Le Clos was playing some Jedi mind games of his own, stretching and shaking it off directly in front of Phelps.
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It can either be “dry” – the athletes” choice – or “wet’, which involves superficially injuring the skin with a blade before the cup is applied so that a small amount of blood is drawn into it.
Forms of cupping may have started over 5,000 years ago.
Not everyone agrees the cupping treatment even works. The resulting suction pulls the skin away from the body and into the cup, which is what causes the red – and later purple – spots. Since Phelps began using the treatment several other athletes have followed suit, including Dana Vollmer, who has already won two medals in Rio 17 months after giving birth. “But cupping helps the body recover faster by keeping the process moving forward”. “I was trying not to even really look at him”. The idea is that it promotes blood flow, shortens recovery time and prevents the build-up of lactic acid in the muscles – hence the popularity amongst athletes.
“The use of cupping therapy amongst athletes has grown over the last decade”. They met those expectations and then some at the Rio Olympic Arena, winning gold by more than eight points over silver medalists Russian Federation.
“Since then, Floyd Mayweather, Andy Murray, Amir Khan and more recently the Olympians in Rio have all been seen with cupping marks”.
Very little evidence has come up in scientific literature to support the practice, but it’s important to note that little has been found to disprove it either. It clearly has a significant placebo effect.
“I have done it for awhile but I haven’t had bad ones (marks) like this awhile though”, Phelps, who in 2015 posted an Instagram photo of himself receiving the therapy, told reporters on Monday.
Critics have branded cupping “hocus pocus” which does nothing at its best, and can be risky at its worst. A 2010 review of 550 clinical studies on cupping did find that there is a potential benefit on pain conditions, cough, asthma and other diseases.
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It turns out they are bruises left behind from a treatment called cupping.
