as we are done for the day and your body can set up for a chance to recover.


Resource: Cavanaugh, M. Roam Rolling of Quadriceps Decreases Biceps Femurs Activation