This Simple Move Speeds

Pedal power

Boost your recovery with the ‘pedal pump’ exercise

WE ALL KNOW THE FEELING of heavy legs the morning after a hard race or workout. Delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS) can limit our ability in subsequent runs – but, thankfully, there may be a cure. A new study, published in Sports Medicine, highlighted the benefits of the ‘pedal pump’ technique (details below). The exercise can seemingly make a significant difference versus passive rest in how you feel 20 minutes after a hard effort. Researchers found that the pedal pump manoeuvre ‘significantly lowered blood lactate concentrations at minute 20 of recovery. ’

ZERO

The difference between doing plyometrics –jumps and bounds – on hard or soft surfaces. They’re equally good for you on both.

GET PUMPED Ditch DOMS and recover quicker with this simple move

Pump it up

Here’s how to do the pedal pump

1/ Lie on your back with your legs outstretched. 2/ Pretend you’re pumping the accelerator pedal of a car. 3/ Do 3 × 25 ‘pumps’ with each foot, with 10 secs’ rest between sets

Joint best

Need another reason to love running? A new study has shown that doing vigorous exercise, such as running, at least once a week helped to lower the risk of bone, muscle and joint pain in later life. The University of Portsmouth study gathered data from 5,802 Brits aged 50 and above. The results showed that any type of activity helped lower the chances of suffering pain when compared with remaining sedentary, but high levels of physical activity in particular were linked to lower cases of musculoskeletal pain. ‘Activity needs to not only be vigorous, it needs to be done at least once a week,

The soft sell

Shoes with more cushioning may lower your chances of suffering an injury

Back in 2020, a study found that soft shoes may reduce the risk of injuries, particularly in lighter runners. Now, a follow-up study, published in Frontiers In Sports And Active Living, has looked at why this might be. The researchers found that softer shoes were associated with a lowerimpact peak force and a longer time-to-impact peak force. Meanwhile, Swedish research* found that teenage athletes who trained in spikes had a six to eight times greater risk of injury. Girls had a higher injury rate than boys. Interestingly, many of the injuries occurred in the quadriceps group of muscles.