Stiffness: What You Need To Know

basics Jun 03, 2021

Stiffness: What You Need To Know

Stiffness is a common concern for athletic performance, injury prevention, and a concern as we age. Lets do a deep dive in what you need to know about stiffness, how to combat it, and how it helps you in performance.

What exactly is stiffness?
Stiffness is how much collagen you have and the direction in which it is facing. This creates crosslinks which generates stiffness. When you exercise you increase lysyl oxidase which accumulates more crosslinks.

More Crosslinks = More Stiffness

Less Crosslinks = Less Stiffness

How do we build or break crosslinks?
The speed in which you train has the greatest impact on crosslinks. Fast exercise adds crosslinks (stiffness) Slow exercise breaks crosslinks.

Fast Movements = More Crosslinks = More Stiffness

Slow Movements = Less Crosslinks = Less Stiffness

Stiffness is a necessity
Stiffness is needed in activities like jumping, sprinting, and pretty much any activity...

Do I Need To Rest My Injury?

basics Jun 02, 2021

When To Rest?

If you find when to rest or not to rest confusing you are not alone. For so long we have interchanged the words rest and recovery that they have become synonymous. Let's take a quick look at the difference between rest & recovery and managing your rest IN your recovery.

Rest is to refrain from activity.

Recovery is return to a state. In the case of training we will say return to a ready state for activity.

Think of rest as a technique or tool you give your body to recover.

Can you overdue rest and negatively impact your recovery?
Absolutely. Rest creates a cycle of disuse which can lower your abilities overtime. Prolonged rest is atrophy. Let us not forget that it is not just the soft tissue that atrophies but also skills. Motor skills are perishable and must be trained to maintain!

Doesn't rest let me heal and recover?
The devil is in the details on this one. Yes, after tissue trau

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