Happy Friday, Become a Disciple

Hey Everybody, if you look on the left side of the site and scroll down just a bit, you'll notice a box titled "Disciples of the Scripture".  Click the 'follow' button to show your loyalty to the scripture of cafeGAINZ and to become a part of our crew!  Becoming a disciple will allow you to choose one of your presumably many public profiles (e.g. google, blogger, aim, etc.) to display in the box.  That means you, or more specifically your profile, gets to max next to me and Johnny and the gang.  Don't worry, you can change your display name or picture to pretty much anything you want (or you can choose to have no picture at all).  It's a very simple process that has the added benefit of automatically feeding our posts and scripture into your google or blogger reading list so you get all the latest GAINZ.  Become a disciple today!

And with that, here is a bit of scripture:  Ice isn't just for injuries.  Ice should be integrated regularly as a means for recovery from workouts and to prepare you for your next training session.  For example, if you are an avid runner, you should ice your knees, ankles, and feet regularly and especially after running.  Here's how ice treatment works according to this Runner's World article: "Cryotherapy ("cold therapy") constricts blood vessels and decreases metabolic activity, which reduces swelling and tissue breakdown. Once the skin is no longer in contact with the cold source, the underlying tissues warm up, causing a return of faster blood flow, which helps return the byproducts of cellular breakdown to the lymph system for efficient recycling by the body."  (emphasis added).  Thus, ice treatment does more than just neutralize swelling; it helps bring the body back to normal function after GAINZ.

Even better than the "spot treatment" you get with an ice pack, ice baths are great for total body rejuvenation.  In fact, the other day I had an ice bath after a high-intensity total body session and can unequivocally vouch for its healing powers.  

I realize the prospect of hopping into freezing water thrills about...absolutely nobody, so another way to get this treatment is if you have one of those shower heads that's connected to a hose.  The ladies know what I'm talking about.  Well anyway, turn your water faucet to the coldest setting possible and apply the cold water to whatever part of the body that needs treatment.  Let the water run for a couple of minutes then turn up the heat.  You can repeat this process a couple times and to as many parts of the body you wish.  I like to do my legs after a legageddon. 

So if you are feeling really beat up, try an ice bath or shower....like this dude: