The ginger we know is the stem of a flowering plant (the Zingiber officinale), the stem lies under the ground and splits of many roots which feed the plant. It is family of turmeric, cardamom and galangal (also known as laos), collectively they are called the Zingiberaceae family. It was first found in Southern Asia … Read more
A very common question: ‘stretching, good or bad?’. The problem with that question is that it is not specific enough, you will have to narrow it down. It all depends on the type of stretching and the moment you stretch. To make it simple there are two types of stretching: dynamic stretching and static stretching. … Read more
Protein is essential for building up/repairing muscle tissue, that why you need to eat plenty of protein to meet the demand. To digest lots of protein you need lots of proteases often referred to as proteolytic enzymes. These enzymes are produced in the pancreas and work in the gut to help to break down the … Read more
To answer this question you need to know that the inflammatory response is very much influenced by the (autonomic) nervous system. If you want to know more about the nervous system and in particular when which part of the autonomic nervous system is active click HERE. And that muscle aches/pain/soreness days after a workout are mainly … Read more
Made popular under runners, compression garments (and in particular compression socks) are often seen in public parks. There is a lot of variation in compression clothing, ranging from full body armors to skirts, pants or sleeves and tubes. Runners often use calf sleeves or calf socks whereas American football and basketball players often use arm … Read more
After reading this post you will know the infrastructure of the nervous system and which part you want to engage for optimal recovery. The nervous system consists of 2 parts: the central nervous system (CNS) and the peripheral nervous system (PNS). The central nervous system (CNS) This part of the nervous system consists of … Read more
For most researchers this is the golden standard for the measurement of stress. Heart rate variability (HRV) is measuring the variability between heart beats, if your pulse is 60bpm you might think that every second there is a heartbeat. It actually isn’t, the 60bpm is an average measured over 1 minute. In reality in that … Read more
Cold therapy is a very popular treatment to enlighten the symptoms of an acute sport injury. It has been used for decades and is currently most often implemented as part of the RICE-method. This method has been taught for years now and consists of Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation. In recent years ice baths have also … Read more
Will the sauna benefit your performance? To answer that you will need to know the byproducts of working-out/training: it increases energy consumption. This has several consequences: energy consumption produces heat and waste products, and damage to the body that needs to be repaired (not only muscles; bones, tendons, soft tissue and blood vessels are all … Read more
The body is highly capable of adaptation. It adapts always to every stimulus it recieves. This is one of the remarkeble qualities of the human body. The most striking example is weightlifting. During weightlifting you’ll damage muscle fibers due to the high demands you put on your body. The body responds by repairing the damage … Read more