No Flexibility Here

I work with a variety of people from your average Jane or Joe to your high level athlete. The component that seems to be continuously lacking in everyone’s exercise program is flexibility. Most are looking to lose weight or gain strength and are heavily engaged in resistance or cardio type exercise. If done, flexibility usually comes at the beginning to get ready for the one of these activities, or as an after-thought. It is rarely thought out to maximize its use.

Flexibility of muscles allows joints to move through their required range of motion (ROM). When a muscle is tight, it restricts movement of a joint. This can lead to an injury and/or pain. Injury can happen when an activity is performed that pushes the joint beyond its limited ROM. Chronic pain can develop as the joint is overused in certain motions and underused in others. Repetitive movement can lead to trigger points in soft tissues, which can also lead to pain.

In order for you to get the most from a stretching program, it needs to target the specific muscles that are tight. If you do a generic stretching program, you’ll end up more flexible, but still out of balance in your musculosketetal system. To know which muscles are tight, you need to have your flexibility assessed. People come to me who have pain and are stretching a muscle because it “feels” tight. After I assess them, we learn that the muscle they are stretching feels tight because another muscle on the opposite side of the joint is the real culprit that is tight. The muscle they feel is tight is under stretch-tension because the joint is being pulled in a direction that lengthens that muscle. By stretching this muscle, they actual make the situation worse.

Having a flexible and balanced body will allow you to move freely, workout harder, and enjoy more of a pain-free life. So I suggest you “stretch” your mind around adding some flexibility work to your exercise program.

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