kuju
Top Contributor
Afternoon all!! 
I've had a few requests now for a stretching routine I gave to Gem recently. So....here it is. Please understand it's a little rough and ready...i've re-edited it but it was done on request so I kind of threw it in between other stuff.
The attachment has a complete, but BASIC, stretching routine - complete with pics or links where appropriate. If you have any questions...comments....or most importantly - corrections - then please post them in here (as opposed to PMs) so everyone benefits.
I cannot overstate how useful and important stretching is for proper fucntioning; we do not lose flexibility in a uniform way - some areas will get less flexible than their counterparts on the other side of your body for instance. That leads to potentially painful imbalances.
For instance...for a long time I had a severe imbalance in the IT bands. In day to day life this wasn't a huge issue. But when I threw a large pack and boots on and trekked off on a 250+ mile walk through spanish mountains....THEN it hurt! It caused my left foot to swing out laterally further than the right foot. That caused me to walk funny to compensate.....that in turn led to muscular imbalances..and eventually a world of pain when walking. Stretching fixed it.
Those big balls of muscle are...to some degree...the result of the muscle shortening. But it's only habit that leaves them that way. Cut the muscle out and lay it on a table and it'll stretch out quite happily. Its not the tissue that causes it to bunch up like that as such...its more your nervous system. By progressively shortening ROM you teach the nervous system to "hold" a muscle in a smaller or tighter configuration.
Stretching is about teaching your nervous system that it's "ok" to let the muscle stretch out further than it usually is. SO you take it to where it hurts...back off slightly so it just (only just) stops hurting and hold. Inside your muscle a spindle is sending signals to the brain that the muscle may be over-stretched...the muscle contracts to fight against the stretch. But eventually....the muscle has to relax. There's your stretch. DO it again. And again. Eventually....the point at which your nervous system starts to panic is a point that previously you couldn't even reach. Keep going and your muscles will be quite happy stretching out fully.
Stretching helps ROM, muscle tone and function, recovery...the list goes on. It also highlights imbalances that will probably hurt you at some point.
Key to good stretching:
1. Relax and be patient. This takes a long time to really get anywhere (but its so worth it)
2. Be consistent - stretch every time you train and stretch your whole body regardless of what you trained
3. If you spot an imbalance in flexibility then fix it....that means one muscle is tighter than the other and that can lead to other problems
4. Muscles that are particularly tense may need something more aggressive like trigger point work (basically...applying hard pressure to the point of most discomfort in a stiff muscle until it stops hurting - works incredibly well but it aint comfy!!)
5. Breath out as you relax into the stretch
6. Don't rattle through a routine quickly as though it's an add-on. If you're not going to do it properly then don't do it...it won't be worth it. "SOme effort" is NOT better than none at all. In fact a half hearted effeort could potentially hurt you as you'll likely do things wrong. Form is every bit as important here as anywhere else, if not more so.
Errrrrrrr..........think that's it. Hope people like it - and I'm VERY open to criticisms!! (Constructive ones that is obviously...)
View attachment Full body stretching routine.pdf
I've had a few requests now for a stretching routine I gave to Gem recently. So....here it is. Please understand it's a little rough and ready...i've re-edited it but it was done on request so I kind of threw it in between other stuff.
The attachment has a complete, but BASIC, stretching routine - complete with pics or links where appropriate. If you have any questions...comments....or most importantly - corrections - then please post them in here (as opposed to PMs) so everyone benefits.
I cannot overstate how useful and important stretching is for proper fucntioning; we do not lose flexibility in a uniform way - some areas will get less flexible than their counterparts on the other side of your body for instance. That leads to potentially painful imbalances.
For instance...for a long time I had a severe imbalance in the IT bands. In day to day life this wasn't a huge issue. But when I threw a large pack and boots on and trekked off on a 250+ mile walk through spanish mountains....THEN it hurt! It caused my left foot to swing out laterally further than the right foot. That caused me to walk funny to compensate.....that in turn led to muscular imbalances..and eventually a world of pain when walking. Stretching fixed it.
Those big balls of muscle are...to some degree...the result of the muscle shortening. But it's only habit that leaves them that way. Cut the muscle out and lay it on a table and it'll stretch out quite happily. Its not the tissue that causes it to bunch up like that as such...its more your nervous system. By progressively shortening ROM you teach the nervous system to "hold" a muscle in a smaller or tighter configuration.
Stretching is about teaching your nervous system that it's "ok" to let the muscle stretch out further than it usually is. SO you take it to where it hurts...back off slightly so it just (only just) stops hurting and hold. Inside your muscle a spindle is sending signals to the brain that the muscle may be over-stretched...the muscle contracts to fight against the stretch. But eventually....the muscle has to relax. There's your stretch. DO it again. And again. Eventually....the point at which your nervous system starts to panic is a point that previously you couldn't even reach. Keep going and your muscles will be quite happy stretching out fully.
Stretching helps ROM, muscle tone and function, recovery...the list goes on. It also highlights imbalances that will probably hurt you at some point.
Key to good stretching:
1. Relax and be patient. This takes a long time to really get anywhere (but its so worth it)
2. Be consistent - stretch every time you train and stretch your whole body regardless of what you trained
3. If you spot an imbalance in flexibility then fix it....that means one muscle is tighter than the other and that can lead to other problems
4. Muscles that are particularly tense may need something more aggressive like trigger point work (basically...applying hard pressure to the point of most discomfort in a stiff muscle until it stops hurting - works incredibly well but it aint comfy!!)
5. Breath out as you relax into the stretch
6. Don't rattle through a routine quickly as though it's an add-on. If you're not going to do it properly then don't do it...it won't be worth it. "SOme effort" is NOT better than none at all. In fact a half hearted effeort could potentially hurt you as you'll likely do things wrong. Form is every bit as important here as anywhere else, if not more so.
Errrrrrrr..........think that's it. Hope people like it - and I'm VERY open to criticisms!! (Constructive ones that is obviously...)
View attachment Full body stretching routine.pdf
