Optimal Muscle Recovery: Your Guide to Achieving Peak Physical Performance [Paperback]

Edmund Burke (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 1999

Offers readers a head start with the R4 System, a programme developed from research on muscle performance and recovery. This guide stresses the importance of energy replacement during and after exercise to extend endurance. It focuses on minimizing and repairing exercise-induced muscle damage.

Editorial Reviews

From Kirkus Reviews

For serious athletes, guidelines for designing training programs that best meet the physiologic needs of working skeletal muscle. Burke, director of the Exercise Science Program at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, is up-to-date on the latest findings in sports physiology; he ably organizes that information into understandable and ultimately practical terms. ``Once strenuous training or competition has ended for the day, sufficient rest and careful nutritional management become essential for future performance. The goal during the postexercise recovery period, Burke explains, is to provide muscles with nutrients to help them recover from mechanical damage (swelling, tears), oxidative damage (also known as free-radical damage), and tissue degradation (resulting from the body's stress response). Burke first describes the structure and function of skeletal muscles, including the biochemistry of movement. Then he lays out a ``targeted nutrition program'' to restore fluid and electrolytes that are lost due to dehydration; to replenish glycogen for energy; to reduce muscle stress; and to rebuild muscle protein, thus maintaining optimal structure and function. Burke follows this specific nutrition program with advice on general nutrition (carbo- loading, etc.) and some pointers on nonnutritional support measures for muscle recovery (massage, sauna, stretching). Casual exercisers can benefit from the clear explanation of the state-of-the-art of muscle physiology set out here; but the meat of this guide is more appropriate for the serious athlete and coach. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Product Details

• Paperback: 214 pages
• Publisher: Avery (February 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0895298848
• ISBN-13: 978-0895298843
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #816,337 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Train harder longer..., March 28, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Optimal Muscle Recovery: Your Guide to Achieving Peak Physical Performance (Paperback)

If you like to get out and exercise to look and feel better, don't bother with this book. If you're obsessed with going faster longer and believe that rest days are the bane of human existence, route your next ride or run by a bookstore.

It seems that the more experienced (read old) you get, the more emphasis you have to put on recovery when creating a training schedule. After a quick survey of physiology, this book covers the most current data on training nutrition and supplements. It will tell you what, when, and how much, what you can expect from it, and sometimes even where to get it. The writing and conclusions are as clear as one can expect in such a controversial subject and the organization is good. Non-nutritional strategies are minimal.

So why not five stars? I thought that the lack of a discussion regarding active vs. passive recovery was kind of a glaring omission. Also, I was never clear on the role of exercise-induced trauma in muscle growth (if any.) In the end, trivial complaints about a book that I expect to give me an unfair advantage over friends and enemies alike.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good, but not great, December 27, 2003

By 

Victor Stover (Ann Arbor, MI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Optimal Muscle Recovery: Your Guide to Achieving Peak Physical Performance (Paperback)

I thought that this was an interesting and informative book, but a large portion of it seems to be an advertisement for Accelerade and Endurox R4 sports drinks.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From one athlete to another., May 22, 2001

By 

D. Skyler Cobb (Boise, Idaho, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Optimal Muscle Recovery: Your Guide to Achieving Peak Physical Performance (Paperback)

If you compete--or are intent on excelling--in any sport, do not miss this rare book of sports wisdom. I have been a cyclist at the national level for four years and competed in Crew (rowing) all throughout college and this simple yet comprehensive approach to recovery is spot-on.

I was one of the original 40-30-30 Diet test case participants in Seattle back in 1992. That diet has merit, but for athletes that are really expending huge amounts of energy, this 60-25-15 approach is much better. Especially in relation to insulin levels and how they effect a speedy recovery and uptake of glycogen for the muscles.

I especially appreciated the sections on natural substances that aid in performance and recovery (along with suggestions for specific suplimentation doses).