Ibuprofen and sport - interesting article

[andygates]

I'm like a lot of leisure athletes in that I pop a couple of ibuprofen before a particularly long or hurty event.  I do it in the belief that it 'takes the edge off' hurty joints when running half-marathon distances, or knee and assbone aches on epic rides.  It's a standard behaviour -- but it doesn't seem to actually be true.  This NYT article says:

"...the latest research into the physiological effects of ibuprofen and other NSAIDs suggests that the drugs in fact, have the opposite effect. In a number of studies conducted both in the field and in human performance laboratories in recent years, NSAIDs did not lessen people’s perception of pain during activity or decrease muscle soreness later."

So, maybe I'll leave it out for my next biggie. 

Do you pop painkillers before expecting to get hurt? 

Comments

[skean.livejournal.com]

Not before, no. I have done on occasion during events (HIM & IM I think were the only times). I tend to do it more to combat the all over aches that develop that lead to negative spirals - twisting your body in odd ways to relieve that cramps and aches and so on. Not having a control though I don't know if it really does anything - sometimes I think it's more pyschosomatic: "Once I get round to the transition area again, I can have some Ibruprofen" as a goal.

[teahisme.livejournal.com]

I don't believe pushing yourself to the point of pain requiring medication is healthy. If you have to take killers to get through an rigorous work out then perhaps it is too rigorous. Pain is your body's way of asking you to stop hurting it.

[andygates.livejournal.com]

Absolutely true for regular workouts.

Races are the half-dozen times a year where that rule doesn't apply - where you can risk a bit of damage in exchange for an epic performance.

Habitual painkiller use for regular workouts is clearly maladaptive. :)

[despaer.livejournal.com]

Never. But then I'm a bit obsessive about not using them if I can help it anyway.

Red bull, on the other hand...