Did you make a New Year Resolution? Are you sticking with it? We are one month into the New Year and many of us made a fitness based resolution. If strength training is part of your resolution (and I hope it is!), did you know that including rest and recovery for your muscles can speed up-or at least prevent delay of you meeting your fitness goals?Whether you are strength training muscles of your shoulders or pelvic floor, the following tips apply.

Why rest?
Short term rest between sets improves immediate energy available for your muscle. Longer rest in between sessions improves muscle repair and rebuilding.

How long do you need to rest?
There is no agreed upon time frame. But most agree you DO need to rest. A general guideline is 30-90 seconds between muscle endurance sets, 1-2 minutes between muscle hypertrophy training sets. You also need to rest between sessions. We recommend 1-2 days in between sessions for each muscle group. Three things to consider in length of rest: age, current ability level, and intensity of workout.

• As we age, recovery time slows down.
• Thankfully, we can decrease the age effect by staying well-trained. The better trained your muscle is, the faster it recovers. Elite rock climbers can rest for a short time during a climb and have enough recovery for enhanced muscle performance during the same climb. However, occasional rock climbers cannot recover in such a short time frame.
• Intense workouts require more rest than low intensity workouts.

What CAN I do while resting between sessions?

• Immediately after exercise, massage muscle for 10 min. This has been found to decrease post exercise inflammation. Use gentle-moderate pressure only to avoid further inflammation.
• In between sessions, swim lightly (not butterfly stroke) for 20 min in pool or ocean.
• Exercise a different muscle group.
• Sleep Well! During deep stages of sleep (just before REM) growth hormone is secreted, increase in blood flow to muscles occurs and muscle growth and repair occurs.

What is the bottom line? To prevent injuries and improve muscle hypertrophy, rest between reps AND take a day off at least once per week. Soreness is OK, but pain is not. Pay attention to how your muscles feel. Your PT can give you specific rest guidelines. Good luck on your New Year resolutions. I can't wait to hear your success story!

Fryer et al. Oxygen recovery kinetics in the forearm flexors of multiple ability groups of rock climbers. Strength Cond Res. 2014 Dec 22.
www.sleepfoundation.org

In last September's newsletter, I wrote an article called "A Pelvic Floor Experiment: Coughing," so this may be an ongoing series!

A few months ago, I woke one morning with dull pain in my right wrist. This was a pain I have never experienced before, and I couldn't recall anything that I had done that might have caused it (although I do use my hands in strenuous ways as a pelvic floor PT). As I started to eat breakfast, I noticed that every time I gripped my spoon, I felt a sharp, intense pain in my wrist, so intense that I couldn't grip the spoon very well. My first thought was, "Oh no - I'm going to have to have someone at work look at this for me."

My second thought was of a class on the male pelvic floor that I had attended a few years ago. At the start of the class, each attendee briefly introduced his/herself. One woman stood up, stated her name and where she was from, and then said, "I used to be a hand therapist [this is a sub-specialty of orthopedic PT] for many, many years. But over time, I started to realize that all hand problems originate in the pelvic floor. So I switched over to pelvic floor PT." I remember being surprised and kind of shocked by her statement, "All hand problems originate in the pelvic floor," but I tucked it away in my mind for future reference. Sitting there at my kitchen table, with sharp wrist pain every time I gripped, I decided it was a good time to experiment and test her claim.

I gripped my spoon. Pain. I contracted my pelvic floor tightly and gripped my spoon. No pain. I relaxed my pelvic floor and gripped my spoon. Pain. I contracted my pelvic floor tightly and gripped my spoon. No pain. I repeated this about 7 times and the same thing happened each time. I was amazed!

Over the course of the morning, my wrist pain subsided, and it fortunately hasn't returned. But, I have been thinking about the results of this experiment a lot. The pelvic floor muscles (PFMs) are part of the core stabilization system of the body (along with the multifidus muscles in the lower back, the transverse abdominis muscles in the abdominal wall, and the diaphragm muscle). The core stabilization system is also the postural control system of the body. When you are upright (sitting or standing), the PFMs have to work harder than the other core muscles, because they are working against gravity. They are the "underdog" of the core muscles (pun intended). In addition, they are often neglected and/or dysfunctional, for a variety of reasons. When properly activated, the PFMs provide a solid base of support for the spine, the spine provides a solid base of support for the shoulder girdle, and the shoulder girdle provides a solid base of support for the arms and hands. Regardless of what was going on with my wrist that morning, contracting my PFMs provided the necessary input for the system as a whole to function more optimally.

So, remember the importance of pelvic floor muscles to the proper function of the entire body, from head to toe (and from head to fingertips). And as always, if you have any concerns, please contact us at CTS to see how we can help.