Light Manual Muscle Relaxation

Environmentally Friendly Leg Recovery-Michael Gillan Ultra Marathon Recovery Specialist

Leg recovery using an environmentally friendly recovery system Someone sent me an email asking about the system I am referring to which is called Light Manual Muscle Relaxation and how was it developed and tested-and how I can write on so many articles about the legs and their recovery (sorry but there are many more to come)

Aching legs should always be checked out by a medical professional before doing anything to and with them because there are many medical reasons why they may be aching-see a physician first Recovery of leg fatigue Non-medically related aching legs, by this I mean those that are caused by too much standing, sitting, walking, can be a health danger and while they can’t be fixed because they may be caused through an occupational related cause, and this is ongoing, they may be relieved on a temporary basis www.hazards.org/standing Better start off with a little about the background first on what it is that I do-more detail can be found on my website and even more if you google me

I am an ultra marathon recovery specialist and I work with ultra marathon runners and walkersan ultra marathon is anything over marathon distance (42.195 km or 26 miles 385 yards) the time the event covers can range from 6 hours to 12 hours to 24 hours to 6 days being the most common times but in extreme cases the runners can go around the world as in the case of Jesper Olsen of Denmark who ran around the world and covered 26,230 odd kilometers and took 2 years to do it on world run 1 and is running on world run 2 www.worldrun.org There is also a lady called Deborah De Williams running a circuit of Australia at present raising money for a cancer charity for women http://www.runningpink.com.au/ I am at present involved I both of these events to a greater or lesser degree and will finish up going on the road with both of them for a while

These are 2 people who have just been running for 3 days around a running track in all weathers Copyright 2008 Michael Gillan http://www.aching-legs.org

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Environmentally Friendly Leg Recovery-Michael Gillan Ultra Marathon Recovery Specialist This was at a six day run in Antibes France (track running and walking0

Road Running

These are on a training run of 60 klm for the day later in the week they ran 100 miles (160 klms) in under 24 hours Jesper Olsen ran it in 15 hours The conditions ultra marathoners run in range from roads to mountains and the weather is no barrier

They suffer from sore feet, sore legs, swollen ankles, stiffness, wasted muscles, muscle cramps, tiredness, mental fatigue, restless legs, sore skin, night pains, muscle spasm, muscle wastage, swollen ankles, hyperthermia, hypothermia, temper tantrums, vomiting, food sensitivity, allergies, rashes, loss of judgement-all the fun things you get when you push the body too much Aching legs fatigued muscles and recovery However the aching fatigued legs and muscles are developed whether you are a non-athlete working at a job that causes them on a daily basis or an athlete who runs around the world, or someone with poor leg circulation from any of these-everyone has the same thing in common and that is how to recover from these

Recovery from leg fatigue or ongoing leg maintenance Conventional massage systems Conventional massage systems are both user, patient and problem specific-they can be divided into basic groups-sports massage-relaxation massage-remedial massage and many sub groups and sub sub groups-ways of approaching what they are designed for are dependent on the teacher, where and how they are developed and taught. Copyright 2008 Michael Gillan http://www.aching-legs.org

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Environmentally Friendly Leg Recovery-Michael Gillan Ultra Marathon Recovery Specialist They come under different names and have different themes with different ways of using the hands to work on the muscles and all need quite specialized teaching to learn and use This makes them difficult for the average person to use easily and it is this that makes them difficult to use in ultra marathon where time and space are limited They need massage oils, towels, massage tables and associated equipment to be carried and used-all this takes up time, and room and washing and cleaning because the conditions out at an event or running for many days in all weathers are not usually very hygienic On top of this, at the events I go to there is just only me and to work for days straight, even just at a 24 hour run and looking after 40 odd competitors using conventional methods means I would not last too long before I died of exhaustion

My working area at this 24 hour event consisted of the chair next to the bottles-I looked after the team and worked and slept on it-the airline had lost all my clothes and other stuff-if I used conventional methods that would have been impossible to do

Here I am giving a demonstration of leg recovery in Denmark using Light Manual Muscle Relaxation More details and references on ultra marathon can be found on my websites The semi-medical articles How do I get practical information on the Light Manual Manual Relaxation and working with things like the articles on the elderly and cold feet and deep vein thrombosis? I was the worst massage student in the school and very few of them would work with me so I so I had to go and find experience away from the other students-so finished up doing work experience with a hospital physiotherapist (or physical therapist group) I worked without pay for a year and got to work with accident, work place injury, geriatric, multiple sclerosis, Copyright 2008 Michael Gillan http://www.aching-legs.org

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Environmentally Friendly Leg Recovery-Michael Gillan Ultra Marathon Recovery Specialist psychiatric and other long term post operative patients who were in danger developing deep vein thrombosis. What is the common factor between all of the groups? Everyone needs recovery after a tough day-and the fact that to get it blood to the muscles in the legs needs refreshing But to get that old depleted blood in the lower legs needs pumping out of them so that new fresh blood can be pumped in-simple really

How much training and theory does it need to do this? Very little because it is not specific How did I discover this?

Because for my first 2 years in ultra marathon I used conventional recovery systems and they really did not work-nothing changed and nothing improved-it was not until I changed my approach from working on the muscles to working with them did things improve for both myself and the ultra entrants Using an environmentally friendly pro-active leg recovery system is easier than you think when you learn how to use the muscles to work on themselves

Look at the photo above-how many towels and bottles of oil do you see? None because the latest in non-polluting, non-technical method of leg recovery techniques is being used There are 2 main ways of relieving them of soreness-passive and active

This is the passive way-waiting for the legs to recover themselves Below is the pro-active result sheet from a 6 day event using Light Manual Muscle Relaxation

Copyright 2008 Michael Gillan http://www.aching-legs.org

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Environmentally Friendly Leg Recovery-Michael Gillan Ultra Marathon Recovery Specialist

Results from 1995 Coburg 6 day footrace Name A Krouglikov

Day 1 237.2 539

Day 2 113.6 284

Day 3 130 325

Day 4 106 365

Day 5 126 315

Day 6 108 Kilometers 270 Laps

T Rusek

215.2 538

98.8 247

98 245

139.6 349

138.4 346

122.4 Kilometers 306 Laps

M T aylor

174.4 436

128.8 322

143.6 359

123.6 309

138.4 302

122.4 Kilometers 223 Laps

B Beauchamp

180.4 451

133.2 333

124 310

117.6 294

110 275

93.2 Kilometers 233 Laps

150 375

134 335

105.2 263

94.8 237

111.6 279

106 Kilometers 265 Laps

138.4 346

108.4 271

106.8 267

116.4 274

106 265

107.2 Kilometers 268 Laps

168 420

119.2 298

90 225

116.4 291

106 180

107.2 Kilometers 247 Laps

G Watts

132.2 328

96.4 241

99.2 248

104.4 261

92.8 232

133.6 Kilometers 334 Laps

C Young

142 355

91.2 228

90 225

97.6 244

88 220

92 Kilometers 230 Laps

D Kettle

138.2 332

86.8 217

90.8 227

95.2 238

94.4 236

84.4 Kilometers 212 Laps

R H ill

128 320

80.8 202

99.2 248

70 175

95.6 239

96.6 Kilometers 241 Laps

K Fisher

164 410

91.6 229

50 125

115.2 288

49.6 124

81.2 Kilometers 203 Laps

P Gray

D Parri s

I Davis

G Pollard

T Rafferty

120 74.8 73.6 68.4 69.6 61.2 Kilometers 300 187 184 171 174 153 Laps The above group came in for Light Manual Muscle Rel axation The below group did not or had their own recovery people 141.6 112.8 104.8 101.6 98 96.4 Kilometers 354 282 262 254 245 241 Laps

G McConnel

145.6 363

110.8 277

126.4 287

113.6 284

108.4 271

106 ki lometers 265 Laps

G Audley

152.8

110.8

126.4

113.6

114.8

95.2 ki lometers

S Scanlon

140.8 352

82 205

84 210

J Timms

127.2

98.4

74.8

Copyright 2008 Michael Gillan http://www.aching-legs.org

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34 0 85 pulled out-bli sters 0

0

0 Kilometers Laps 0 ki lometers

Environmentally Friendly Leg Recovery-Michael Gillan Ultra Marathon Recovery Specialist The secret to leg recovery

The calf muscle pump The calf muscles act as the motor for a pump to take it from the feet back to the body against gravity through the venous system where it is re-nourished and recirculated-but to be working they have to move.

Once you figure out how it all works you have an environmentally friendly recovery system The active way to help the legs recover is to learn how to work with the muscles If you can use your hands you have the tools to do the job of recovery

Quickly-easily and in an environmentally friendly way! If you want more details go to my website at

http://www.aching-legs.org

Copyright 2008 Michael Gillan http://www.aching-legs.org

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