Looking for some opinions on this, or articles would be awesome too, this started with a debate I had with a boxer, regarding compression clothing designed to increase blood flow and recovery and all that jazz, however I think it should extend to all methods to increase recovery (excluding nutrition), another example off top of my head would be icebaths.

I said these methods should be used to help the bodies natural recovery process, meaning you will recover faster and be able to train harder. His position was that they are similar to wrist wraps and belts and using them will make the body weak/lazy and unable to recover as well by itself,


Are these
A) Good tools to use to aid recovery? or
B) Tools that ultimately just make the body lazy and are should be discouraged?

I believe that they are good tools to use in moderation. E.g Not using wraps on every back exercise otherwise you start to limit your grip strength. I think that your better off not using things like wraps and belts on exercises which they are not 100% needed. For example on my deadlifts I use wraps and a belt from about 140 kilo upwards, and on every other back exercise I only lift weight that I am able to control and hold onto without wraps.

Laver wrote:Are these
A) Good tools to use to aid recovery? or
B) Tools that ultimately just make the body lazy and are should be discouraged?

I've never thought of recovery aids as possibly impairing your body's natural recovery process in the long run, and to my mind, I can't really understand why it would? Could the opposite could be said where your body would adapt to the better recovery times and become more efficient at the healing process...?

I really don't know, but I'm with you on this, Laver. I've always viewed them as helpful tools to aid recovery

Interesting discussion though, and I look forward to what those more clued up than I on this subject have to say about it... It's something I've never really considered

Personally I think you need to look at each one individually and see how they actually aid your body to recover. Most of these "aids" work against your body's natural response so are not likely to make the body lazy in anyway.
For example the ice baths are to constrict the blood vessels and prevent swelling. The bodies natural response to any injury is immediately blood rushes to the area (swelling) which brings nutrients and encourages cell metabolism so the injury heals faster. This isn't ideal though I can't remember why haha. But by icing the area you constrict the blood vessels and prevent or reduce swelling so that healing can begin faster when normal temperature resumes ( i think the blood moves through better and cell metabolism is better without the swelling which causes it all to build up and stay there).
Even those belts I dont think they make the body lazy. Ultimately the just shift the loading from one part of the body to another part. Like if you are squatting and loading up your lower back and you strap it to reduce the load on the lower back and direct the loading through the right muscles. I actually think that loading up joints is the lazy way coz your not working the muscles proper your just using like leverage or sumink (i dont know the actual word)