USING MAGNETS TO IMPROVE RECOVERY FROM EXERCISE by Rick BrunnerRecovery is an essential component of any fitness programm, as is general health and injury prevention. Toward these ends a new method has been developed to stimulate recovery and improve the quality of life - the use of magnets. No, not your ordinary refrigerator decor, but a special multi-polar magnet invented in Japan and designed to enhance physical recovery and keep you functioning at peak performance.In 1988, as a researcher and coach, I traveled for the first time to the Soviet Unoin in search of anything related to training or recovery that would improve the fitness of the athlete's with whom I work. Since that trip I have returned to Russia on eight different occasions, each time learning more about how many of the world's greatest athletes train and how science plays a key role in their training and recovery. Even with the fall of the Iron Curtain, Russian athletes continue to excel in world competition.
I first heard of the Russians' using magnets to improve athletes' recovery from intense training back in 1989. In recent years I have withnessed the incredible recovery and growth potential of these aids, and I no longer view them as "voodoo science". In fact, the leading producer of these magnets is not Russia, which pionneered much of the early research, but Japan, which has taken a crude magnet and perfected its use just as it did with the radio, television and car.
Walk into any drug store in Japan any many in Europe and you're sure to finda variety of magnetic products, not only for athletes but for ordinary consumers. They are used to relieve a variety of physical discomforts of the back, shoulders, knees and hands. They also help prevent sleep problems and sore feet. The key is to use the magnets consistently and apply them at the onset of any soreness or discomfort.
The static magnets from Japan are safe to use and should not be confused with alternating polarity electromagnetic fields from electronic power lines, which are quite different and potentially harmful.
The use of magnets by American athletes is new. Several professional and Olympic teams in the U.S. have begun using them with good results, but these athletes represent only the tip of the iceberg. For those who've tried them, magnets quickly have become a regular partner in health and fitness.
As a long-time competitive athlete, I have been limited on occasion by nagging injuries for as long as I can remenber. The magnets I now use have made a world of difference in my recovery and injury prevention. I was first introduced to them after suffering a flare-up in an old low back injury. I placed a magnet against my lower back and within three days I was weight lifting again as usual. Within the next several month, the magnetic shoe insoles I wear and the chair pad I sit on eliminated all discomfort in my back and feet, leaving me feeling energized.
The magnets I used have a magnetic rating of between 450-700 Gauss, which seems to be the optimal range. The use of magnets, along with other recovery means, has played a key role in my athletic turnaround. You can walk in them, sit on them and sleep on them.
Magnets are being used in a variety of ways today. They are applied to water pipes to keep minerals flowing and prevent sediment buildup, used to stimulate plant growth, and placed into horse blankets to stimulate recovery after training and injury, soothe aching joints and muscles, and increase growth. In fact, nuclear scans of horse legs have shown up to a 30-percent increase in circulation when the magnets were applied for a short time after training.
Just how do these magnets work? Early research by Russian scientist focused on the magnets' regeneration potential, meaning their ability to stimulate growth and recovery of tissue. By working with the human body's natural electrical current, the specially placed magnets can enhance blood flow and increase capillary size. A random arrangement of magnets. however, will not accomplish these results. The Russian scientists who performed some of the early research cited specific factors that they felt were the reasons for accelerated recovery and growth.
Research has shown that there is an enhanced blood and lymph flow via action by the magnets in ionic (charged particle) currents and movements patterns. This increase in transport helps to deliver a greater amount of oxygen and nutrient-rich blood to an artery, and aids the rapid removal of toxic metabolic by-products such as lactic acid and ammonia produced from training stress. In some cases even the production of anabolic hormones can be stimulated by using magnets. When the magnets is applied to the skin, a warming effect is often felt in the muscle.
For an athelete to excel drug-free, he must lift heavier tonnage and then recover from such stress. The increase in load(intensity) and volume (tonnage) places a great stress on the body. Recovery means, both neurological and muscular, play a greater and greater role as the athlete advances. Judging from the available data, almost any lifter at the intermediate or advanced level using magnets should sleep better, recover faster and reduce the discomforts from hard training.
Magnets come in a variety of sizes and shapes. The Japanese have placed them in shoe insoles, mattress pads, pillows and thin discs that you canapply directly to a muscle. Arranging alternating polarity magnets in a checkerboard pettern may achieve maximum penetration into muscle and facilitate the recovery and growth process.
I witnessed one lifter increase his squat by over 30 lbs. in just under a month. Did the magnetic insoles he was wearing do it. Perhaps not every poud of increase, but the guy was experienced and, knowing his ability, I'm sure the gains were not just from training or supplements. To prove it wasn't a fluke, I checked on him again two months later and found he was still making significnt gains.
Will these magnets (now in use by millions of people worldwide) improve sports performance and general health? As with supplements and training plans, results vary from athlete to athlete. But research shows that almost every individual using the magnets has benefitted and improved his performance beyond what he traditionally had gained without them.
What I once thought was some Russian scientist's fantasy has becom, through the advances of Japanese technology, a worldwide reality. In fact, several billion dollars worth of these magnets will be sold worldwide this year to both athletes (for recovery) and non-athletes (to treat discomfort). Soon all serious athletes in the U.S. will incorporate them into their exercise plans.
Note: The insoles I used in my own studies and the magnets most often cited in the literature were purchased from an authorized U.S. distributor.
Extract from: MEN'S EXERCISE, September 1996 P.34,35