ExRx.net

This new article is a whole new concept to me.
http://news.stanford.edu/news/2012/augu ... 82912.html

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Let thy food be thy medicine, and thy medicine be thy food.~Hippocrates
Strength is the adaptation that leads to all other adaptations that you really care about - Charles Staley
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Thanks TimD

Really interesting. Would the findings of this group imply that it would be better to train in a cool environment?

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Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter.--Francis Chan

Sounds like it. If the limiting factor in strength training is core heat dissipation, then that would make sense to a point. I would think that cold skin and cold core temperature are different though so there would be a limit. Are you going to put AC in your tin shack?

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Let thy food be thy medicine, and thy medicine be thy food.~Hippocrates
Strength is the adaptation that leads to all other adaptations that you really care about - Charles Staley
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Thanks TimD

Yeah, with cold skin, the body tends to restrict surface blood flow in order to conserve heat. Sounds like the "glove" tries to "fool" the usual regulatory mechanism by putting the hand in a mild vacuum, thus causing vasodilation. But I wonder if a slightly cooler environment would give any advantage.

It would be fun to give this technique a try. Doesn't sound like there would be anything to lose (except money, of course).

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Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter.--Francis Chan

This reminds me so strongly of something, that I can't restrain myself from talking about it.

There was a doctor back in the 1800s named August Bier, who had a bunch of apparently wacky theories. One was that since inflammation appears to be part of the body's healing process, then to accelerate healing, one needs only to increase inflammation. He did this by 3 techniques: one was heat, the second by venoconstriction and the third by vacuum. I own a copy of a book written by one of his students detailing his techniques.

He designed various heating chambers for different parts of the body, usually a sort of box that would enclose the body part selectively, with a little inverted funnel on the bottom, under which was place a Bunsen burner.

For venoconstriction, he used tourniquets, applied tightly enough to restrict venous return, but not so tight as to restrict arterial flow. This tended to cause swelling and mild inflammation in the body part distal to the restriction. The pictures in the book are a bit alarming, especially the one for treating infections of the scrotum!

For vacuum, he designed a series of glass chambers for various parts of the body. This is what the glove story reminded me of. The chamber would enclose the part with a rubber diaphragm at the opening to seal tightly around the limb. There would be a nipple on the chamber for attachment of tubing from a vacuum pump. The vacuum would cause vasodilation which would make the skin a little red, thus suggesting or imitating inflammation. The one for treating mastitis (infections of the breast) was certainly odd-looking. The one for treating the foot included a little rocker board in the sole, so that as the leg was drawn deeper into the chamber, the foot was forced into dorsiflection, stretching the Achilles tendon and associated muscles. I'm sure that had some therapeutic effect in some cases.

Incidentally, Bier was the first doctor to perform a spinal anesthetic, and also invented a technique called the Bier block, which is still used today for hand surgery.

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Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter.--Francis Chan

Interesting article. I would definitely like to try those.

I do better in a cooler environment. I have a drop in performance as temperature increases.

I can see tremendous value for fire fighters and military, and an earlier article from 2007 highlighted that application. What's new here is muscle building application. It seems like something exciting to watch.

_________________
Let thy food be thy medicine, and thy medicine be thy food.~Hippocrates
Strength is the adaptation that leads to all other adaptations that you really care about - Charles Staley
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Thanks TimD

http://rugbyrugby.com/news/[url]shop[/url]/rugby_reviews/7005559/if_the_glove_fits__you_should_cool_it

This copies a lot of the information in the article Stu posted, but shows that this is in use by active teams.

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Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter.--Francis Chan

The url is garbled. http://rugbyrugby.com/news/shop/rugby_reviews/7005559/if_the_glove_fits__you_should_cool_it

You can buy the device here: http://www.avacore.com/
No information on pricing, you have to phone, then wait 4-6 weeks for delivery.

_________________
Let thy food be thy medicine, and thy medicine be thy food.~Hippocrates
Strength is the adaptation that leads to all other adaptations that you really care about - Charles Staley
_________________
Thanks TimD