Good circulation is crucial for injury prevention and recovery

Can NAQI® contribute to injury prevention ?

Especially when it is cold, we can play an important role here. In cold weather, we want to keep our core temperature constant and constrict the blood vessels to lose as little heat as possible. Heat loss depends on the exposed body surface, speed (including wind: the more there is, the more heat is lost) and humidity (wet skin loses 25% more heat than dry skin).
The delayed circulation in arms and legs is disadvantageous during sports, as less oxygen is supplied. Muscles warm up more slowly and are less supple, which reduces performance and increases the risk of injury.

Warming products counteract this vasoconstriction but without a protective film they increase the heat release. Our warming up and protective ‘Warming Up Competition’ lipogels help with this. As soon as rain or mud hits the skin, it will draw extra heat away from the body. If you use a heating product that contains water, this will also improve heat conduction and you will have an even greater release of heat. NAQI lipogels do not contain water, making them the ideal protection against heat loss and passive warming up of the muscles for outdoor sports in low temperatures and damp weather conditions. A protective oil film on the skin slows down cooling.

Good blood circulation is what matters most ...

That’s right. And blood flow plays an important role again after the exercise. Good circulation means a faster supply of nutrients and better elimination of waste products. This will speed up recovery. Micro-trauma in the muscles always occurs during intensive exercise. These are microscopic damages in your muscles when you strain them. Usually you will start to feel the beginning of that muscle pain 24 to 48 hours after an effort. These micro-traumas need to be repaired by, among other things, a good blood circulation, so that the reconstruction of the muscles is faster.

‘NAQI Recovery Gel’ can certainly be a help for this. It reduces muscle fatigue and stiffness after exertion. The gel relaxes tired muscles after exercise, improves blood circulation and thus increases the supply of oxygen and nutrients to the muscles. As a result, the waste products in the muscles are removed faster and you recover faster after an intense workout.

Can cooling also contribute to this process ?

Definitely, but especially after sports, and especially in hockey. Hockey is a sport that often involves bruises, sprains and swelling. In those cases, cooling can relieve the pain.

What problems can arise when using products that help prevent injuries and recover ?

The greatest danger, of course, is using the wrong product. As I said, heating products that contain water will cause even more heat loss in cold conditions. So they are going to have the opposite effect and be anything but protective. Using too many warming products is not ideal either. It can lead to skin irritations, to which some people are more sensitive than others. That is why we work with three numbers at the NAQI® Warming Up Competition: 1, 2 and 3. The intensity of the product increases with a higher number.