Heating Pads

[Sgsolberg]

Anybody else like to use a heating pad in the evenings following a tough workout? I've recently purchased one and it's pretty nice to allow my back to mellow out especially after deadlifting. I highly recommend it.

The one I have is from Target: it's the softheat brand... and it's 70s big.

[Sami]

I like to ice after sessions. Frozen peas seem to work best.

[Sgsolberg]

Interesting... anybody else use the frozen pea method?

I prefer the heat because in my experience I have less soreness the next few days after using it. Maybe it causes blood to move in and remove some of the lactic acid.

[Sami]

I'm not really sure about just general soreness, but if you've injured something, you want to decrease the initial inflammation. To do that, you ice it. If the area is still inflammed/injured on the 2nd day, then you use heat to incourage bloodflow. At this point, it's advised to alternate hot/cold.

The idea behind icing an injury (and not heating), is that you want a "pulled/overstretched" muscle to heal whilst being shortened. The heat will cause it to expand and this is not really a good idea immediately in the healing process.