It’s perhaps the most misunderstood aspect of stretching I encounter. Most of my clients and students are, arguably, the athletes among us. They don’t need my help in understanding the importance of being physically active, and they don’t need me to “enlighten” them on how enjoyable exercise, physical fitness, and/or sports can be. They already know it, and they’re usually already living that lifestyle, long before they come to one of my seminars or seek my online instruction.
What they ARE often confused about is why their activity or activities of choice aren’t by themselves sufficient in keeping them “agile and supple.” If they’re runners, they assume their regular runs are enough to “get some movement in their body.” If they play golf, they know how much better they generally feel, at least in terms of overall energy and well-being, by the end of the golf season, rather than the beginning, when they were first moving their post-winter body through those initial training outings. If they’re triathletes, or otherwise involved with numerous forms of exercise or sport, they have a hard time imagining that these activities combined don’t “hit all the marks” in terms of moving their muscles through all the ranges needed.
And to a point, they all are correct — again, to a point. Runners are certainly helping their circulation, cardiovascular vitality, and muscle endurance every time they log a quick 3-miler (or a slow 10-miler, or anywhere in between). Golfers, by the end of the season, have absolutely amassed an accumulation of action that renders their body and mind in a healthier place, albeit sometimes with some accumulated aches and pains along with it (the latter being largely preventable — read on). And those athletes and fitness enthusiasts with varied routines, are giving their bodies a powerful range of strengths and agilities, which certainly translates to better overall mobility than if they weren’t training at all.
The issue with all of those groups, however, is two-fold: Number one, no one can escape the common reality we all share: Lots of sitting in chairs (and car seats), every single day. The mechanical changes in our postures and daily movements as a result of this single, repetitive position, poses a genuine and inescapable threat both to the activities we love and our bodies’ mobility in general. Why? Because unless we address the muscles that have become tight, and those that have become weak, as a result of the hunched-over seated position we’re in most of the time (come on now, as you’re reading that sentence, tell me you didn’t momentarily sit up taller!), all that happens when we engage in our sports and fitness activities is….you guessed it, we reinforce these very effects, because that’s what our bodies are habituated to. Yet, all we need are a few easy, targeted stretches — less than 10 minutes a day if that — to arrest and then reverse this effect. The outcome is not only much greater comfort in our everyday lives — less soreness upon arising, reduced aches from a stiff low back, less tension in our neck, etc. — it will actually enhance our sports and fitness performance! When you move more easily, you naturally move more efficiently and with better coordination and power.
The second issue we all face — at least, those of us who are actively involved with fitness or sports — is the need for muscle and joint recovery. If anything, the MORE we have these other activities as part of our week, the MORE we also need to stretch, so that our muscles can return to their full length, so that we can address areas that could stand improvement (i.e. tight muscles that may be hindering our full potential), and so that we can better facilitate our muscles’ ability to repair themselves in between workouts, ensuring they’ll be fresh and ready to go for our next training session. Without that recovery, suddenly the very actions and workouts that can be so helpful and constructive in bringing us to our goals….become a source of repetitive stress and even injury. Again, the good news is, you need only invest in about 10 minutes of smart, well-chosen stretches, typically at the end of a workout, to address this problem. If you doubt this at all, one solid month of regular, proper stretching is all you’ll need to compare and contrast training with and without stretching in the picture.
So give stretching a chance if you haven’t already done so! It can literally be the difference between flourishing in your activities of choice no matter what your age, vs. having to reluctantly give them up, due to physical wear-and-tear that could have been prevented with just a small and simple intervention.
Evamarie Pilipuf is the owner and founder of The Flexibility Coach, LLC, where she helps athletes and fitness enthusiasts improve their functional flexibility through her stretching and yoga programs. Find out more about her online instruction at www.TheFlexibilityCoach.com.
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