By Damie Roberts - Central Region Captain
Our
ability to improve as triathletes is directly related to our body’s ability to
recover after training. Simply, we must
stress our muscular, skeletal, cardiac, and pulmonary systems in training, and
then we must allow these systems to rest, recover, and absorb the training in
order to take on increased loads in the future.
Recovery is as important as appropriate training, and can be just as
time consuming and multifaceted when you consider sleep, nutrition, and
managing muscle health.
So…train
for 3 sports, earn a paycheck at work, actually listen to your spouse and hang
out from time to time, give your toddler your undivided attention, cook for
everyone, run all errands, sleep the recommended amount, and take care of those
muscles? I know many of you can
relate! We want to be excellent in all
areas of our lives, and triathlon performance is no difference. Out of all of the things we do with the
limited time in our day, active muscle recovery will be one of the easiest
pieces of the puzzle to place, especially with the use of Marc Pro.
As
a physical therapist, I was interested to see exactly how the Marc Pro system
worked, and what made it different from the NMES/EMS units I use at work. I have experimented on myself for years with
electrotherapy equipment, sometimes with great success! I was also interested
to see how it differed from the very popular compression style equipment that
many triathletes use.
When
I received my Marc Pro Plus unit, I was happy to see how easy the system was to
use. (The Marc Pro Plus unit differs
from the Marc Pro with additional settings to address pain). The user manual is well laid out with
excellent description. You do not have
to understand electrophysiology, amplitude, pulse duration, or frequency to use
this machine. (Thank goodness…no advance
degree required to understand this manual!) The manual is easy to use, with
clear instructions and pictures for set up and application.
What
does the Marc Pro system do exactly? As
stated in the manual, “The Marc Pro Plus is intended for muscle conditioning by
stimulating muscle in order to improve or facilitate muscle performance. The Marc Pro Plus is to be used for temporary
relief of pain associated with sore and aching muscles in the shoulder, waist,
back, neck, upper extremities (arm), and lower extremities (leg) due to strain
from exercise and normal household and work activities.” In layman’s terms, the system is designed to
help muscles recover by allowing fluid to move in an out of muscle without
fatiguing the muscles. As well, the Plus
system can also be an additional resource to address pain.
How
does Marc Pro accomplish muscle recovery, and how is it different from other
systems on the market? One concern I
have seen on the internet forums is that a unit such as Marc Pro will fatigue
the muscles. So, how does this system promote recovery WITHOUT fatigue?
The
Marc Pro system uses a dynamic decaying waveform, which is different from most
EMS systems that use a static square waveform, generally with higher voltage
and frequencies.
The different waveform allows for a more comfortable contraction
followed by a slower release to enhance blood flow, which is different than
traditional therapeutic machines that often produce tetanizing contractions and
fatigue that is often used in muscle re-education. And while these terms seem complicated (and
they are...I could show you my Clinical Electrophysiology Text from DPT school
and you would cry after the first chapter), have no fear, the Marc Pro system
is very easy to effectively use.
The
manual is amazingly easy to read and includes pictures for every type of
electrode set up you can imagine, as well as frequency and intensity
recommendations for every muscle combination included. I have never seen that sort of direction and
guidance for any EMS system I have used. The manual provides electrode
placement sections for recovery/conditioning/performance, time efficient
placements, and pain unresponsive to low frequency.
So,
you only have 15 minutes and your legs are sore and tired? Turn to the chapter
for efficient placement and it will show you exactly where to place the
electrodes to get the most bang for your buck.
Have some time and want to specifically address the hip flexor? Turn to the chapter for recovery,
conditioning, and performance. They make
it that easy.
How
is this type of muscle recovery system different from the compression type
systems we see in our sport? Well, the
first thing I noticed is that compression boots will not address my low back
pain or my shoulder fatigue. And while
they compress a good part of the leg, they simply cannot help my glutes or hip
flexors.
Another
major difference is that there is no blood flow restriction with the Marc Pro
System as there is in compressive phase of compression boots. And while compression does move fluid and
waste, our natural mover of fluid through the body in addition to the heart and
gravity is…wait for it...muscle. With compression, there is no muscle
activation. With Marc Pro, the muscles
are directly involved in the movement of waste, as they should be. And that, my fellow triathletes, is the heart
of active recovery. We often spin on our
bikes to flush out our legs by engaging our muscles to move fluid. However, with the Marc Pro system, you take
out the fatigue involved in active full body movement, and replace it with
active muscle recovery without the resulting fatigue.
The
Marc Pro system has become a major part of my recovery program as I increase my
training load. The system is small
enough to take just about anywhere. My
favorite way to use the Marc Pro after a solid training day is to do some foam
rolling for myofascial release and then jump in bed with the Marc Pro system
hooked up. My favorite electrode
placement is the global leg flush, and I literally push 3 buttons to activate
the electrodes on both legs, and then turn two knobs until the intensity is at
a place that feels good to me. It is
that simple. I review training logs, maybe read a chapter in a book, say a
quick prayer that my toddler will sleep through the night, and then finally
turn off my Marc Pro Plus with legs that feel amazing.
Please
visit www.marcpro.com for an incredible
amount of information on the product and active muscle recovery.
