By now you should have started your New Years Resolutions. If your goal was to get in better shape, you probably felt some pain or discomfort. I know, “No Pain. No Gain!” This statement was created by the same people who said you should have “Buns of Steel or a Hard Body”. Trust me, accepting those marketing campaigns will make you suffer. frustrated and feeling like a loser. You can get the results you want, but not without paying a price for neglecting the stretch. The more you move your body. the stronger you get, the more your bones get stronger too. That’s a fact. Unfortunately, the more you move, the more you lose joint space and put more pressure on your nerves, discs, and blood vessels. That is also a fact!
THEN, WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO?
While it seems frustrating at first, once you understand how your body works, the easier it will get. Every time you move your body, even going to the refrigerator, your muscles will tense and shorten. Many of your muscles, especially the larger ones, cross the joints and as they shorten, you will lose joint space. This alone will cause you to lose joint lubrication and eventually start to get bursitis. Bursitis is a warning that your joint is losing its space, and if left untreated, the cartilage can be damaged. They get it from their digestive system. The waste product of fuel is left in the muscle fibers and is called lactic acid. Lactic acid is what gives you that pumping feeling and makes your muscles feel hard. Our bodies are primarily water and should be fluid. If the water hardens, it will be ice and not very flexible. Hard muscles will put pressure on nerves and blood vessels, which can cause pain. The job of your muscles is to protect you. Whenever you feel pain, your muscles will stiffen. Are you starting to notice that pain is like a dog chasing its tail? All gyms offer some form of stretching, but it is generally the stretching we learned in elementary school and it is not enough.
The three common mistakes we make are:
1) We keep stretching too long. Anything longer than 2 to 3 seconds allows the muscle’s stretch reflex to kick in and cause the muscle to counterattack. Your muscles don’t have the intelligence to tell the difference between your stretch and someone trying to break your arm or leg.
2) Traditional stretches only stretch about 1/3 of the total 603 muscles. We all move in different directions all the time, so why don’t we stretch all of our muscles individually? Stretching muscle groups together causes many people to feel pain and frustrated. Your muscles like individual attention, they are not willing to share.
3) If someone gives you a rubber band to stretch, that’s your first clue, they have no idea. Elastic bands are great for strength training. Just use a yoga rope or strap to stretch and get a good stretch.
Learning to stretch your muscles correctly will make a difference for you and your goals will improve for you. At the end of your day, think about the positions you were in all day, then stretch your body in the opposite direction.
Tip of the day
If you sit at a desk all day, the front of your body will be short. This can cause back pain. Take a hard rolling pin or pillow and place it under your hips. Lie down so that your shoulders and heels are on the floor. Stay there for a few seconds and release. Repeat lying 3-4 times. Soon you will be able to lie down to the ground without pain or discomfort. Check with your doctors if you’ve had back problems before trying this exercise.
