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Hollins, Ian

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May 1, 2009 Howie 3 posts	Topic: Fitness and Health / Injuries: active recovery best For anyone who is physically active, soft tissue injuries (muscles, ligaments, tendons) go with the territory. I like to take an active approach to my recovery from injuries. As soon as I am able within the limits of pain I get back into my routine and retrain the muscles, ligaments and tendons to perform as they did before the injury. The longer you wait before commencing an aggressive approach to healing the longer will be your recovery time back to full functioning. I have tried this most recently with a spate of calf muscle injuries. I tried the “rest” approach, sometimes up to 6 weeks, and I have tried the “aggressive” approach, where as soon as I am able to run without too much pain I get back into it, gradually increasing the time and speed with which I run. The aggressive approach has been much more successful in reducing recurrence. The problem with the rest approach is that the muscle loses strength quite quickly, and the longer you rest the weaker it gets. The muscle will still repair and recover as long as you work within the limits of pain and gradually increase the training load during rehabilitation.
Nov 20, 2009 Howie 3 posts	Topic: Fitness and Health / Injuries: active recovery best The basic idea is that total rest is necessary only up to the point where movement becomes possible. For severe soft tissue injuries with lots of swelling this rest period may be up to a week, but once movement becomes possible, within the limits of pain, it should be commenced. Muscles and ligaments will heal with rest but the unfortunate consequence of rest is muscle atrophy (weakening). For active people this is to be avoided. The muscle or ligament will still heal provided that movements are within the limits of pain.
Jan 13, 2010 Howie 3 posts	Topic: 2Way Fitness Analytics / Some ideas on what I think would be great..... Hi Mad, Thanks for the great (and comprehensive) post. Your time and thoughtful response is much appreciated. I don’t want to repeat what Mick has said but I will say a little about Exercise Points (EPs). Here is a quote from our help text on the subject (with a view of our Exertion Level table preceding to put things in context): Perceived level of exertion Level Name Description 0 RESTING Requires no, or very little, physical effort. Lying in bed or sitting reading a book or watching television. Heart rate at rest. 1 EASY Minor physical effort. Talking is no difficulty – strolling walk with stops – “I could do this all day”. Most people could maintain this level for a few hours. Heart rate 60-100bpm (beats per minute). 2 LIGHT Light physical effort. Talking takes some effort. Working up a bit of a sweat – brisk walk – “This will make me tired after a while”. Most people could maintain this level for an hour or more. Heart rate 100-130bpm. 3 MODERATE Average physical effort. Talking is not easy as breathing rate increases. Muscles getting tired. Sweating – hard mountain walk, slow to medium jog – “This is tiring but I can continue”. Most people could maintain this level for between 20 and 60 minutes. Heart rate 130-150bpm. 4 HARD Tough physical effort. Talking very hard to do. Getting puffed. Sweating a lot. Muscles tired – medium-hard run, hard game of sport, hilly bike ride – “This is tough. I need a rest break”. Most people could maintain this level for up to 20mins. Heart rate 150-170bpm. 5 MAXIMUM You are working as hard as you can. You have just enough breath to finish the exercise – sprinting, lifting heavy weights, climbing up steps – “I have to stop, I’m spent”. This level is a peak effort and can only be sustained for up to 1 minute at a time. Heart rate 170bpm+. Exercise Points Exercise Points (EPs) are a new and innovative way to measure each individual training session. One (1) Exercise Point = 1 minute of exercise at Exertion Level 1 (the easiest). Thus, 30 minutes of exercise at Exertion Level 3 (Moderate) = 90 EPs. As a general rule, the more EPs you achieve in a week the more your fitness will improve, depending on what your fitness goals are. Weekly EPs Fitness Daily Average 0 – 299 EPs Decrease 0-42 EPs 300 – 699 EPs Maintain 43 – 99 EPs 700 – 1199 EPs Increase Low 100 – 171 EPs 1200 – 1499 EPs Increase Mid 172 – 214 EPs 1500+ EPs Increase High 215+ EPs Please note that this table is just a guide and that individuals will achieve different results from different training efforts. It is well established that 30 minutes of vigorous exercise (at least Level 3) is required to maintain a good level of physical fitness and to manage body weight, and to reduce risk factors for lifestyle diseases such as heart disease, diabetes and obesity. Recording your EPs After each training session you should sit and think for a while and record the amount of minutes and decide the average exertion level for which you have exercised. This feeling should reflect how heavy and strenuous the exercise feels to you, combining all sensations and feelings of physical stress, effort, and fatigue. Try to focus on your total feeling of exertion, not just the pain in your legs or how fast your heart is beating. Our application allows you to allocate 1/2 points (e.g. 3.5) if you cannot decide between 3 and 4 as an exertion level. Notes: 1. The aim is to use EPs as a motivation to maintain consistency in your training routine. You can use your EP charts to monitor your training efforts to ensure that you adhere to a regular pattern of physical activity and exercise. Remember it is much easier to stay fit than to get fit. 2. During most 1 hour training sessions you will most likely exercise for perhaps 40 to 50mins. Do not count rest periods when working out the duration of your training as far as your EPs are concerned. 3. A great way to calculate your EPs for a session is to divide your training session into sections. See “Splitting your activity into sections” above. If you break your exercise activities into sections, then the system will calculate the average exertion level for the session on your behalf. This will more accurately reflect the average level of exertion over the course of your session. 4. Keep in mind that Level 5 Exertion cannot be sustained for more than about 1 minute, thus you are very unlikely to be able to sustain Level 5 for a 1 hour training session. 5. It is recommended that people try to achieve at least 100 EPs per day to maintain a reasonable level of fitness. To increase your level of fitness you will need to increase this to at least 120 EPs per day. However, for some people a much smaller EP goal will be sufficient to maintain the body weight and fitness levels that they wish to attain. Over time you will know what EP level is best to enable you to maintain your chosen fitness level consistent with your fitness goals. 6. Because of the individual nature of EPs, and especially due to the fact that a subjective personal judgement is made of the exertion level, it is not really useful to compare one person’s EPs with another. You are best advised to use EPs to compare yourself to yourself over time and to compare training sessions. 7. As your fitness improves you will find it will take less exertion to perform physical activities. Over time what was once a Level 4 activity may become a Level 3 activity. As most people discover, you tend to push yourself to a certain level of exertion when you train, and for this reason you may often find training quite hard. However, as your fitness improves what you will now be able to achieve at Level 4 will be greatly improved from what you were able to achieve at Level 4 previously. I hope this help text answers most of your questions re EPs. We emphasise the personal nature of EPs and discourage people from competing against others in this regard. They are designed to motivate the individual to improve adherence and performance over time and to develop an understanding of what they are putting their body through in training. This will help them to plan their training to allow for adequate rest while still pushing themselves hard enough to achieve their goals. The 2Way Fitness Analytics app has been designed to allow athletes to analyse their training data and improve their fitness and perfomance without being prescriptive regarding the what, how, when and why of their training. That is up to the individual. I personally like to achieve at least 1,000 EPs per week, and generally try to do 1,200, time permitting. I know for me that this maintains my fitness and keeps my body fat in check. When I trained this year for the 1/2 Marathon I increased this to 1,400 to 1,600 EPs per week (mostly running but with 3 circuit strength sessions each week) and was able to monitor my training intensity and include the easy, medium and hard days and weeks of training in a logical sequence leading up to the race, including the last week taper. I lost 4kg in the month prior to the race and felt great on the day. I have no doubt that the 2Way app was crucial to this successful outcome. To my mind, the monitoring of EPs is the best way of maintaining commitment and motivation towards training and towards a training goal. It is a simple concept but an extremely effective one. This I truly believe and hope others will too. All the best, Ian 2Way Fitness Analytics

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