Training and Injuries
A common cause of heel pain is inflammation that develops where the heel bone meets the plantar fascia or the Achilles tendon. It can torment a person for months, sometimes years, and is difficult to get rid of. Every step is very painful, as if you were stepping on a pin cushion. The first step is especially unpleasant; later it “warms up” a bit and the pain eases. For home treatment, the more anti-inflammatory methods you use, the greater the chance of success. Cold–heat, therapeutic ultrasound, microcurrent, magnet therapy and soft laser all help, but in different ways. They therefore reinforce each other's effects. Here I will describe only the soft laser, specifically the home use of the B-Cure device.
A muscle strain is an injury that occurs when your muscles are overstretched or overloaded. This condition is accompanied by pain, swelling and a limited range of motion, something anyone who leads an active lifestyle will encounter a few times. It can vary in severity from a mild strain (merely a few torn muscle fibers) to a complete muscle rupture.
Neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) uses electrical impulses to elicit muscle contractions and is primarily applied in rehabilitation settings to improve motor function, prevent muscle atrophy, and enhance overall physical performance. NMES activates muscles either directly at motor neurons or indirectly via the nerves supplying the muscle groups. This technique has gained ground in many clinical applications, especially in the rehabilitation of patients recovering from stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and other neuromuscular disorders.
The Achilles tendon, our body's strongest yet most vulnerable tendon, deserves special attention because it plays a key role in everyday movement. This massive connective tissue structure connects the calf muscles to the heel bone, enabling walking, running and jumping. However, precisely this constant demand makes it particularly prone to inflammation and injury.
Muscle stimulation is a modern method for treating muscles. Based on their use, two main forms are generally distinguished. Whole Body Electrical Muscle Stimulation (WB-EMS) and Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation (NMES) devices actually apply the same type of impulses, but their modes of application and objectives differ significantly. Both forms are effective, but it is worth knowing their advantages and limitations.
Improving performance (biohacking) is every athlete's dream. Improving performance, for example preparing for long-distance running, cycling, triathlon, etc., requires a lot of training. Most amateur athletes have the least time for that. They prepare in their spare time alongside work, family, and studies. In this article I will introduce a method with which you can “hack” training efficiency, and even gain training time! This method has long been part of medical therapy. In the 1970s–80s athletes also picked it up, but the technical level of the time did not allow the creation of sufficiently precise devices, so the initial enthusiasm quickly faded. However, technology has advanced enormously over the past 5–6 decades and today devices are available that make it possible to “dust off” the subject. Get to know the muscle stimulator and its sports applications.
Hungarian sports results have been steadily declining; the top ranks are getting farther away in most sports. I believe the main reason is outdated training methods and the lack of following modern approaches. You can read about this in this article. In Hungary the persistent belief (held by coaches and athletes alike) is that simply training a lot is enough. However, this concept has been outdated for years.
Most people know only that during running and other sports you must breathe more than at rest, because intense movement requires more air. By improving breathing you can achieve greater oxygenation at the cellular level, which then leads to increased vitality, more muscle building, better recovery, a stronger immune system, reduced need for sleep, and reduced appetite (good news for those dieting). […]
The term “jumper's knee” is used for inflammation of the tendon (patellar) that connects the kneecap (patella) to the shinbone. This tendon plays a role in straightening your knee, working together with the extensor muscles on the front surface of the thigh. From this it follows that it most often occurs in athletes with repeated jumping movements. Examples include basketball and volleyball. Strengthening the thigh muscles is required in many sports, so jumper's knee is very common where training includes lots of hopping exercises or weighted squat jumps. These exercises place huge load on the tendon.
Among domestic athletes the stubborn belief persists that “you must train a lot and hard — nothing else is needed.” Many think the more they train, the more they improve! Those who do not understand how the human body works and how it responds to load may agree with them. In reality, however, this is not the case at all! During training destructive processes dominate in your body, which make improvement impossible. The effect of training does not take place immediately during the session, but afterwards, during rest. This process — regeneration — restores the stores “worn down” by training, heals torn fibers, clears metabolites and builds stronger tissue in their place. It has been proven that the correct balance of quality training and effective regeneration is the key to progress.
Vibration trainers are very popular because they can work the muscles thoroughly in a short time with almost no sweating. They are excellent at any age, and regular vibration training is especially beneficial for older adults. But when should they not be used? In recent times several research groups have examined the effects and contraindications of whole-body vibration therapy. I wrote about the favorable effects on health in a previous article, and now I have summarized the contraindications.
“I read about electrical stimulation and would like some advice. I'm a bodybuilder and my main goals are increasing muscle mass and relaxing the muscles. Please help me choose a device.” I received this question recently. I think many people might be interested in my answer, so I'm sharing it.
