ICE

Some of you have heard me use the term RICE, which stands for Rest Ice Compression Elevation. This is a term we use when we are referring to injury. But let's just stop for a second and consider something else. How about icing BEFORE you get injured? Now that's one heck of an idea Rob!

As we have discusses, working out of any sort is PRO-INFLAMMATORY. We break the tissue down, inflame it and then our body builds it back up bigger, faster and stronger. But our body can sometimes use a little assistance.

Ice is not just something you should break out when you are feeling a little off in the elbow, knee, shoulder, etc. Often I use ice when I know I have attacked a specific body part. Did your evil trainer give you loads of squats today? Maybe some ice on those knees isn't such a bad idea. You DO NOT have to be injured to help your body reduce that inflammation.

And guess what else? Ice helps with DOMS. You know, Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness? Or that, "Holy crap, I can't walk up the steps" feeling. Want to reduce that feeling? Why not ice?

And if you're a pill popper, you might want to think about ice first. Anti-inflammatory medications like Aleve and Ibuprofen need to be broken down by the liver before they are effective. Ice works instantly. Also, areas like tendons have reduced blood flow and the effectiveness of these pills is less than, yes you've got it, ICE. Want another reason not to be reliant on pills? Prolonged uses of these drugs leads to gastrointestinal stress, kidney and liver problems. Hmmmm...all of a sudden those frozen peas look appealing.

Speaking of peas, what's the best way to ice? While I have certainly been in a pinch and used peas or blueberries ( and then, yes, have eaten them), I highly recommend um...ice. Mix water with a freezer. Ice is created. Too hard? Supermarkets and gas stations magically make bags of ice too.

20 minutes of icing will do on any area, but if you're like me and you like to do everything faster, try putting water in a Dixie cup and then freeze it. Pull it out of the freezer, ripe the top of the Dixie cup and then proceed with an "ice massage" over the area. A little messier, but it only requires 5 minutes.

If you are a real masochist like myself, you can even fill your tub with cold water and sit in it for 10 minutes ( I time my ice baths to ensure NO more than ten minutes). The secret is not moving. Find your inner Zen and just go for it! That may be a bit extreme, but it does get every muscle, tendon and ligament in the lower torso!

If you are training regularly, you should get very cozy with your ice packs. Learn to love them and you will recover better and feel better.

Primal Recipes

Ran across this website. I have tried ZERO of these but they are "primal", which is sort of how I eat....90% of the time. I will try a few and post on them.

http://pantrybites.com/

NOTE: I have noticed that many of these are NOT weight loss recipes!