Environmentally Friendly Leg Recovery-Michael Gillan Ultra Marathon Recovery Specialist

Leg recovery using an environmentally friendly recovery system

Someone sent me an email asking about the system I am referring to which is called Light
Manual Muscle Relaxation and how was it developed and tested-and how I can write on so
many articles about the legs and their recovery (sorry but there are many more to come)

Aching legs should always be checked out by a medical professional before doing anything to
and with them because there are many medical reasons why they may be aching-see a
physician first
Recovery of leg fatigue
Non-medically related aching legs, by this I mean those that are caused by too much standing,
sitting, walking, can be a health danger and while they can’t be fixed because they may be
caused through an occupational related cause, and this is ongoing, they may be relieved on a
temporary basis www.hazards.org/standing
Better start off with a little about the background first on what it is that I do-more detail can be
found on my website and even more if you google me

I am an ultra marathon recovery specialist and I work with ultra marathon runners and walkers-
an ultra marathon is anything over marathon distance (42.195 km or 26 miles 385 yards) the
time the event covers can range from 6 hours to 12 hours to 24 hours to 6 days being the most
common times but in extreme cases the runners can go around the world as in the case of
Jesper Olsen of Denmark who ran around the world and covered 26,230 odd kilometers and
took 2 years to do it on world run 1 and is running on world run 2 www.worldrun.org
There is also a lady called Deborah De Williams running a circuit of Australia at present
raising money for a cancer charity for women http://www.runningpink.com.au/
I am at present involved I both of these events to a greater or lesser degree and will finish up
going on the road with both of them for a while

These are 2 people who have just been running for 3 days around a running track in all
weathers

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 Environmentally Friendly Leg Recovery-Michael Gillan Ultra Marathon Recovery Specialist

This was at a six day run in Antibes France (track running and walking0

Road Running

These are on a training run of 60 klm for the day later in the week they ran 100 miles
(160 klms) in under 24 hours Jesper Olsen ran it in 15 hours
The conditions ultra marathoners run in range from roads to mountains and the
weather is no barrier

They suffer from sore feet, sore legs, swollen ankles, stiffness, wasted muscles, muscle cramps,
tiredness, mental fatigue, restless legs, sore skin, night pains, muscle spasm, muscle wastage,
swollen ankles, hyperthermia, hypothermia, temper tantrums, vomiting, food sensitivity,
allergies, rashes, loss of judgement-all the fun things you get when you push the body too
much
Aching legs fatigued muscles and recovery
However the aching fatigued legs and muscles are developed whether you are a non-athlete
working at a job that causes them on a daily basis or an athlete who runs around the world, or
someone with poor leg circulation from any of these-everyone has the same thing in common
and that is how to recover from these

Recovery from leg fatigue or ongoing leg maintenance

Conventional massage systems
Conventional massage systems are both user, patient and problem specific-they can be divided
into basic groups-sports massage-relaxation massage-remedial massage and many sub groups
and sub sub groups-ways of approaching what they are designed for are dependent on the
teacher, where and how they are developed and taught.

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http://www.aching-legs.org
 Environmentally Friendly Leg Recovery-Michael Gillan Ultra Marathon Recovery Specialist

They come under different names and have different themes with different ways of using the
hands to work on the muscles and all need quite specialized teaching to learn and use
This makes them difficult for the average person to use easily and it is this that makes them
difficult to use in ultra marathon where time and space are limited
They need massage oils, towels, massage tables and associated equipment to be carried and
used-all this takes up time, and room and washing and cleaning because the conditions out at
an event or running for many days in all weathers are not usually very hygienic
On top of this, at the events I go to there is just only me and to work for days straight, even just
at a 24 hour run and looking after 40 odd competitors using conventional methods means I
would not last too long before I died of exhaustion

My working area at this 24 hour event consisted of the chair next to the bottles-I looked after
the team and worked and slept on it-the airline had lost all my clothes and other stuff-if I used
conventional methods that would have been impossible to do

Here I am giving a demonstration of leg recovery in Denmark using

Light Manual Muscle Relaxation
More details and references on ultra marathon can be found on my websites
The semi-medical articles
How do I get practical information on the Light Manual Manual Relaxation and working with
things like the articles on the elderly and cold feet and deep vein thrombosis?
I was the worst massage student in the school and very few of them would work with me so I
so I had to go and find experience away from the other students-so finished up doing work
experience with a hospital physiotherapist (or physical therapist group) I worked without pay
for a year and got to work with accident, work place injury, geriatric, multiple sclerosis,

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 Environmentally Friendly Leg Recovery-Michael Gillan Ultra Marathon Recovery Specialist

psychiatric and other long term post operative patients who were in danger developing deep
vein thrombosis.
What is the common factor between all of the groups?

Everyone needs recovery after a tough day-and the fact that to get it blood to the
muscles in the legs needs refreshing
But to get that old depleted blood in the lower legs needs pumping out of them so that new fresh blood
can be pumped in-simple really

How much training and theory does it need to do this?

Very little because it is not specific
How did I discover this?

Because for my first 2 years in ultra marathon I used conventional recovery systems and they
really did not work-nothing changed and nothing improved-it was not until I changed my
approach from working on the muscles to working with them did things improve for both
myself and the ultra entrants
Using an environmentally friendly pro-active leg recovery system is easier than you think
when you learn how to use the muscles to work on themselves

Look at the photo above-how many towels and bottles of oil do you see?
None because the latest in non-polluting, non-technical method of leg recovery techniques is
being used
There are 2 main ways of relieving them of soreness-passive and active

This is the passive way-waiting for the legs to recover themselves

Below is the pro-active result sheet from a 6 day event using Light Manual Muscle Relaxation

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 Environmentally Friendly Leg Recovery-Michael Gillan Ultra Marathon Recovery Specialist

Results from 1995 Coburg 6 day footrace

Name Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6

A Krouglikov 237.2 113.6 130 106 126 108 Kilometers
539 284 325 365 315 270 Laps

T Rusek 215.2 98.8 98 139.6 138.4 122.4 Kilometers

538 247 245 349 346 306 Laps

M T aylor 174.4 128.8 143.6 123.6 138.4 122.4 Kilometers

436 322 359 309 302 223 Laps

B Beauchamp 180.4 133.2 124 117.6 110 93.2 Kilometers

451 333 310 294 275 233 Laps

P Gray 150 134 105.2 94.8 111.6 106 Kilometers

375 335 263 237 279 265 Laps

D Parri s 138.4 108.4 106.8 116.4 106 107.2 Kilometers

346 271 267 274 265 268 Laps

I Davis 168 119.2 90 116.4 106 107.2 Kilometers

420 298 225 291 180 247 Laps

G Watts 132.2 96.4 99.2 104.4 92.8 133.6 Kilometers

328 241 248 261 232 334 Laps

C Young 142 91.2 90 97.6 88 92 Kilometers

355 228 225 244 220 230 Laps

D Kettle 138.2 86.8 90.8 95.2 94.4 84.4 Kilometers

332 217 227 238 236 212 Laps

R H ill 128 80.8 99.2 70 95.6 96.6 Kilometers

320 202 248 175 239 241 Laps

K Fisher 164 91.6 50 115.2 49.6 81.2 Kilometers

410 229 125 288 124 203 Laps

G Pollard 120 74.8 73.6 68.4 69.6 61.2 Kilometers

300 187 184 171 174 153 Laps
The above group came in for Light Manual Muscle Rel axation
The below group did not or had their own recovery people
T Rafferty 141.6 112.8 104.8 101.6 98 96.4 Kilometers
354 282 262 254 245 241 Laps

G McConnel 145.6 110.8 126.4 113.6 108.4 106 ki lometers

363 277 287 284 271 265 Laps

G Audley 152.8 110.8 126.4 113.6 114.8 95.2 ki lometers

S Scanlon 140.8 82 84 34 0 0 Kilometers

352 205 210 85 pulled out-bli sters Laps

J Timms 127.2 98.4 74.8 0 0 0 ki lometers

Copyright 2008 Michael Gillan 5
http://www.aching-legs.org
 Environmentally Friendly Leg Recovery-Michael Gillan Ultra Marathon Recovery Specialist

The secret to leg recovery

The calf muscle pump

The calf muscles act as the motor for a pump to take it from the feet back to the body against
gravity through the venous system where it is re-nourished and recirculated-but to be working
they have to move.

Once you figure out how it all works you have an environmentally friendly
recovery system
The active way to help the legs recover is to learn how to work with the muscles
If you can use your hands you have the tools to do the job of recovery

Quickly-easily and in an environmentally friendly way!

If you want more details go to my website at

http://www.aching-legs.org

Copyright 2008 Michael Gillan 6

http://www.aching-legs.org