Why Invest Your Time Warming-Up And Doing Stretching And Mobility Exercises? - Part 1A

Clive Maxwell Prestt

Ping, aaah, ouch, oooooh, oh no! No! No! No! You've pulled a muscle (or worse, done your Achilles tendon in). Oh no, no training, I might not be able to run in the race I'm training for, and at best I won't do so well because I will have missed training. Blast! You could be left wondering, like Marlon Brando in 'On The Waterfront', "I could have been a contender. I could have been someone. I could have made something of myself. I could have been the greatest!" Well, I suppose I am still the greatest in the six inches between my ears, but ....

The content of this article applies to all sportsmen, not just runners so a big welcome to those who are reading one of my articles for the first time. I hope that many of you already do flexibility/mobility stretching exercises and will feel reinvigorated after reading this article. I could write reams but I have tried to extract the main elements, providing some theory and discussion of debatable points, and then the practical advice. I have had to give a disclaimer just to cover myself and Suite101.com legally. But as you can see from the following graphic, I speak from some experience - I am 44 year old now and here I am aged 14 in 1973!



Focus Question: Why is flexibility often neglected by sportsmen and women? What happens to your body's natural flexibility as you get older?

Flexibility, cardiovascular conditioning and resistance training are the three broad objectives to focus on as you maintain your body for the rigors and enjoyment of sports, but it has to be said that those who concentrate on cardio-respiratory fitness often neglect the importance of flexibility in a general training program. The 1987 memory of a guy I saw running a 10 000 metre race in London with a short stride, low knee lift, stiff back, hunched shoulders, and my coach saying to me "He's a typical road runner just doing the track race to help his club. He's no mobility. He doesn't do any stretching." He would have got more pleasure from his running had he taken time out every day to do some stretching exercises. It would have allowed him to exercise aerobically with greater ease. The man I remember so vividly must have been in his mid-thirties. The joints of the body have a natural tendency to lose mobility from adolescence onwards and normal forms of exercise become more difficult to perform, unle

ss you exercise regularly. By putting all the main joints in your body through their full range of movement every day helps maintain their function

Whatever sport you do, sport is an activity which requires a holistic approach - not only the activity in its own right be it running, swimming, cycling, playing badminton, tennis squash, soccer, rugby, American football, baseball etc..... but also many ancillary components of varying levels of importance are necessary so that rather than destroying it, you look after your body and build it up. Stretching is one of those ancillary activities.

Contents

Due to the large amount of material and the time needed to write this topic is divided into two articles:

So in this first article six sections follow in Part 1

• a. Why Stretch and Strengthen?
• b. Composition of a muscle/Risk of injury
• c. Do Stretching Exercises Really Prevent Injury?
• d. Warming up and Warming Down
• e. What happens to your body when you stretch
• f. Seven basic stretching exercises for runners
• g. Do I have time to develop a stretching and strengthening program?
• Part Two will cover the practice of stretching with a table of sport specific exercises:
• h. Table of Sport Specific Stretching and Mobility Exercises
• i. Stretching and Mobility Exercises
• j. Yoga, Ti Chi and so on
• k. Any other points
  
  
  
  
  WHY STRETCH AND STRENGTHEN?
  
  Focus Question: How are muscle pairs connected to the risk of injury through your training?
  
  Physiological adaptation through training: As you continue to participate in sports and train for them, greater demands are placed on certain muscle groups than on others. The body adapts by making these muscle groups more powerful. Therefore your performance improves through training.
  
  Antagonistic muscle pairs: However, since a muscle group is usually a member of a pair e.g. biceps and triceps in the arm, and these muscles act in opposite directions, they are called antagonistic muscles e.g. the biceps muscle flexes the elbow, the triceps extends the elbow. So you must maintain a certain balance between the muscles o that the units continue to function efficiently. An exercise program for a specific sport may greatly overemphasise one of the muscles in a pair and so an injury usually results. Note that injury can occur not only because one muscle becomes stronger but also because it becomes tighter.
  
  Risk of Injury: Injury can occur in the stronger or the weaker muscle. For example, in the runner the calf muscle becomes very strong but the anterior tibial group of muscles in the front of the leg do not become so strong. This imbalance runs the risk of several injuries: the calf muscle getting stronger can cause: pulled muscles, Achilles tendonitis, heel spurs, and calcaneal bursitis. The anterior tibial group of muscles can develop shin splints, myositis or tendonitis
  
  The need for an exercise program to prevent injury:
  
  This has two parts:
  • 1. A stretching program is required for the muscles which become tight e.g the calf
  • 2. A strengthening program is necessary for muscles which do not receive adequate stimulation from your exercise program e.g. the muscles in the front of the leg.
    
    
    By the way, further information about injuries and their prevention can be found in the sports massage therapy section
    
    
    
    COMPOSITION OF A MUSCLE/RISK OF INJURY
    
    Focus Question: What role do muscle fibres play in a muscle's degree of flexibility?
    
    Muscles are made up of tubes - the red and white muscle fibres. These tubular fibres are divided into sections. These sections are elastic. The obvious analogy is with an elastic band - it is stretchy and flexible. Let's say that during exercise the muscle fibres extend, and after exercise they contract. This is one reason for the stiffness that you experience when you get up in the morning after training the previous day.
    
    Question: If your muscle fibres have shortened, what could sudden strenuous exercise do to the muscle fibres?
    • a. Nothing?
    • b. Nicely stretch the muscle fibres out?
    • c. Break or tear them as in a 'pulled muscle' injury?
    • d. Increase the width of the fibres thereby increasing your muscular strength?
      
      
      N.B. This can not only happen to the muscle, but also to the tendons which surround the muscle.
      
      
      
      Do Stretching Exercises Really Prevent Injury?
      
      Focus Question: Can you get injured whilst doing stretching exercises? Do you still need to do them? If so, why?
      
      I have noticed that there is some ambiguity in the literature which I have read as to whether or not stretching and mobility exercises actually prevent injury. Frank Horwill in 'The Complete Middle Distance Runner' states that during a warm-up routine injury prevention cannot be guaranteed and that athletes have been known to get injured whilst warming up. Injuries resulting from stretching are probably caused by too aggressive an approach or not doing the exercises correctly. Moreover, others state that you will definitely get injured if you do not do stretching exercises every day. I read a detailed description of the construction of the muscle and how it works, and the article recommended stretching and mobility exercises as a result of the process of muscle contraction described in a very simplified form below. When I got injured years ago in 1977 and had a course of ultra-sound, the physiotherapist, a woman called Carol Boston, told me to do stretching exercises every day.
      
      In addition, it is also believed that stretching exercises help dissolve any residual lactic acid left in your muscles - Horwill states that a good warm-up prevents muscular soreness which I take to mean less lactic acid build up in your muscles. This should reduce the risk of cramp - I have woken up in the middle of the night and writhed about in agony from an attack of cramp, and pulled my calf muscle into the bargain!
      
      On balance I would say that stretching does not necessarily prevent an injury as other factors can come into play - but you will get injured if you train regularly and do not do stretching/mobility exercises. It's better to be safe than sorry,
      
      
      
      MUSCLE EXTENDIBILITY, MOBILITY OF THE JOINTS, AND FLEXIBILITY
      
      Focus Question: In what way do extendibility and mobility interact? For your sport, how flexible do you need to be to practice it?
      
      The Italian coach Enrico Arcelli, in his 1989 book "La Maratona: Allenamento e Alimentazione" explains that the aim of stretching is to improve the following aspects of your body's abilities:
      
      
      
      1 Muscle Extendibility
      
      This is the ability to stretch passively without the muscle meeting much resistance. An extendible muscle is one which lengthens a lot and easily.
      
      2 Mobility of the Joints
      
      The body can be thought of as being composed of two halves which are articulated in the middle. Each of these two segments of the body has an axis. On movement the difference in the angle between these two segments changes. The difference between the minimum and the maximum angle of the axes of the two segments during movement forms the mobility necessary during physical exercise.
      
      3 Flexibility
      
      The product of extendibility and mobility is flexibility. When one part of the body flexes a lot in respect of another part of the body, the muscles need to be extendible and the articulation needs to be very mobile.
      
      Sports exemplifying flexibility are ballet and gymnastics, but all sports require it.
      
      
      
      EFFECTS OF STRETCHING
      
      According to Arcelli, the limited amount of movement in some sports such as running leads to a shortening of the muscle e.g. in the ankles of runners. Stretching lengthens the muscle over time thereby preventing lack of flexibility developing.
      
      The muscles become more elastic and stretch more easily. This also applies to tendons, ligaments and joints.
      
      
      
      STRETCHING AND MOBILITY EXERCISES
      
      Some General Considerations
      
      Focus Question: Why practice the hurdler's stretching exercise? How should this be done in practice?
      
      In his book 'Track Athletics' Jim Alford writes, "Suppleness is important for the track runner for two reasons. The first concerns joint mobility: without good mobility of the shoulder, hip and ankle joints it will be impossible to attain a proper range of movement and stride length will be restricted. The second concerns protection against injury... ... .. the muscle groups, particularly of the calf, back of the thigh (hamstrings), front of the thigh (quadriceps), the back and those surrounding the shoulder girdle, should be carefully stretched.
      
      Although the flat runner does not need the extreme hip mobility of the hurdler, he would be wise to practise ... the hurdler's stretching exercise ..."
      
      You must do the exercises in the correct manner so as to feel the full benefit for Jim Alford wisely states, "It must be emphasised, however, that stretching should be carried out with extreme care. It should be done slowly, gradually stretching the muscle group until a little pain is felt. The position reached should then be held for about 5 seconds and then a little further stretch may be attempted followed by relaxation, the whole process being repeated about 6 - 8 times. Muscle stretching should never be carried out in a jerky, over-vigorous manner ....Jerky, over-vigorous movements will not only lead to a protective tensioning of the antagonist groups of muscles, which will not only restrict range of movement but also incur the risk of muscle tear."
      
      The need for progression: Slowly and progressively over time you need to build up the basic number given with each exercise. Increase the number of repetitions as you improve.
      
      The need for warmth: Warmth increase the benefits of flexibility exercises so make sure your room is warm or that you are wearing warm clothes if you are outside. The trunk and limbs should feel pleasantly warm with circulating blood before the body's main groups of muscles are put through their paces!
      
      The need to know your body's signals: As you do an exercise and feel the relevant muscles under tension, it is important to respond to your body's own signals. The muscles should feel extended but not pulled for as you know, if you overstretch shortened muscles too suddenly, you may tear the muscle fibres. The aim is to allow a gradual and comfortable lengthening of the muscle fibres.
      
      The 1 millimeter to 1 centimeter rule: with each successive repetition of a stretching exercise you should be able to extend the muscle a little more each time - from one millimetre to one centimetre at a time.
      
      The need to never feel pain: "No pain, no gain" belongs to lifting weights and training sessions on the track. You should never feel pain when doing stretching exercises. So do not force the stretching exercise. Work slowly and gently towards improving flexibility. Initially do the stretching within your own limitations and as your program progresses, the stretching routine gradually improves. Everyone is different in natural flexibility - some are very flexible, whilst others are not very flexible and find stretching difficult.
      
      
      
      Types of Stretching: Static, Ballistic or Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF)
      
      Focus Question: Of these three types of exercise, why is it generally better for an athlete to use static stretching exercises?
      
      Static Stretching: As described above by Jim Alford, the muscle is gently stretched until a slight feeling of discomfort is felt - until you feel the tension bite - and held for a length of time. Then relax slowly. This is the generally recommended technique for runners and so the most used.
      
      Ballistic Stretching: this is a more forceful stretch. Repeated bouncing movements are used. This creates potential for muscle or tendon injury because they shorten the muscle fibres, and so they are not usually recommended for general use.
      
      Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF): This is the most effective stretching technique as it takes into account the physiological responses of the nervous system, muscles, joints, and tendons. However, it is not widespread. There are two reasons for this: it is difficult to understand, and you need a partner to do it.
      
      PNF technique generally includes an initial stretch of the muscle followed by an isometric muscle contraction with resistance given by the partner, the some relaxation for a few seconds, with a final passive stretch for several seconds, which again needs a partner to apply the pressure on the muscle.
      
      N.B. An athlete should not attempt this method without first receiving instruction from a qualified person.
      
      Therefore it is generally better for athletes to use the static method. For other sports, for ballet, and for martial arts such as karate, which require greater mobility than running, a wider variety of stretching exercises and PNF may be used.
      
      
      
      EASY TENSION, DEVELOPMENT TENSION, and DRASTIC TENSION IN STATIC EXERCISES
      
      In an article on stretching under the heading of 'the sport's doctor's corner' in an Italian running magazine called 'Romagna Corri', Dr. Gabriele Muratori of Cesena, as well as Arcelli in his book on marathon running, explains the following notable points, which the American Bob Anderson originally explained in his book simply entitled 'Stretching':
      
      True or False? The muscle tension increases slightly during the phase of 'Easy tension'
      
      1 Easy Tension
      
      When you start a tension in your muscle stretch slowly until you feel a 'medium tension' and relax whilst you maintain the tension. Stop for 10 to 30 seconds. No pain should be felt at all. You should feel the tension gradually diminishing as you maintain the stationery position so that the tension passes form medium to 'easy'. Hence the term 'easy tension'. If you do not feel any gradual easing of the tension, stretch the muscle a little less therefore slightly relieving the tension until you feel comfortable. This 'easy tension' reduces the risk of a tear damaging the muscle and prepares the muscle fibres for the phase of 'development tension'.
      
      2 Development Tension
      
      True or False? If you feel that the tension is not diminishing, you must relent.
      
      Again without moving up and down continuously, after holding for 10 to 30 seconds in the 'easy tension' position, stretch a little further moving slowly little by little until you feel a 'discrete tension' and hold the position for 10 - 30 seconds. You must always stay in control: the tension should diminish, but if it does not diminish, relent a little so that there is a little less tension. No pain should be felt at all.
      
      This is the phase which develops muscular well-being and flexibility.
      
      
      
      3 Drastic or Reflex Tension
      
      True or False? There is a negligible risk of damage to your muscles if you overstretch.
      
      If you overstretch or 'rebound' jerkily, the muscles have a protective mechanism called 'reflex tension'. The nervous reflex response is to send a message to the muscle to contract so that the muscles avoids trauma. This contraction stiffens the muscle, so if you stretch too far you defeat the objective of stretching - you actually shorten your muscle.
      
      Overstretching and forcing the muscle beyond the point of 'reflex tension' brings pain, and microscopic tears in the muscle fibre. These microtraumas cause scar tissue to form in the muscle tissue which in turn cause a loss of elasticity. Your muscles can become rigid and painful. Therefore 'no pain, no gain' does not apply in stretching: physical suffering in weight raining and running may bring physical improvements, but the do not do so in stretching.
      
      When stretching you must not activate 'reflex tension', but remain within the pain-free zones of 'easy tension' and 'development tension' as in the animation below: For this reason 'the rule of the last centimetre' advocated by Roberto Sassi in the Italian running magazine 'Correre', issue 8 of January 1982, by which in every successive repetition you should extend the muscle a little further - by a millimetre to a centimetre - is recommended.
      
      
      
      BREATHING
      
      Breathing should be slow and rhythmic, under control, and should feel natural. Before starting an exercise, breathe in, and then as you move, breathe out. As you maintain your position breathe gently. Do not hold your breath.
      
      
      
      DYNAMIC STRETCHING
      
      Dynamic stretching involves moving parts of your body and gradually increasing reach, speed of movement, or both. r>
      
      Dynamic stretching is not to be confused with ballistic stretching. Dynamic stretching consists of controlled leg and arm swings that take you (gently!) to the limits of your range of motion. Ballistic stretches involve trying to force a part of the body beyond its range of motion. In dynamic stretches, there are no bounces or "jerky" movements.
      
      An example of dynamic stretching would be slow, controlled leg swings, arm swings, or torso twists.
      
      Dynamic stretching improves dynamic flexibility and is quite useful as part of your warm-up for an active or aerobic workout, such as a dance, running or martial-arts class.
      
      Dynamic stretching exercises should be performed in sets of 8-12 repetitions.
      
      
      
      Tired muscles
      
      Focus Question: What happens to your muscle if you keep exercising it once you reach the full range of movement?
      
      Be sure to stop when and if you feel tired. Tired muscles have less elasticity which decreases the range of motion used in your movements. Continuing to exercise when you are tired serves only to reset the nervous control of your muscle length at the reduced range of motion used in the exercise (and will cause a loss of flexibility). Once you attain a maximal range of motion for a joint in any direction you should stop doing that movement during that workout. Tired and overworked muscles will not attain a full range of motion and you will then have to overcome the muscle's shortened range of motion before you can make further progress
      
      This article is continued in :
      
      Why Invest Your Time Warming-Up And Doing Stretching And Mobility Exercises? - Part 1B is coming soon
      
      artical writen by Clive Maxwell Prestt for http://www.suite101.com
      
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