For those of you that love to know what my personal fitness training is…here you go. Brandon, my trainer is here to help you guys get into summer shape. I have asked him to explain and give you guys some of the same routines we go through together. Enjoy.
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Part 1:
Stretching madness part 1
Stretching is a time honored tradition of athletics dating back generations. Or at least as long as there’s been high school gym class. In fact I wouldn’t be surprised if our Paleolithic ancestors did some form of stretching before venturing out on their wooly mammoth hunts (but don’t quote me on that). Yet stretching is still one of the most controversial and misunderstood subjects in the fitness industry. Even experts often disagree on when to stretch, how to stretch, or even if stretching is necessary at all. That’s why the recommendations can be so conflicting. Pick up a copy of Runner’s World and you’ll learn the “5 best stretches for runners.” Then go online and learn about a study that showed stretching actually makes you weaker and more injury prone.
Madness! So what to believe?
Not to worry, I’ve got some experience in this realm, so I’m going to attempt to clear up some confusion and give you some suggestions on what do for your flexibility program from here on. A little background on me first. I’m a Certified Fascial Stretch Therapist (FST for short), which is a manual therapy that uses specific assisted stretching techniques for assessment, tissue release, and joint mobilization. I was trained by its creators, Ann and Chris Frederick. These two have been in the stretching game for over 20 years, and have been the go-to flexibility specialists for the pros including Charles Barkley, Larry Fitzgerald, Donovan McNabb, and many, many more. They literally wrote the book on stretching. Personally I’ve worked with hundreds of clients and used FST to improve their lives, either by getting them out of pain, or helping them regain mobility. So I know firsthand flexibility training can benefit just about anybody. When done the right way.
First let’s some answer some basic questions.
What is stretching?
No real mystery here, right? You’ve probably been stretching for years…and still doing the very same ones they taught you back in gym class I bet. Truth is, this is a blanket term that can cover anything from the good old fashioned sit and reach hamstring stretch, to the quick leg swings you might see track athletes do before a race. There’s a lot of different ways to stretch: static, dynamic, active, passive, active-isolated, assisted, and PNF (Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation). This is where much of the confusion lies in my opinion.
Because stretching can mean so many different things to so many people, it’s impossible to make sweeping recommendations about how and when to do it. The problem is that static stretching is the one we’re all the most familiar with and the only one that’s heavily researched. So when you read a news article that says it’s a bad idea to stretch before exercise because some study showed no benefit to performance, it’s almost always referring to static stretching. To that, most experienced and educated coaches will say, “well duh.” Static stretching hasn’t been used as a way to improve athletic performance in a very long time. But that shouldn’t fool you into thinking that ALL stretching is a bad idea before training. Or that static stretching should never be done. In fact the right kind of stretching can immediately improve athletic performance and help keep some injuries at bay. Also static stretching absolutely has its place when used appropriately. The key is knowing what to do and when. I’ll get into that later.
Who needs to stretch?
Everyone. Of course I may be a little biased. Fact is stretching is about more than just increasing flexibility. And flexibility is about much more than just stretching muscles. Ever stretch the same area over and over again yet still have zero improvement in how “tight” it feels? There’s a lot of potential causes for this, but many flexibility problems are caused by the joints, not necessarily the muscles that you feel the tension in. Let’s take the hamstrings for example. Some people stretch them constantly, yet whenever they get to running or doing something active, those pesky hammies always seem to lock up or just feel really tight.
This of course alters the way you move, slowing you down and making you more cautious. Nobody wants to suffer through a dreaded pulled hamstring after all. The real issue often lies with the hips, not the hamstrings. A muscle imbalance in the hips can make the hamstrings work harder than they’re supposed to. Naturally working all this overtime makes the hammies pretty grumpy (I mean, it’s not like they’re getting paid extra for all that overtime). So they start to cramp up, or worse break down, resulting in muscle tears. In this situation focusing the stretching around the hips, specifically the hip flexor complex in the front, and glutes in the back, might be enough to ease the stress and strain placed on the back of the leg.
Flexibility, or lack thereof, becomes a major concern as we age. Inability to move with ease into and out of positions, and through full joint ranges of motion can keep us from being active, and also be a serious cause of pain and dysfunction as we get older. This is NOT inevitable, however. In fact, the phrase “move it or lose it” is especially true when it comes to flexibility. It’s very likely that we lose the ability to move easily as we age, because we stop moving as much as we did when were younger. You can keep the joints healthy and happy at any age by moving them often and within their full range of motion. I’ve seen 60 year olds with better flexibility than some 30 year olds. Why? Because those 60 year olds stayed fit and active.
All that being said there are some people that need less in the way of stretching and more emphasis on strengthening when it comes to healthy joints and muscles. Some people have joint hypermobility, meaning their joints go past a “normal” range of motion, causing an inherent instability in their joints. These people require more stability work to strengthen those muscles around the joints, in order to make up for the laxity in the connective tissues. Get with a physical therapist or experienced trainer to find out if you’re hypermobile, and be sure to ask them for some specific exercises to improve your joint stability. You can also check out here for more info and an easy assessment you can do to test for hypermobility.
This is part 1 of 2, and I’m just getting to the good stuff. In the next part I’ll talk about how to stretch, when to stretch, and tell you what you’re probably not doing during your stretching, that can greatly improve its benefits. I’ll even let you in on a cool trick not many people know about, that will instantly increase flexibility during a stretch.
Till then, stay active my friends.
Next Thursday we will go over part 2.
-Brandon Cole
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