De nieuwe warming-up by Tjitte Kamminga
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The main selling-point of this book is the idea that (static) stretching is worthless as a warm-up for your run. Better would be to dynamically stretch, as many other sources online recommend, but what was new to me was the fact that it focused on joint extensions. Basically, moving through the whole range of joint movements that will be used in the exercise thereafter, and that simply starting from walking, to brisk-walking, a slow tred and jog to proper running. That this build-up can really help preparing the muscles and tendons for the motions to come. Since I could pick up this book for a cheap price, I wonder if there’s anything wrong with its advice, but to me the evidence seems to hold up.
The other part of the book talks about the physiology of the human musculoskeletal system and what goes wrong when you are injured. The importance of scar tissue is discussed, and when you take complete rest, the scar tissue grows in random directions and when you move within your limits, that you can force this tissue to grow in the correct direction, which will help increase the chances of a full recovery. So that is definitely something to keep in mind for the future, and seems to hold true for the two times I have been injured myself, first fully resting, secondly resting while moving. Note: The second injury was a little less severe, so that might skew the data.
The last lesson I learned was about the synovia, the fluid inside the joints and how it feeds the cartilage of the joints. And with inactivity, this fluid doesn’t move and the cartilage deteriorates. Contrary, to common believe, it is this moving of the joints that helps it keep in good shape and there is no wear and tear of joints, only this type of rusting, so to speak!