Really great article about the magical art of stretching!! There are definitely some highly applicable factors to identify from this article. It really re-iterated for me, the fact that movement, the things were doing ALL the time, and not exercise (in the sense that most people only dedicate roughly 20-30 minutes to exercise a day), determines our shape and mobility. From this article I can highlight 2 key points: 1) The Emergency brake principle: Your Nervous system is the overall ruler of your range, it is thus the Nervous system that determines your ability to stretch and therefore the range to which you can stretch! Forcing yourself beyond this range is not going to change a single thing, all thats going to happen is that your Nervous System is going to pull up its emergency brake immediately stopping you in your tracks! Like most people, the Nervous system doesnt like unfamiliarity or uncertainty, it wants you stay in your safe range and therefore gives you that firm end-range when you try and go any further. 2) Sarcomeres = stretching ability: Sarcomeres are the basic contractile units of your muscles - contraction of your sarcomeres allows your muscle to generate force! The fact is that what we do with our bodies most of the time far exceeds how hard were trying to work out or stretch! So lets take a look at Hamstring flexibility for a second - if we sit in a chair all day - thereby contracting our Hamstrings at both ends for a prolonged period of time - resulting in shortened Hamstrings - and ultimately allowing your sarcomeres to change at their cellular level in such a way that it makes it easier for you to do more of what youre already doing - Makes sense doesnt it! So, whats the solution? Well, to move with normal Hamstring length more frequently - thereby reminding your sarcomeres of the length they should be at! Definitely worth the read!! breakingmuscle/mobility-recovery/stretching-doesnt-work-the-way-you-think-it-does
Posted on: Thu, 09 Oct 2014 07:30:14 +0000
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