How Inflammation Affects Your Workout and Life

Muscle inflammation is actually a gift; that tight achy feeling is our body’s way of yelling at us to back off and let it relax and have the chance to heal so it can make us fitter and stronger. That one little change in thought process has really changed the way I think about exercise induced soreness and inflammation. I now look at it as an opportunity an important part of the process rather than something I want to end fast so I can get back to training on the track or gym.

Most of the world will hear the word inflammation and images of swollen ankles, sore puffed up knees, and the heavy use of ice packs quickly come to mind, followed by the usual fears of being side lined for days, weeks or even months with strains, sprains, and other annoying injuries. But inflammation is also a key part of the vital balancing act going on in our bodies every time you work out.

You need enough of that inflammation to actually trigger a physiological response to make your body fitter faster and stronger and helps it also recover after a workout, but not so much inflammation that it hinders the body’s natural repair process

To appreciate just how inflammation impacts on your training, it’s vitally important to first initially understand how it affects the body in general. A main part of the immune system’s protective mechanism against injury, foreign substances, and infection, inflammation can be simply acute and short-term, like when you have a sprain, or lower-level and chronic, like when it’s related to such on-going conditions as a nasty sinus infections or even Lyme disease. Here’s exactly how inflammation works: When the immune system senses something is not right — you twist your ankle or even sprain your wrist, for example — it starts by expanding the blood vessels leading to the injured area and shuts off those leading away from it. The immune system then sends in a double dose of inflammatory cytokines and good white blood cells (think of them as your internal hardcore repair crew). With the “enter” door open and the “exit” door shut, the cytokines and white blood cells pile up and get to work, working overtime to rebuild and repair your injured muscles and ligaments. Once this trauma has been reduced and any infections in the area have been successfully eliminated, the body automatically reopens the “exit” blood vessels for the cytokines, and the swelling goes down.

The immune framework creates some level of inflammation in order to mend any sort of damage or ailment. Levels that are excessively high, in any case, can harm sound muscle and tissue cells while attempting to fix the undesirable ones, prompting additional aches and pains. On account of activity the issue may wind up constant: You take an extreme kickboxing class; a while later, your knees are marginally swollen as the recuperating procedure fixes and reconstruct your ligaments and tendons. Be that as it may, in the event that you take another class before you’re completely recuperated, you add all the more swelling to the effectively aroused region. In the end your body can’t keep up. “An excess of joint irritation can prompt joint pain,” alerts Steven Lamm, MD, educator of interior medication at NYU School of Medicine in New York City. “It’s unfortunate in different territories of the body also: Excessive irritation in the lungs can cause asthma, and in the digestive organs it can prompt colitis.”

But how much of this inflammation is too much? What exactly are the signs that you are actually now hurting instead of helping your body? Discover that very secret to mastering this fine balancing act.

What Causes Inflammation and Why You Need It

It’s not always the obvious injury or muscle overuse that causes inflammation. Every week some of your workouts are likely to set off the response, and that’s a good thing. Vigorous sweat sessions or bouts of increased-intensity exercise can cause varying degrees of small injuries, called micro traumas, to muscles, connective tissue, bones, or joints, especially if you’re not used to a workout’s duration or difficulty, says Laura Goldberg, MD, a sports medicine physician at the Cleveland Clinic. You may not even notice any aches. These micro traumas trigger the body to release an increased number of cytokines, which rebuild the soft tissue cells in muscles, ligaments, and tendons to be tougher and more durable so they’ll withstand a similar workout in the future. “Given appropriate rest and time to repair, the tissues adapt to the increased load and lead to improved strength and fitness,” Dr. Goldberg says.

And there’s a side benefit: Just as your muscles adjust and get stronger with each workout, your body’s ability to modulate inflammation within appropriate levels also gets better. That means you can work out harder longer while breaking down your muscles less and recovering faster. A 2007 study in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise found that only 12 weeks of aerobic exercise and strength training significantly decreased inflammatory markers in both younger and older people. “Women who exercise regularly tend to have lower stress levels and less body fat, both of which keep inflammation at a healthy point in the body,” Dr. Lamm notes.

Why Inflammation Is Good for You

Big picture: You need inflammation to fight infections and speed recovery. And small doses of inflammation will stimulate tissue to be more resilient to damage later; the more you work out, the more your cells can handle oxidation and inflammation. But also be aware too Much body Inflammation will increase your rate of aging.

“The challenge is finding your limits,” acknowledges Tom Hackett, MD, an orthopedic surgeon at the Steadman Clinic in Vail, Colorado, and head team physician for the men’s and women’s U.S. snowboarding and raft teams. “It’s obvious when your gums are inflamed, for example, but you can’t see inside the inflamed fascia or muscle tissues that can cause tendinitis, arthritis, or even fibromyalgia. What you can do is know your body.” In the same way that volleyball and tennis players realize they’re more likely to injure a shoulder or an elbow and runners and skiers know they’re more apt to injure a knee or ankle, be aware of your most vulnerable spots. “Swollen and painful joints, muscles, or tendons that repeatedly cause problems are signs that you need to rest,” Dr. Hackett says. “If it’s a chronic situation, you should see a doctor, trainer, or physical therapist who can help you establish a healthy cycle of exercise, rest, and recovery.” Your doctor can also check the ratio of arachidonic acid (AA) to eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) in your blood; this is a reliable marker of levels of cellular inflammation in the body. If you’re experiencing exercise soreness that keeps recurring in the same muscle or area of your body, it’s probably an indication that your anti-inflammatory response is compromised. The risk: Inflammation can spread from that area to other organs in your body. “Studies of people who are over exercising show that they have excessive amounts of inflammation and stress hormones in their bodies,” Talbott says. “This combination causes such things as a loss of muscle mass, an increase in belly fat, a higher risk for upper-respiratory tract infections, and significant mood changes with more fatigue and depression.”

How to Recover Properly

What’s best for your body is a careful balance between exercise and recovery. “Your goal is to train hard enough to stimulate gains in your fitness level and to then back off and let your body adapt to the gains,” Talbott says. If you tend to focus on one activity — cycling, say — consider swapping in one or two alternate workouts — swimming, perhaps — each week to give your quads a break while you’re still exercising. Strength-training? Allow 48 hours of rest to help your muscles recover before another session. (Note: Rest does not necessarily mean hitting the sofa for some Seinfeld reruns. It does mean finding alternate activities that use different muscle groups, Dr. Hackett says.) Exercising in the early morning will also have less of an inflammatory impact, as this is when certain hormones, such as testosterone and cortisol, are at their highest levels and will make for a faster recovery, says Barry Sears, PhD, president of the Inflammation Research Foundation in Marblehead, Massachusetts.

In addition, what you eat can contribute to your post-exercise recovery, but you need to tailor your choices to your workout’s intensity. After a four-mile run at a moderate pace, you might just drink water and refuel with a healthy dinner; after a 60-minute interval routine on the treadmill, you’ll recover faster if you consume a 200-calorie snack of carbs and protein, like a glass of low-fat chocolate milk, within 20 minutes of your sweat session, Talbott recommends. Getting a minimum of eight hours of sleep a night and soaking your legs in ice baths after a tough workout can also accelerate repair and speed the inflammation process along. Also, a growing number of studies point to massage as a key to faster recovery.

That’s what helped Anne Delp, 35, of Kensington, Maryland, stick with her summertime training for 5Ks and occasional half-marathons. “Every year I look forward to the better weather, when I can enjoy running outdoors,” she says. What Anne doesn’t look forward to are sore hamstrings, quads, and feet. A few years ago she found a sports massage therapist certified in myofascial release, a type of massage aimed at manipulating connective tissue and reducing tension and inflammation. It’s made a huge difference, she says: “I’m able to recover faster for my next run and reduce overall soreness.” Self-massage with a foam roller may offer similar recovery benefits. Meanwhile, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), like aspirin and ibuprofen, are good options for reducing immediate swelling from a strain or fall, but active women should use them judiciously for chronic aches because overuse of NSAIDs has been linked to kidney failure and stomach disturbances. NSAIDs may also slow and inhibit bone growth and decrease the ability of a tendon, bone, or ligament to heal itself, Dr. Hackett says. Drinking a lot of water with ibuprofen may help minimize the impact the drug has on your organs, Talbott advises.

What about the growing number of anti-inflammatory supplements on the market? “On a scale of one to 10, I give vitamins, minerals, and herbs about a one; polyphenols a five; and fish oils a 12 in terms of their performance,” Sears says. “If a product is labelled ‘anti-inflammatory’ but doesn’t contain adequate levels of the ingredient demonstrated to reduce inflammation in humans, it obviously won’t work,” he explains. Sears suggests using supplements that contain fish oil with combined amounts of EPA and docosahexaenoic acid greater than 600 milligrams a capsule. Other effective inflammatory ingredients include proteolytic enzymes, like papain in papayas and bromelain in pineapples, and specialized flavonoids, such as xanthones in mangosteens, Talbott says. Before you buy any of these items, though, experts recommend that you look for clinical studies in humans that support the claims. Also, check with your doctor to be sure they’re right for you.

Lifestyle choices also matter. More sleep and less stress are simple tweaks proven to reduce inflammation, as is meditation. A 2010 Ohio State University College of Medicine study found that after a stressful event, participants who did hatha yoga regularly had lower blood levels of compounds that are markers for inflammation.

Certain foods have also been found to fight inflammation. Tuna, salmon, and herring contain oils rich in EPA, a powerful anti-inflammatory agent. Colourful fruits and vegetables, like carrots and dark leafy greens, contain antioxidants that also combat inflammation. “Foods and supplements high in antioxidants, including vitamin D, prevent the production of free radicals, which can help avoid damage to other cells and excessive inflammation,” says Ray Strand, MD, a sports medicine specialist and author of Healthy for Life.

“The more vigorous your workouts or training, the more inflammation you’ll produce. A good diet can help you lower inflammation so you can do more high-intensity training with faster recovery,” Sears notes.

In the end, dealing with inflammation requires a balancing act. Workout, rest, recover, repeat. The more you respect your body and its limits, the faster — and better — you’ll reach your fitness goals

7 Factors that Effect Exercise Recovery

# 1 – Age

As you get older things start to slow down. It will take you a lot longer to heal from an injury than it did when you were young.

Workouts cause micro-trauma to the muscle tissue and this needs time to repair. It’s all part of the Super compensation cycle. So young people can usually get away with training more often than older folk.

# 2 – Genetics

We all have different quantities of muscle tissue and different proportions of muscle fibres too. Some people naturally have more Type II muscle fibres and are powerful and explosive athletes. Others have more Type I muscle fibres and are better suited to endurance events.

Based on your genetics some will find exercises easier and recover quicker and others will do the complete opposite.

# 3 – Nutrition

In order to recover from a workout you need to feed the body with the correct nutrition. Have you ever noticed that after a heavy weight lifting workout your hunger increases?

The more you break your body down the more nutrients it requires to heal itself and return back to balance. Eat junk food and you will take longer to recover from exercise.

# 4 – Intensity

The harder you exercise the longer it takes for you to recover. For example if I perform a heavy set of Deadlifts I will feel beaten up for days. It will take me 2-3 days to fully recover. The same applies to interval training, I will only ever perform 2 interval workouts per week.

You could exercise everyday if the movements were easy and the resistance was light.

# 5 – Occupation

The more physical your daily job the more time you will need to recover. So if you spend all day on your feet you will need more time to recover than someone who sits down all day. So a builder will need more rest than a receptionist.

There is an argument here that being more physically active will help increase your recovery due to the pumping of the nutrients around the body. However, there is a big difference between walking around during the day and lifting and digging.

# 6 – Stress Levels

Never underestimate stress. Stress effects the whole body on a continuous basis and will prolong recovery.

Everyone is effected by emotional, physical, and mental stress. Many believe that exercise alleviates stress but what is actually happening is your mind is being taken away from your worries while your body is still subjected to stress.

For many highly stressed people hard exercise is NOT the answer. They would be better off performing Tai Chi, Meditation or Yoga to bring energy back into the body rather than spending it.

# 7 – Recovery Methods

There are certain additional recovery methods that are believed to speed up your healing process.

Taking cold showers or ice baths is believed to help flush the body of toxins and replenish the nutrients of the body. Soft tissue work like massages and foam rolling will help to increase blood flow and increase the quality of muscle tissue.

How Often to Exercise

Now that you have a better understanding as to what effects the recovery process you can look at your own workouts and see how much rest you need.

Remember that it is during recovery that you grow stronger so that you come back fitter than before, this process is known as the Super Compensation Cycle.

And if you wonder how de-training affects you LOOK HERE and HERE