In my blog last month, I talked about an overlooked component of exercise routines: rotation. Most people just don’t realize how important it is. But almost everybody knows the importance of stretching, yet very few regularly incorporate it in their routine. And then they wonder why they feel old. Why they can’t spring up from the couch or bend down to tie their shoe. Or why they have various aches and pains throughout their bodies. Hellooooooooooo!
I can’t emphasize enough the importance of stretching DAILY. My people, most of you aren’t 22 anymore. That means your muscles are not as pliable, as elastic as they once were; your joints not as mobile. So what exactly are you doing to address that, which essentially is the onset of the hunched over, shuffling, one dimensional old person? I’d venture to say that most of you stretch fewer than 15 minutes per week. At best, you do a couple of quick stretches before or after a workout and call it a day. Well, you need to be stretching about 15 minutes PER DAY. Trust me, your body will thank you for it.
I often tell my clients at Lifetime Fitness to think of their body as a rubber band. If I have a rubber band that I can pull back, oh, two inches, it’s not going to create much force on the return. But if I can pull my band back six inches, it’s going to snap back and sting you in an explosive recoil. The body is the same way. If you can’t stretch and eccentrically load your muscles, that subsequent concentric contraction, the unloading, is not going to be as powerful. I’m not a science guy, but that’s simple physics. On top of that, your muscles have what the National Academy of Sports Medicine refers to as “length-tension relationships.” To produce movement the inner workings of the muscle have to form bridges or “force couples.” When there is adequate length/flexibility, the maximum amount of force couples are formed, thereby allowing for the greatest force production. To get a better idea, do this: bring your hands together and interlock all 10 fingers. Those five “couples” form a pretty strong bridge, yes? But, if you could only lock two fingers from each hand, that bridge is weakened. The same thing happens with your muscles. When muscles are tight and not optimally aligned, you unknowingly compensate and develop faulty movement patterns, and muscles aren’t able to produce maximum force.
Another example: if your hip flexors are tight (perhaps you have an office job and sit all day), you’re being robbed of power. Your hip flexors’ primary function is to raise the knee up toward the chest. If they’re tight, you can’t generate explosive knee lift when you run. Your band won’t stretch. Also, when that same leg is in the trail position, because the hip flexor can’t lengthen, your foot is going to come off the ground sooner than it should. This greatly reduces your ability to transfer those ground forces and push off, sending power back up through the kinetic chain. And because of that tightness, you’re expending more energy every time you lift that leg, the inefficient movement leading to premature fatigue. Also, tight hip flexors often cause an anterior pelvic tilt, which leads to excessive curve in the low back (lordosis) and a domino effect of further troubles.
There’s a lot more to stretching than bending over and touching your toes. Of muscles, I often say, “make it long, make it strong.” So you need to develop a flexibility routine – including foam rolling - for your entire body, particularly where you have tightness. Go through it 3 or 4 times a week at a MINIMUM. Fellas, dismiss your preconceived notions and take a yoga class. Try to incorporate some multi-planar movements that lengthen your abdominals, hamstrings, hip flexors, etc… Buy a book on stretching (“Stretch to Win” and “Wharton’s Stretch Book” are two of my favorites, but there are several good ones out there).
Increased flexibility is going to help you feel better, move better and perform better athletically. I have one client, an avid golfer, who in six weeks is consistently whacking the ball 25 yards longer, much to the amazement of his buddies. (He’s also popping up from the couch. Feeling like a new man at 58, he called his improvements “the most amazing transformation I’ve ever seen.” And the bulk of our routine has consisted mainly of increasing his range of motion throughout his body (and stability of his hips and torso).
So if you want to restore some vitality to your muscles and stave off feeling old and creaky, improve your athletic performance – and reduce your risk of injury - it all starts with improving your flexibility. It’s pretty simple. You want to feel better, feel younger? STRETCH.
Robert Haddocks, CPT, CSCS is personal trainer at Lifetime Fitness on Hwy 92 in Woodstock.
No comments:
Post a Comment