a community of practitioners

Toxins and Water

OK, I am fresh out of school and need help. I am being challenged by participants on a Triathlon forum. The question was raised, 'Does massage release lactic acid (or any other toxins) in the muscles that then needs to be flushed out by drinking plenty of water afterwards?' (The standard answer given to clients as we conclude a session) Well, my fellow triathletes are science geeks and need clinical studies for proof. You would not believe the extent they have gone to disprove this claim. I have looked until I can't see straight and I have found nothing supporting this either. I did find that lactic acid is not the cause of exercise fatigue (rather a ph imbalance in the muscles) and is usually burned by the body as intensity starts to decrease. The triathletes do not deny the benefits of massage (as they line up at the tents post race), but are not easily swayed without the clinical proof.
This is the ammo I used: and got blasted!
Excerpt from Complete Review Guide, Barron:
"Massage facilitates the removal of metabolic waste and inflammatory byproducts by the increase in blood flow and also by increased lymph formation and removal. The delivery of oxygen and nutrients to cells is enhanced through massage because of the improved vascular and lymphatic circulation, reducing ischemia. Local blood flow is increased by arteriolar and capillary dilation."
I eagerly await your response.

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Keith Eric Grant on November 11, 2009 at 4:06pm

Apropos this discussion, I was searching from something on Lactate Threshold Training (LTT). The article, however, provides considerably more in terms of an overall review of the topic.

LTT is higher intensity training specifically designed to prompt the body to increase its capacity for processing lactate. It leads to being able to maintain homeostasis at higher levels of exercise then without such intensity training. It's one of the training principles leading top marathoners to be able to maintain 5 min/mile paces for 2 hours -- a duration that requires having homeostasis well within the blood levels of lactate and H+ that allow continued performance efficiency. This also implies that, as Bruce Gladden commented, levels of lactate will return to resting levels quite quickly (30-40 min) after cessation of exercise. In fact, such a graph is a standard feature of exercise physiology books (eg., McArdle; Powers & Howley).This article indicates that blood lactate peaks about 5 minutes following cessation of exercise, indicating a time for cellular to blood stream diffusion on that scale of time (5 min) and contradicting any cellular accumulation of lactate.

A couple of other columns I wrote that may pertain to the topic.

Miles, Myths, & Musings
Training Effects