Archive for March, 2009

You can’t beat a sports massage for injury prevention that you can ‘feel’. Whilst not as pleasurable as your typical ‘spa massage’, a good sports massage certainly has it’s moments and it will leave you feeling revived and ready to go again. For this reason, almost every elite endurance athlete now includes regular massage as part of their recovery and from my own experience a growing number of you guys are following suit.

Sports massage enhances recovery and helps prevent injuries in several ways. The most important effect of massage with respect to recovery is that it substantially increases blood circulation to the muscles and keeps it elevated for as long as an hour afterwards. This extra blood flow flushes metabolic wastes from the muscles, hurries in nutrients that repair muscle damage, and controls inflammation and the pain associated with it.

Massage also alleviates muscular trigger points (areas of sensitivity), mobilizes adhesions and breaks up scar tissue in the muscles, restoring normal function.

Yet another use for massage is identifying incipient injuries before they become painful during exercise, as well as muscle imbalances that could lead to injury and are probably compromising your technique, efficiency and end result. For this you should search for a massage therapist with an interest in endurance sports and even better, with experience of working with multi-sport athletes!

Sports massage may cost you anything between £25-£50+ depending on the therapists practice as well as their own experience. If money’s no object and you’re serious about performance (or you have a friend who works as a sports massage therapist), schedule one session per week during the build and peak phases of your training cycles as this is where the higher intensity sessions may start to play havoc with your bodies muscles. Some therapists may do half hour sessions, which will not cost you as much but would still allow a competent therapist to target specific muscles groups within your allotted time.

There are various other self massage techniques that you could and should practice, which you can learn from a whole host of various books and videos on the subject. If used properly, devices like the foam rollers used by physical therapists can yield some of the same benefits as sports massage, however in my own opinion you cannot beat a hands on sports massage from a therapist to fully enhance the benefits from the points mentioned above.

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Train all you like, but if you have a problem with your bike in the first race of your season then it’s going to put a serious dent in your time. All bikes pick up wear and tear, especially if you ride the roads during the winter months. Follow this simple guide to DIY bike maintenance and you shouldn’t have any problems come race time.

Tyres
Keep an eye on both tyres, checking for wear on the tread as well as cracks on the sidewalls that might indicate they have started to perish. Replace damaged tyres immediately as worm tyres lead to slower performance and punctures.

Crank Bearings
The pedals and chain are attached to the crank arms. You have two, a left and right one and they are attached to the frame via the bottom bracket. Put the cranks at three and nine o’clock and then try to move them from side to side (across the frame). If they move and they don’t, it’s time for a new bottom bracket.

Wheel Bearings
If a wheel still wobbles after you’ve checked it for dents and broken spokes, the wheel bearings may have gone. They hold the weight of the bike so they need replacing immediately.

Headset
Make sure this isn’t loose by facing your bike with the front wheel between your knees, then apply the front brake and rock the bike from side to side. To tighten it loosen the top cap and stem bolts with an allen key, turn the top cap half a turn at time and now do the stem bolts up again when you’ve finished each turn.

Brakes
If the knurled nut adjuster where the brake cable enters the brake is on maximum, the brake pads are probably dead. Also check to make sure the brake cable’s outer isn’t damaged or the cable itself is fraying. Brake pads are very easy to change with your own toolkit. Changing the brake cable is also relatively easy. Simply cut the crimped-on cable end of the brake, pull it back through the outer casing. Measure some new cable against the old length and insert through the outer and retention pin. Tighten up the knurled nut and add the cable protector to the end of the cable with pliers.

Wheels
If the wheel is dented or you have a broken spoke, it may wobble and your brakes could lock up. Run your hands around the spokes like your playing a harp. They should give off the same note because all the spokes should be under the same tension. To tighten the spokes you can attempt this yourself with spoke key, however it does take a fair bit of practice to get the tension right on all the spokes so the wheel spins true. Your local bike store can do this with a special machine which only costs a couple of pounds.

Chain
My post here should explain everything you need to know about checking your chain.

If you feel unsure about the state of any of the components mentioned above, you could always let your local bike store give it the once over and you could go for a swim!

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Congratulations to ‘LAB’ who has been randomly selected as the winner of February’s monthly draw.

Just by registering with Trispace News, ‘LAB’ has won a 2XU run cap.

Register with Trispace to receive our monthly newsletter as well as being automatically entered into our monthly draw.

Register now to have a chance of winning March’s prize, a pair Aqua Sphere Kaiman Goggles Amber Lens, like the ones below. Once registered and you remain registered, you’ll be entered into the draw each month automatically. Register by midnight March 31st 2009 for a chance of winning March’s prize.

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