LIE DOWN TO BOUNCE BACK

            How this is for backward advice: Flop down on the ground after a race.  Lying on your back speeds recovery, according to a study in the Journal of Applied Physiology.  Researchers asked nearly exhausted cyclists to either lie on their backs or sit upright. The stretched-out group’s heart rates slowed 25 percent faster than the sitters’, and they produced twice the sweat, helping their bodies cool.  When a person sits, his blood pools in muscles, causing a drop in blood pressure, says Glen Kenny, Ph.D., a professor of human kinetics at the University of Ottawa.  “But when the body senses this, it triggers a reactive increase in heart rate and blood pressure, and a decreased sweat rate.”  Lying down helps blood flow to the heart, preventing this response.

REDUCE SORENESS BY 40 PERCENT

            Try a round or two of calisthenics when you’re sore.  Australian researchers found that men who lifted light weights the day after a hard workout reported a 40 percent decrease in muscle soreness compared with those who didn’t exercise.  By increasing blood flow to damaged muscle tissue, light exercise may help speed recovery, reducing soreness.  There’s no need to spend more time at the gym; train at home.  Do two sets of 20 pushups the day after a grueling bench-press routine, or the same number of body-weight squats following an intense leg session.

BUILDING BIGGER ARMS WITHOUT WEIGHTS

            Looking for a new way to challenge your guns?  Scientists in New Zealand discovered that Swiss-ball push-ups train your arm 30 percent harder than regular pushups.  “The Swiss ball forces your triceps to stabilize your elbow and shoulder joints, which result in the recruitment of more muscle fibers,” says lead investigator Paul Marshall, M.S.  IN the study, men performed the movement just like a regular pushup, only with their hands on a Swiss ball.