Gabe Mirkin, M.D.
If you compete in sports that require repeated short
bursts of very fast running, such as in basketball, soccer, or
football, will you recover faster by standing still or by continuing
to move at a slower pace? A study from Brooklyn College in
New York showed that it doesn’t make any difference
(International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism,
February 2006). Researchers asked fit athletes to perform
multiple bouts of exercising to exhaustion. Between the bouts of
vigorous exercise, one group spent 12 minutes staying
completely still, while the other group continued to exercise at
less than 20 percent of their maximum workload. Athletes in
both groups showed equal recoveries and performances.
However, those who stayed still between all-out efforts
had blood that was more acidic than those who continued to
exercise. Many athletes believe that lactic acid buildup in
muscles hinders their performance, but this study shows that
blood acidity has little to do with recovery from hard exercise.
When you exercise so intensely that you cannot get all the
oxygen you need, lactic acid starts to accumulate in your
muscles and spills out into your bloodstream to make your blood
more acidic. This can make your muscles burn and hurt, but it
will not delay your recovery for your next bout of all-out effort.
September 15, 2006