Monday, October 29, 2012

In Amanda Carey's words about her legs! Neuro-Muscular Adapation!

 Do you have the discipline on what it takes?  


There are 3 variables that effect the time for muscle growth. Diet, rest, and the stimulus! 
Bottom line, it takes about 30 days, a little less time than the regeneration of red blood cells!  Just about the same time Amanda Carey has been racing cx (Neuro-muscular) adapation v.100 mile (Neuro-muscular) exercise. We know it takes another 30 days for the human to get use to the tool!

Initially your body will make strength gains due to neuro-muscular adaptation, not muscle growth.  That is why you have to get coached, get focused on what it is you need to do!  This can become mentally painful for the racer, meaning it can tax their way of thinking!  We all want to have success now, and we don't like to hear what we need to focus on!  So it takes a great mind to except one's results until the adaptation process kicks in! 

Neuro-muscular adaptation means your body and "brain is learning" how to recruit more muscle fibres for a particular exercise i.e. cx,  and how to use those fibres to maximum effect. Only when the upper potential for neuro-muscular adaptation is reached will your body engage in the much more taxing process of growing existing muscle fibres (hypertrophy). This can take up to 3 months or even longer if training is not intense and frequent.

Another truth, for humans, it generally takes about 4–8 weeks to regenerate the red blood cells lost during a blood donation. Fact, with hard exercise, you loose RBC's.  An iron-fortified diet plus daily iron tablets can help rebuild the red blood supply, but again it takes about 1 month to get back to normal.  So its strange to see RBC's normal all the time?   The point, it takes time for humans to adapt!

Amanda Carey "I think I finally bled the summer of 100s outta my legs - 6th yesterday & 4th today at the Boulder Cup! Big thanks to Excel Sports for the last minute bike work and pit help and of course to Boise WV for the opportunity to race."

Cx is a very different event verses ultra mtb distance. The bike setup is very different, what you "focus" on is very different, the equipment is very different, etc... It takes time to adapt!


Think of football and note all the different body types and the different positions the players play.  For Amanda to perform at this level in this type of racing is a real study!  Just like NASCAR, setup on the big track is not the same as the short track!  Amanda is coming around nicely!

Well done Amanda Carey and thanks for using WN as your setup, your info needs, having the brain power to allow your Neuro-muscular system timet!  I very sure your Masters in Sport Psychology helps deal with this much over looked adaptation.




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