4fitbodies.com

Flexibility Training is one of the most overlooked parts of fitness. When people do perform stretching exercises, they often do so incorrectly or inconsistently. Flexibility is a form of training that is poorly taught and even more poorly executed. Ask anyone from coaches to athletes on how to perform flexibility training and you will see faces filled with doubt.
Flexibility is defined as the normal extension of all soft tissues that allow full range of motion of a joint. Everyone knows that. What is usually missing is the “why” you need to stretch and even more importantly the “how” to stretch.
There are several main reasons to perform flexibility training as part of your routine. The main benefits are defined by the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) as:
1. Decreased chance of injury
2. Prevent the development of muscle imbalances
3. Correct existing muscle imbalances and joint dysfunction
4. Improve posture and correct postural distortion
5. Enhance strength and power.
For injury prevention, it is key to focus on prevention of muscle imbalances as well as correct any imbalances you currently have. A corrective training program can be designed from a postural and movement assessment as muscle imbalances are obvious to the trained eye. Postural distortion is a fancy term for dysfunctions in your body that affect the completion of the kinetic chain. What this means is that your body is a complex instrument where different things work together to perform movement. Having a dysfunction means that you are not allowing your body to have the most efficient source of energy from all of its working parts. It is like a speed bump for the body, you slow down your movement or are forced to perform the movement in an incorrect way.
There are four main types of stretching. These are static, corrective, dynamic and active. Everyone needs to have active as part of their routine. This is your warm-up plan in layman’s terms. You perform sports specific movements to warm up muscles that are pertinent to your sport. An example of this is when a golfer is seen doing test swings before a game. Static is the other form of stretching that everyone needs. This is where you perform longer (usually 30 seconds each) held stretches after you are finished with your game/workout. This is the type of stretching that makes you less sore the next day and more flexible over time.
Corrective and dynamic stretches are important for certain members of the population and most athletes. These are not your everyday stretches that you learned in high school. They are specific to a sport and unique for each individual. These need to be performed prior to a workout and need to be personalized for you. Your certified trainer has training in how to design and implement these types of stretches once it is determined that you need them.

For more information on Sports Specific Training, visit my website at www.4fitbodies.com.

Tags: Chapel Hill News, Fitness, Flexibility, Sports Fitness by David Hansey, Personal Trainer
Comments Off