Stretching

Stretch Yourself Young
Health Alert #153

Do you have a hard time picking up clutter from the floor? Do you wake up stiff every morning? As you age your flexibility decreases. Certain muscles shorten and your joints lose their range of motion. But there is a lot you can do to regain and maintain youthful flexibility. It doesn’t require more than a 2 minute daily commitment.

Stretching has become a bona fide sport all on its own in recent years. However you don’t need to spend an hour a day doing boring stretching exercises to be flexible. In this letter you’ll learn about the two stretches everyone should do and the benefits of yoga.

* Flexibility Compromised By Daily Living *

Losing flexibility as we age is the rule. Particularly, if you never stretch. You accelerate the loss if you sit at a desk all day. However, regular exercise and proper stretching can slow the decline dramatically. Maintaining youthful flexibility can ward off the aches and pains associated with aging and inactivity.

Tendons attach your muscles to your bones. Ligaments attach bones to bones. Healthy stretching helps lengthen muscles and strengthens tendons.1 However, many of the stretches routinely recommended put stress on the ligaments connecting the bones of a joint.

Contrary to popular belief, you don’t want loose joints. The tighter they are, the more stable and stronger they are. The stronger they are, the less likely they are to suffer injury and the less pain you will feel. What you want is long and relaxed muscles that can lengthen without resistance on demand. This is critical in a couple of key muscle groups.

Fitness gurus sometimes recommend excessive stretching of up to 45 minutes daily. Some have an obsessive-compulsive tendency with their stretching routines. I often see programs to “stretch out your joints”. Stretching your joints is a bad idea because joint laxity produces instability and weakness.

Before you start a stretching program, I need to point out one more distinction. Passive stretching does nothing to warm you up. Use these stretches after cardio (I recommend my P.A.C.E. program). I agree with my colleague Bob Arnot, M.D. who said “Stretches make a poor warm-up. Studies have shown that they create more injuries than they prevent when muscles are cold and stiff. A muscle shouldn’t be stretched until it’s warm and pliable.” 2

* Two Minute Remedy for Flexibility *

An intelligent stretching regimen can prevent or even reverse stiffness and lost of range of motion. This solution is simple, pleasant and takes only a couple of minutes.

The two parts of your body that you should stretch daily (or every other day) are the front of your shoulders and the front of your hips.

Shoulder Stretch- You need to stretch and develop these muscles because they are very susceptible to injury. Weight lifting will give you strength in several ways, but not in all the directions and angles you need it in. According to Matt Furey, author of Combat Fitness, calisthenics are much more effective in strengthening ligaments and tendons.3 There is also a lower risk of injury with calisthenics than there is with weight training. From a naturalist’s perspective, you weren’t built to lift weights. You were built to hunt, which involves activities like lifting, throwing, running, walking, jumping, and swimming.

How To: Stand in an open doorway. Raising your arm to a 90-degree angle with palm facing out, press your hand and shoulder against the wall and doorjamb. You should feel the wall against your armpit. Slowly, increase the tension as you push forward. Hold for a 10 count. Then repeat with the other arm.

Hip Flexors- Ninety percent of American adults experience lower back pain at some point in their life. You need to do this stretch, particularly if you sit all day at work. Sitting all day puts pressure on the hip flexor muscles. This is a major cause of minor low back pain. Stretching your hip flexors muscles several times a week will prevent this kind of lower back pain.

How To: Stand in a modified runner stance, with right foot forward and left foot back, feet flat on floor. Put your hands on your hips and keep your back and hips in straight alignment. Push forward with your hips, while maintaining your erect posture. Slowly, push your hips forward only until you feel a comfortable level of tension. Hold for a 10 count. Switch sides by reversing your leg stance and repeat.

Some sports require additional stretching. For example, if you enjoy kayaking or rowing, you need to stretch your deltoid (back) muscles. Another example would be running or martial arts where it would be helpful to stretch your hamstrings and quadriceps (thighs).

A good source for technique and sport-specific stretches with photos is: Relax Into Stretch: Instant Flexibility Through Mastering Tension by Pavel Tsatsouline. It is available through amazon.com.

Another activity worth pursuing for flexibility and stress relief is yoga. My office manager has realized enormous benefit from taking a weekly yoga class.

Yoga can improve:

• Posture
• Flexibility
• Strength

If you find yourself stressed out, give yoga a try with the added benefit of improving your flexibility and posture.

To Your Good Health,

Al Sears MD

Sources:

1. Tsatsouline, Pavel. Relax Into Stretch: Instant Flexibility Through Mastering Tension. Dragon Door Publications, Inc.: St. Paul, MN, 2001: 14.

2. Arnot, Robert Dr. Bob Arnot’s Guide to Turning Back the Clock. Little, Brown & Company, Ltd.: New York, 1995: 175-76.

3. Furey, Matt. How to Eliminate Shoulder Injury. Matt Furey Enterprises, Inc.: 2001.