TheFinalSprint.com | Premier Running Destination for Marathons, Track and Field, Race News, Podcasts, Training Advice and More!

Lead Stories: Sunday, July 20, 2008

TFS Review: Boiron Arnica Gel

Posted January 18th, 2007 at 8:00 AM by Valerie Cerami

Section: Running & Training, Injury & Rehab, Gear & Apparel, Product Reviews, Sports Medicine, Special Features, Health & Fitness, Injury & Rehab, TFS Reviews

If you’d like to try a holistic approach to muscle soreness, you should give Boiron’s Arnica Gel a try. We found it to have a far superior odor than traditional favorites (i.e. - IcyHot), but yet often more effective for pain relief. Below are the results of TFS’s product testing, small-scale double-blind trials, and overall review.

Product: Boiron’s Arnica Gel
Price: $5.76 (1.5 oz.); $9.12 (2.5 oz.)
Rating: Very Good 7.8/10.0
Pros: Non-greasy; very mild smell; all-natural; quickly absorbed; effective on mild muscle pain and soreness
Cons: More expensive than traditional remedies; comes in tube instead of a more convenient “roll-on” form
Overall: Very good choice for runner’s to use at home for reducing muscle soreness and helping to prevent injuries without the offensive odor inherent to analgesics like Icy Hot and Tiger Balm.

The arnica gel that we tested is made by Boiron, a major manufacturer of homeopathic products. Homeopathic medicines use therapeutically active micro-doses of mineral, botanical, and biological substances. Homeopathy has been used for hundreds of years and is currently recommended to millions by health-care providers around the world.

Arnica is an all-natural treatment option that is marketed by Boiron, and many other holistic manufacturers, for the relief of: stiffness, aches and pains, muscle soreness, swelling and discoloration from bruises, and other minor ailments.
Read the rest of this entry »

One comment, add yours | Permalink

TFS Review: BodyGlide Muscle Formula

Posted December 14th, 2006 at 6:00 AM by Trish Monks

Section: Running & Training, Injury & Rehab, Gear & Apparel, Miscellaneous, Sports Medicine, Special Features, Health & Fitness, Injury & Rehab, TFS Reviews

TFS makes every effort to be unbiased and objective when performing product reviews; often doing double-blind tests to ensure such high standards. However, it should be noted up-front that our team, in general, does not find muscle/heat rubs to be the most effective means of treating muscle soreness, pain, fatigue, etc.

Product: BodyGlide Muscle Formula
Price: $7.99 (1.3 oz), $12.99 (2.5 oz)
Rating: Average 5.85/10.0
Pros: Easy to apply; water & sweat resistant
Cons: Requires a lot to feel an effect; the smell
Overall: If you usually use heat rubs like Icy Hot, then this is a better choice. Otherwise, you’re better off using some combination of massage, heat/ice, stretching and The Stick to treat sore muscles.

Note: Although this review is authored by just one of TFS’s team members, it reflects the cumulative results of the entire groups’ trial.

Effectiveness - 5.5 - Muscle Formula is marketed as being able to help treat and/or address minor pain and soreness. It also claims to aid in the healing process and to improve circulation & muscle and joint flexibility.
Read the rest of this entry »

2 comments, add yours | Permalink

Does creatine build larger muscles and/or delay fatigue?

Posted December 6th, 2006 at 11:00 AM by Jeanie Rebb

Section: Nutrition, Supplements, Health & Fitness

Creatine can help to strengthen muscles, but athletes who take these supplements need to know how much they can take safely before they harm themselves. When you exercise and your muscles get as much oxygen as they need, they burn carbohydrates, fats and protein for energy. When you exercise so intensely that you cannot get all the oxygen you need, your muscles use creatine and ATP. So when you exercise so intensely that you can’t get enough oxygen, you can delay fatigue by taking creatine and it allows you to do more work, which makes you stronger.

The body of a 160 pound man contains 120 grams of creatine and he takes in and uses about two grams a day. No good studies have been done to show what amounts are safe to take beyond what your own body makes, so let the buyer beware. Creatine may allow you to lift more weights and make you stronger, but it may also harm you.
Read the rest of this entry »

One comment, add yours | Permalink

What causes muscle fatigue during endurance events?

Posted December 5th, 2006 at 3:00 PM by Martin Kennedy

Section: Running & Training, Injury & Rehab, Training Tips

When you exercise for a long time, your muscles start to burn and feel sore, which forces you to slow down. You call this fatigue and tiredness, but a recent study from Japan shows that muscle fatigue is caused by damage to the muscle itself (Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, July 2005).

This also explains why exercising long and hard enough to feel the burn for an extended period leaves your muscles sore for one or more days afterwards. Athletes call this Delayed-Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) and they learn that they have to have this next-day soreness to improve for competition.
Read the rest of this entry »

Comment on this post | Permalink