Dynamic Recovery vs Passive Recovery
HHP 399
Concordia University-Seward, NE
Jonathon Becker
Introduction
In a world where being physically active is seems increasingly difficult and where sports reign supreme in society, it’s more important than ever to keep moving. Continue to be active and move. Anymore a lazy day is what people want, a day to sit around and do nothing because it’s “relaxing” or helping them recover from a busy day or week. How much is doing nothing really helping us recover? In athletes you have 2 simple choices; you can either sit down or keep moving. It seems under most people’s opinion that sitting down and resting is the best form of recovery. While this may seem true during the course of day to day life the way we recover in athletics is much more complex than a simple answer of sit down or keep moving. The first challenge that must be addressed is the recovery during activity or conditioning bouts.
Conditioning is an attempt to push back one’s levels of fatigue and blood lactate accumulation. Thus during the course of conditioning and running there is an effort to put the body in a situation where fatigue must be overcome. During most conditioning sessions there are times spent running and recovery periods in between work periods. The question then is, how do you transition for the next work bout? Dynamic recovery is often looked at as jogging, dynamic stretching, or form running to clear blood lactate faster. Some passive recovery modes would be to sit down, walking, or static stretching. The physiological response to these will be examined as well as alternative modes of recovery in between practice sessions.
Statement of the Problem
This study will identify the different elements involved in the human anatomy and physiology and what ways we can combat fatigue in conditioning. Both working with the body and working against the body to produce a better recovery and reduce soreness.
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this study is to determine what kind of recovery works best during and after workouts. The use of studies and research will aid in the comparison of the different techniques used to combat fatigue and to come back stronger.
Significance of the Study
Every athlete has had to deal with conditioning and fatigue in his/her sport or activity. This fatigue and conditioning has likely made most athletes consider just sitting or laying down due to the exhausting effort they are putting forth. The best ways to recover during this conditioning session or resistance training work has been explored on many different frontiers. Dynamic recovery and Passive recovery are the 2 big ways fatigue is combated. It is of critical importance that consistent and efficient recovery is performed. Studies have been devoted to breaking down these 2 different forms of recovery and the research show both to be effective. The studies must they break it down even further to during practice or even the transition to practice the next day. This study will look at what athletes should be doing to clear blood lactate faster and promote recovery both during and after workouts.
Definition of Terms
Dynamic:characterized by constant change, activity, or progress
Passive: accepting or allowing what happens or what others do, without active response or resistance
Lactic Acid: type of acid produced in the blood and released into the muscles that hinders muscle activation
Glycolysis:the breakdown of glucose by enzymes, releasing energy and pyruvic acid.
Golgi Tendon Organ:another type of proprioceptor that provides information about changes in muscle tension
Research Questions
This study will look to answer the following questions regarding dynamic and passive recovery: What is the best mode to combat fatigue and the accumulation of blood lactate during workouts? What is the relationship between time, fatigue, and recovery? How does dynamic and passive recovery affect resistance training? Is the idea of dynamic and passive recovery universal to all sports or physical activities?
Literature Review
The role of blood lactate in the body is to act as a buffer to prevent acidosis from taking place with in your bloodstream. Many conditioning sessions are specifically designed to push back or slow down the accumulation of blood lactate. Once your blood lactate levels reach a certain point your body will start to shut down. So training at a duration and intensity to reach these levels is ideal but there must be care to not push too far into these levels. Careful use and progression both during the conditioning session and throughout the days and weeks must be considered.
There is evidence that dynamic recovery helps to clear blood lactate faster.
One mode used to clear blood lactate was core stability exercises. This is not typically the mode used in between workout reps or sets. In a study done by Hrncir Jr and Navalta they performed core stability exercises both 30 seconds and 5 minutes post workout. They had the participant do a Wingate cycle test and then performed the core stability exercises. The results showed as suspected a decrease in blood lactate levels higher than with just sitting down and resting. Their reasoning for this result was as follows;
“Although muscle fiber types vary greatly between individuals, a number of investigators have found that the core musculature has predominance of type I and type IIa fibers, which is consistent with the role of these muscles in maintaining posture. It is known that these fiber types take up lactate quicker and have a greater capacity to oxidize lactate compared with glycolytic type IIx muscle fibers. In the present study the core exercise intervention decreased lactate concentration 22. 4% compared to the rest (Hrncir, Navalta, 2007).”
With the results of this study we see another example of an effective dynamic recovery aspect on the clearance of blood lactate. The wingate test is not the same as all other modes of conditioning though. When looking at other modes and other types of conditioning instead of just looking and focusing on the glycolytic system, there are other ways to combat blood lactate and produce better well rested muscles.
Ice hockey is known to be one of the most demanding sports in the world. It was determined anaerobic glycolysis provides about 69% of the energy demands in ice hockey, the other 31% is oxidative phosphorylation (Berg, Noble, Latin, Lau, 2001). With ice hockey there is a variety of conditioning levels that need to be addressed. The hockey players were to perform repeated bouts of agility exercises and in between each exercise they were to ride a bike. The results showed little difference in clearance of blood lactate when compared to those just at rest. It could be said that no improvement is in favor of a passive recovery.
Aerobic activities were also tested to determine and compare dynamic recovery and passive recovery. In a study done by Dolgener and Morien to determine how massage has an effect on the disappearance of lactate. There were 3 groups in this study they were defined as passive recovery which sat for 15 min post workout, BR or bike recovery which biked moderately for 15 min, and MR or massage recovery which the individuals were massaged for 15 min post workout. Through these findings the MR and PR were consistently similar but the BR was progressively more effective post workout starting at 5 min and continuing until 15 min. The individuals that were tested are recreational runners of the aerobic type and worked at a 40% submaximal load to reach blood lactate levels. These results continue to show that dynamic recovery such as biking or dynamic stretching has a much higher rate of lactate removal that passive recovery. Massage recovery may in fact be better for loosening the muscles than specifically for blood lactate removal. MR is also effect when looking at the Golgi Tendon Organ and helping the muscles relax.
Methodology
This study took place in Seward, NE at Concordia University. The entire Cross Country and Track Teams were encouraged to participate. The survey was sent out to 112 individuals and received 47 responses. The demographics of the individuals included 25 Males and 22 Females. There were 9 Freshman, 13 Sophomores, 15 Juniors, 7 Seniors, and 3 5th year Seniors. All participants were between the ages of 18-24 years old. The survey was created and sent to this population since many of the individuals in this sport solely focus on conditioning and speed work. Therefore, their methods of recovery are highly important as they maybe more in tune with their body’s response to the fatigue of conditioning. Surveying this group will allow for aanaylsis of the different modes of recovery used in track and field. The survey also looked at nutrition pre and post workout as an aid to recovery. The survey questions were written in multiple choice form as well as fill in the blank. The study was sent out through email sent out to the entire track team asking them to volunteer this information.
Results
The results of the survey were pretty black and white. Most individuals claimed to be doing all different kinds of conditioning including but not limited too; long runs, tempo runs, and interval sprints. Those who took the survey overwhelmingly believed that moving during rest periods 95.7% was more helpful to recover. 76.6% believed they felt more rested after a good dynamic cool down as opposed to no extensive cool down. When asked how do you recover between running sets 63.8% said that they walked, while 34% jog, and 2.1% sat. Continuing from that question they responded that 76.6% prefer to walk, while 19.1% jog, 10.6% sit, and 4.3% prefer to lay down. Included in the survey was a question regarding alternative therapies to aid in the recovery process. The most popular alternative recovery methods were; Cold whirlpool 70.2%, Foam Rolling 46.8%, Massage 42.6%, and Chiropractic 12.8%. Other alternative recovery methods mentioned were stretching, icing, electro stimulation, MCT oil, grounded yoga, and infrared light. Some nutritional questions were asked because recovery is not one dimensional. First question asked about the effectiveness of Gatorade and water to be helpful. 76.6 % said that yes it was helpful while 23.4% said no. Preferred post workout recovery nutrition was by a narrow margin 42.6% water to 40.4% meal. Other notable answers were Protein 34%, Gatorade 21.3%, then white and chocolate milk, fruit, BCAAs, and meal rich in saturated fats.
These results show us a theme or trend when analyzing methods of recovery. There was the trend of doing some movement instead of static recovery. It is safe to assume that either the coaches are educated on the importance of dynamic recovery, the athletes are educated, or both. The results also show the athletes are very conscious of what they put into their bodies for recovery. From generic static stretching all the way to specific eating of saturated fats they are searching for the most practical and effect ways to recover. A question should have been included to address the frequency of these modes of recovery to learn if these are done on a daily basis or not.
Discussion and Recommendations
With regards to the research portion and the survey portion of the study there are some differences. The populations are different with the exception that there was some overlap due to most individuals being athletes. The information and questions revolved around exploring into the lactic threshold of athletes. Clearing the blood lactate is priority and what were the different modes used to accomplish this. Conclusions from this survey can be made that many individuals who took the survey are knowledgeable about dynamic recovery and the importance of it as a tool to be used. The science behind blood lactate removal says that dynamic recovery will clear blood lactate at a quicker or more rapid rate than passive or static recovery. The individuals who took the survey demonstrated that they participate in dynamic recovery and appear educated and understand its importance.
Overall, this study effectively evaluated the differences between passive and dynamic recovery amongst the 112 individuals who participated. Changes could be made to some of the survey questions and in person interviews with specific questions could be tremendously beneficial as well. The study shows the importance of dynamic recovery and allows for the exploration into more methods of recovery. Continuing on from this study one could look at surveying other sports teams as well as non-sport individuals. It was very interesting to know that many people here at Concordia on the track team as aware of the importance of dynamic recovery and practice it as well.
Research Questions
What do you do for recovery during workouts?
How do you recover between running sets? (Lay down, Sit, Walk, Jog)
What is your preferred method of recovery? (Lay down, Sit Walk Jog)
Do you find nutrition during workouts such as water or Gatorade to be helpful? (Yes No)
Post workout what is your preferred recovery nutrition? (Water, Gatorade, Protein, Meal)
What is your conditioning like most of the time?
What kind of conditioning do you participate in? (Long run, Tempo run, Interval Sprints, All the above)
Do you find moving around during your rest periods to be more helpful than resting by sitting or laying down? (Yes No)
What is your preferred method of dynamic recovery?
Do you feel more rested after a good dynamic cool down vs no cool down? (Yes No)
Do you which alternative therapies to be effective? (cold whirlpool, massage, chiropractic, other)
Cover Letter
Dear Students,
I am writing to ask for your assistance in assessing Dynamic and Passive Recovery for intercollegiate athletes at the NAIA level. A survey will be conducted to learn the different types of workouts performed as well as the recovery for those workouts. As a Cross Country and Track athlete at Concordia University- Nebraska you have been chosen to participate in the survey.
A link to a survey entitled Dynamic and Passive Recovery will be at the bottom of this letter. The survey should take 5-10 minutes to complete and is completely private. The survey is voluntary and the responses will only be used for statistical purposes. Please complete the survey as soon as you can.
Thank you for taking a few minutes to help me assess the recovery methods used at the NAIA level for Cross Country and Track.
Enjoy the survey! I look forward to receiving your responses.
Sincerely,
Jonathon Becker
References:
Ahmaidi, S., Mandengue, S., Miladi, I., (2011 Jan). Effect of Recovery Mode on Exercise Time to Exhaustion, Cardiorespiratory Responses, and Blood Lactate After Prior, Intermittent Supramaximal Exercise. Retrieved from:The Journal Strength and Conditioning Research
Berg, K., Latin, R., Lau, Shelle., Noble, J., (2001). Comparison of Active and Passive Recovery of Blood Lactate and Subsequent Performance of Repeated Work Bouts in Hockey Players. Retrieved from:Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research15(3), 367–371
Dolgener, F., Morien, A., (1993).The Effect of Massage on Lactate Disappearance. Retrieved from:The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research7(3), 159-162
Hrncir, S., Navalta, J., (2007). Core Stabilization Exercises Enhance Lactate Clearance Following High Intensity Exercise. Retrieved from:The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research21(4), 1305–1309