Aerobic training after pitching?

[Guest guest]

Hello all,

I recently went to a lecture in which the presenter (representing the NPA)

advocated 2 minutes of aerobic activity for every 1 minute of icing after

someone pitches. The icing protocol is 10 minutes on the elbow and 20 minutes on

the shoulder. So this would mean a minimum of 40 minutes of aerobic exercise. If

this is at a 3.5 mph pace this would be about 3-4 miles. I'm assuming at 40-60%

VO2 max.

I cannot seem to find very much research to support aerobic exercise after

pitching or these guidelines. I was hoping some members would point me in the

right direction or to the specific research, if any, that has been done on this

topic.

Any assistance would be helpful.

Thanks

Jon Cohen MS, ATC, CSCS

Menlo Park, CA

[Guest guest]

Jon,

Typically, when you are talking about icing it is

recommended that you also heat, doing so in a

4(hot)/1(cold) ratio. That means if you ice for 1

min, you should heat for 4 mins.

Contrast recovery is the process of cooling (cryo) and

heating (thermo) muscles after a workout. Icing

causes a narrowing (vasoconstriction) of the blood

vessels which helps reduce the sensation of pain,

limits the amount of swelling, reduces muscle spasm

and clears metabolites from superficial to deep

tissue. Heating has been shown to have the opposite

effect of increasing temperature, causing vasodilation

- which increases blood flow and has the effect of

increasing oxygen and antibody supply, while reducing

muscle spasm and clearing metabolites.

As a result, contrasting between hot and cold water

causes a 'pumping' action in the peripheral

circulation system - which promotes recovery. This is

in itself " aerobics " going on within your

bloodvessels. You don't actually need to get on a

bike or go running in the sense that the presenter may

have been looking at " aerobics. "

With your education I am sure you are familiar with

contrast therapy as I just stated above

" Aerobics " , such as long distance running, or biking,

or whatever this person was referring to has

absolutely nothing to do with recovering from pitching

in baseball, or icing, and there is no research to

back that up (other than the heating of the muscles

which can be done via thermotherapy and not having to

do aerobic exercise). If the person who presented it

stated that you have to do " aerobic " exercise, they

really need to do some more research.

Chad Scheitel MA, CSCS

Minneapolis, MN

--- Jon Cohen wrote:

> Hello all,

>

> I recently went to a lecture in which the presenter

> (representing the NPA) advocated 2 minutes of

> aerobic activity for every 1 minute of icing after

> someone pitches. The icing protocol is 10 minutes on

> the elbow and 20 minutes on the shoulder. So this

> would mean a minimum of 40 minutes of aerobic

> exercise. If this is at a 3.5 mph pace this would be

> about 3-4 miles. I'm assuming at 40-60% VO2 max.

>

> I cannot seem to find very much research to support

> aerobic exercise after pitching or these guidelines.

> I was hoping some members would point me in the

> right direction or to the specific research, if any,

> that has been done on this topic.

>

> Any assistance would be helpful.

>

> Thanks

>

> Jon Cohen MS, ATC, CSCS

> Menlo Park, CA

>