 | Flexibility Cameron McGarr CSCS There is a massive misconception about flexibility. For
some reason there are people who do not feel as though they are
flexible enough unless they can touch their head to their knee or drop
into the splits in multiple directions. These are (many of them) the same people who take five yoga classes a week. That is all well and good but did you ever stop to think there may be a limit to how flexible you want to be. Not only that but the manner in which the flexibility is reached often times compromises the joint stability. First of all stretching is not the only tool to use in getting flexible. Let's look at the splits for example. If
you are not strong enough in the lower extremities to get out of the
stretch your body will shut you down and not allow the range. If you try stretching and only stretching to build the flexibility you will never get there. If you can put one leg at a time up to 90 degrees to the body on either side, you have the flexibility to do the splits. If you can still not do the splits then strength is the limiting factor. Another tool for increasing flexibility is massage. We use massage in the form of self massage on the foam roller or with "the stick." Picture a string with a knot in the middle. If you stretch the string the knot just got tighter. The same thing happens in the muscle. If all you do is stretch you will only tighten the knots. By
massaging these knots out you will be able to increase your
flexibility, decrease risk of injury, and eliminate the pain caused
from the muscle spasm. Let's also look at the balance between muscles. There
are, for all intensive purposes, only two things that cause joint pain
when it comes to flexibility: joint laxity or imbalance. Everyone wants to have flexible hamstrings but when was the last time you stretched your hip flexors. If you stretch your hip flexors you already got more range out of your hamstrings. When your hip flexors are short your hamstrings are already in a stretched position, and you want to stretch them even more. That is my major complaint about yoga, it is too general. We use a lot of yoga techniques but only for specific purposes. The other reason for joint pain, joint laxity, comes from too much range in the joint. There is not enough strength in the muscles surrounding the joint to keep it stable. Again
by figuring out where you are inflexible and addressing the problem
from the proper angle you will achieve more flexibility and not have
any pain that could accompany improper flexibility. | |
