Muscle Recovery and Downhill Skiing - a testimonial

Written by Dr. L. Lee Coyne | Views 12012

I have been an avid fan of a muscle recovery drink since it was introduced in 1993

I don’t usually do testimonials but my downhill skiing experience over the last 2 weeks prompted me to this exception.

Some might call it “so you finally walked your talk” !!

I have been an avid fan of a muscle recovery drink since it was introduced in 1993 by the Shaklee Corporation. They developed the first muscle recovery drink with the help of research by Dr. John Ivy at the University of Texas.

Ivy and his colleagues published the first muscle recovery study using muscle biopsy techniques to assess glycogen and insulin levels in fatigued muscles. The study was published in the Journal of Applied Physiology in 1992.

Since the introduction of this item I have advised my clients (and myself) to use the drink within one hour of completing an intense work-out like a long – hard run, a challenging weight training session or an intensive game.

The rationale is that following the completion of such tasks there is a need to replace muscle glycogen quickly and to repair muscle damage from the metabolism of amino acids, particularly the branched chain amino acids leucine, isoleucine and valine.

This action will, based on science and experience, reduce muscle stiffness and pain and create an experience of returned energy more quickly than not using such practices.

I am an avid skier. I ski hard and long and I like challenges. The ski area I attend tops out at an altitude of 9,000 feet and the vertical drop is 1200 to 1500 feet over a one mile + run, depending on the run.

I ski advanced blue and black diamond runs and seek ankle deep powder at ever opportunity. All of this is skier talk and I merely use it to demonstrate that my ski days are not a walk in the park. We also get on the hill by 9:30, take only a 1/2 hour lunch break and leave at around 4:00 PM.

Even though I ski 25-30 days each winter, I always experience muscle stiffness and pain in the quads and calves for about a day and a half. As I said before, I always use the recovery drink following a weight work-out or a run of one hour or longer.

However, for some reason I never used it at the end of a day of skiing until 2 weeks ago.

The results were very noticeable. For the first time, my legs did not scream at me in foreign languages when I walked down stairs and I experienced no stiffness.

Yes, I finally “walked my talk”. I have understood the science for years but for some reason never thought about it as a way to end a full day of activity. I encourage you to try it.