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How to Stretch? The Ultimate Stretching Program
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Stretching is a vital component of any physical activity or correctional exercise based programme. All Physiotherapists, Sports Rehab Clinics, Personal Trainers, Professional Sports Coaches, will recommend stretching. There are many ways to stretch, some good some bad. A great deal of research has been conducted on the subject and experts like Alter "The Science of Flexibility", and Thomas Myers "Anatomy Trains" have brought new and more effective approaches of stretching to the surface.
I always find it particularly interesting when accessing clients to see the huge variations in flexibility from one person to the next. It seems that participating in flexibility based sports and pastimes as a child has an influence on flexibility into adult life. So if you grew up doing Martial Arts, Dancing or Gymnastics, then the chances are your flexibility will be reasonably good and if not, will be easily reinstated. For those people who have had little, if any, experience with flexibility based activities then improving flexibility can be a little more difficult. Why is flexibility so important? The ability to move in all directions through a full joint range of movement is one of the most natural abilities that the body should possess. It is only through lack of movement, prolonged sitting positions, and badly designed exercise programmes that we have developed into a world of badly functioning and bound up individuals. Spending prolonged periods of time with the body under stress, like when at a computer desk, causes the body to lay down additional layers of collagen in order to add strength and support to your current position. Collagen is thick and laid down in a disorderly fashion, it is designed for strength and not ease of movement. If these thick plasticine-like structures are not addressed with soft tissue work and stretching then the body starts to enter into a vicious circle. Prolonged static stress = Support Collagen = Lack of Movement = Bad Posture = More Stress and Support Collagen and so on... The ability to move freely results in an unobstructed movement pattern, these movements require less energy and are more efficient. Think of trying to drive a car with the breaks on. Increasing your flexibility and improving your soft tissue is like taking the breaks off. Flexibility increases Speed, Strength and Agility. Flexibility also reduces your potential for injury. If we use another car analogy, cars are capable of speeding at 100+ miles per hour but we rarely drive at these speeds. If we spent most of our time driving with our foot down and at maximum speed it wouldn't be long before the car started showing signs of breakdown. The body works in the same way. We are capable of so much but we rarely push ourselves to the complete limit. We all should have a safety buffer. Having good flexibility is our safety buffer. In sports and in daily life we are often caught unawares, we slip, trip, get tackled unexpectedly. Without a safety buffer we would surely get injured but good flexibility allows us to cope with the unexpected. So how should we stretch to improve our Flexibility? Over the coming weeks I will be introducing fundamental concepts and techniques that will see your flexibility improve better than ever before. This will be the most effective and in depth stretching programme you have every encountered. Here's what is in store for you: Breathing Breath is the foundation of life. Stretching using the breath enables us to control the nervous system. You will be introduced to various breathing patterns that interact with the nervous system and enable you to increase your flexibility very quickly or prepare your body for activity. You will learn to sychronise your breath with your stretching. Fascia The soft tissue of the body is connected via highways of fascia. Fascia is a connective tissue, like cling film, that surrounds muscles, nerves, blood vessels, tendons, and ligaments. There are several highways of fascia that run the length of the body from head to toe. You will be introduced to the Superficial Front Line, Superficial Back Line, Lateral Line and more. Stretching certain areas of these lines has profound effects on the whole fascial highway. Through both soft tissue work and stretching you will understand why localised and global work can unlock the flexibility of the whole fascial highway. Stretching Anatomy Stretching should not be random, it's a science. Stretching in the wrong order can have little if any effect. You will learn which areas you must stretch first and the foundational stretches that everyone should adopt. There is a logical order when it comes to stretching, just like building a house. We will start with the foundations and I will show you the correct order for your stretching programmes and how Joints, Deep Muscles, Superficial Muscles, Single Joint Muscles, Multi-joint Muscles should all be stretched and in which order for maximum benefit. Practical Applications Most stretching programmes adopt a linear approach forgetting that the body is very rarely designed in a linear fashion. Using a collection of stretching techniques you will learn how to follow your natural soft tissue lines and get the maximum effect from every single stretch. You will also discover when to stretch and for how long to get maximum benefits. These are just a few of the topics that will be covered in this Stretching series. If you are tired of getting injured, fed up of Postural Pains and frustrated at your clients inability to make any Flexibility progressions then this is the Series for you. The First Episode will be out next week for Professional Members Only... |