Flexibility 101
Sunday, February 21, 2010
People love to exercise. People love feeling "the burn" or pushing themselves to reach new limits on their favourite exercise. However, a far smaller proportion of these people seem to enjoy stretching!
Tight muscles cause all sorts of problems. Tightness in various muscles can lead to many things, the most common and concerning of which is lower back pain (LBP). LBP is typically associated with tightness in the hamstrings. These muscles, along with several others, control the angle at which the hip sits in relation to the spine and rib cage. In those individuals who have very tight hamstrings, the natural arch of the lumbar spine (lower back) is pulled straight. In this straightened position the intervertebral discs of the spine are far more prone to herniation than when the spine maintains its arch. Now, don't get me wrong, there are those who experience LBP who have tremendous flexibility in all muscles (such as gymnasts). Flexibility is not a ‘get out of jail free' card, but there is a direct correlation between flexibility limits and incidence of LBP. Let's put it this way; "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure"!
In my experience some of the most common areas of tightness are the hamstrings, flexors of the hip, chest, rotator cuff, lats and calves. You would be well advised to include stretches for these muscles in to your training routine. Or, even better, assign specific training sessions where you purely work on flexibility. The cortisol lowering, stress busting effects alone make the extra trip to the gym worth it!
If all that wasn't enough, increasing flexibility in a tight muscle greatly increases its potential for growth. So men who have the shoulder width of a cigarette may benefit from stretching out there chest and back every once in a while. And ladies who dream of walking down the beach with legs to be proud of and a bum so pert you could balance a wine glass on top of it, stretching your glutes, hip flexors, and hamstrings couldn't hurt!
My advice is to take stretching seriously. It affects your health, your look and even your state of mind. Learn how to stretch efficiently and safely and make it a part of your weekly training plan.