5 ms·

Critical Analysis of Stretching Theory (2011)

21 points by agarttha 10y ago

CuriouslyC 10y ago
While having the strength to support yourself in extreme ranges of motion is a major part of flexibility, a muscle's level of tonic contraction is the biggest limit on most people's flexibility. Static stretching does reduce tonic contraction temporarily and to a small degree, but it is not very effective at this. The best way to reduce a muscle's tonic contraction is through compressive techniques, such as body tempering and variants of myofacial release. A combination of stretching and compression actually works best of all (this is similar to the active release therapeutic modality). As an anecdote, doing an hour of yoga every day for three months didn't do that much for my hip and shoulder mobility, but an hour of body tempering by rolling on a PVC pipe while watching TV (while doing absolutely no stretching at all) produced massive improvement.
- Ixiaus 10y ago
  Depends on the type of yoga too, I imagine. I've been rolling out my hip and practicing Bikram's yoga for a while with excellent results. One of the features of Bikram's is the number of "compression postures" but not sure if that's the same thing as what you're talking about... Also for my hip (minor labrum tear).
- kenjackson 10y ago
  Do you have any links you'd recommend on how to do what you did?
  - CuriouslyC 10y ago
    Take a look at this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qq1z3usHseU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qq1z3usHseU Those PVC pipes are ~$8 at your local home improvement store. I don't roll the way he does though. Instead, I try to move my body through various movements (squat, arms behind back/overhead, etc), and when I feel tightness or pulling sensations in the muscle I'll mark the spot. Then I place that spot on the roller, and just lean all my weight into it; I will roll around a tiny bit just to try and find the most tender spot, but once I find it, I hold still and press on it until it "lets go" and it no longer feels tender. Once I had been using a PVC pipe for a while, I started doing the same thing using the shaft of a barbell - with weights on the end, it works a lot like a foam roller. This really hurts, but the results are amazing. I really should make do a youtube video of this because almost all of the foam rolling/self myofascial release stuff on the internet is kind of bad. The barbell trick doesn't seem to be something people know about either.
    - DrScump 10y ago
      Why is the video called "foam rolling" if just plain PVC with no foam covering is used?
Scarbutt 10y ago
Anyone have any good tips/resources on how to achieve a leg split? ;)
- maxxxxx 10y ago
  Don't even try. I did martial arts for a long time. some people have the body for doing splits, some don't. I finally could do splits but I have quite a few injuries from that time. It's simply not worth it. Same for lotus seat in yoga.
- griffinmmahon 10y ago
  Check out r/bodyweightfitness, I'm sure they have a bunch of good tutorials.
wyc 10y ago
Some hidden wisdom in here: Too much flexibility for a runner, on the other hand, may not be desirable. The ankle, knee and hip joints stay within the mid-range of motion during endurance running, so maximum static ROM will not have much effect. It has also been shown that stiffer leg muscles in endurance athletes may make them more economical in terms of oxygen consumption at sub max speeds (De Vries). Sprinting, martial arts, gymnastics involve movements of much larger ROM therefore depend on good flexibility. However, as already pointed out, development of flexibility must be specific to the sport. If a soccer player developed same type of flexibility as a gymnast, he would be of a greater risk of injury as extremely mobile joints may become unstable. In your life or company, where you should be rigid or flexible really depends on what you're trying to accomplish.
- griffinmmahon 10y ago
  The rise in popularity of "functional fitness" and its accompanying ideas about mobility and flexibility have made it seem like everyone should be a contortionist, but if you're only an amateur athlete, the mobility you should focus on is just what's necessary for your sport. Like the paragraph you cited says, extra flexibility is sometimes a bad thing. Weighted mobility, once you can achieve the positions you need to, is a better progression than trying to increase ROM.

21 points by agarttha 10y ago

While having the strength to support yourself in extreme ranges of motion is a major part of flexibility, a muscle's level of tonic contraction is the biggest limit on most people's flexibility. Static stretching does reduce tonic contraction temporarily and to a small degree, but it is not very effective at this. The best way to reduce a muscle's tonic contraction is through compressive techniques, such as body tempering and variants of myofacial release. A combination of stretching and compression actually works best of all (this is similar to the active release therapeutic modality). As an anecdote, doing an hour of yoga every day for three months didn't do that much for my hip and shoulder mobility, but an hour of body tempering by rolling on a PVC pipe while watching TV (while doing absolutely no stretching at all) produced massive improvement.

Ixiaus 10y ago
Depends on the type of yoga too, I imagine. I've been rolling out my hip and practicing Bikram's yoga for a while with excellent results. One of the features of Bikram's is the number of "compression postures" but not sure if that's the same thing as what you're talking about... Also for my hip (minor labrum tear).
kenjackson 10y ago
Do you have any links you'd recommend on how to do what you did?
- CuriouslyC 10y ago
  Take a look at this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qq1z3usHseU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qq1z3usHseU Those PVC pipes are ~$8 at your local home improvement store. I don't roll the way he does though. Instead, I try to move my body through various movements (squat, arms behind back/overhead, etc), and when I feel tightness or pulling sensations in the muscle I'll mark the spot. Then I place that spot on the roller, and just lean all my weight into it; I will roll around a tiny bit just to try and find the most tender spot, but once I find it, I hold still and press on it until it "lets go" and it no longer feels tender. Once I had been using a PVC pipe for a while, I started doing the same thing using the shaft of a barbell - with weights on the end, it works a lot like a foam roller. This really hurts, but the results are amazing. I really should make do a youtube video of this because almost all of the foam rolling/self myofascial release stuff on the internet is kind of bad. The barbell trick doesn't seem to be something people know about either.
  - DrScump 10y ago
    Why is the video called "foam rolling" if just plain PVC with no foam covering is used?

Scarbutt 10y ago

Anyone have any good tips/resources on how to achieve a leg split? ;)

maxxxxx 10y ago
Don't even try. I did martial arts for a long time. some people have the body for doing splits, some don't. I finally could do splits but I have quite a few injuries from that time. It's simply not worth it. Same for lotus seat in yoga.
griffinmmahon 10y ago
Check out r/bodyweightfitness, I'm sure they have a bunch of good tutorials.

wyc 10y ago

Some hidden wisdom in here: Too much flexibility for a runner, on the other hand, may not be desirable. The ankle, knee and hip joints stay within the mid-range of motion during endurance running, so maximum static ROM will not have much effect. It has also been shown that stiffer leg muscles in endurance athletes may make them more economical in terms of oxygen consumption at sub max speeds (De Vries). Sprinting, martial arts, gymnastics involve movements of much larger ROM therefore depend on good flexibility. However, as already pointed out, development of flexibility must be specific to the sport. If a soccer player developed same type of flexibility as a gymnast, he would be of a greater risk of injury as extremely mobile joints may become unstable. In your life or company, where you should be rigid or flexible really depends on what you're trying to accomplish.

griffinmmahon 10y ago
The rise in popularity of "functional fitness" and its accompanying ideas about mobility and flexibility have made it seem like everyone should be a contortionist, but if you're only an amateur athlete, the mobility you should focus on is just what's necessary for your sport. Like the paragraph you cited says, extra flexibility is sometimes a bad thing. Weighted mobility, once you can achieve the positions you need to, is a better progression than trying to increase ROM.