Joy of Stretch

Here, to complete the standing lower body stretch series, is a stretch for the hip rotators.

Take one ankle and cross it over the supporting supporting leg, making a sort of figure 4 shape.  Have the actual ankle bone rest on the supporting thigh, thus avoiding overstretching the outer part of the ankle. Once in position, sit back and into the stretch. You can hang on to something in front to stabilize as well, although practicing balance is always a good idea.   More on that to come….

The standing Hamstring, Quadricep, Calf, Illiotibial Band and Hip Rotator stretches are a perfect post workout stretch routine and shouldn’t take more than 5 minutes to complete.  Done on a regular basis, this can help keep you injury free, and possibly even improve your performance; plus it just plain feels good.

Happy running, walking, cycling or swimming.

No post running stretch routine would be complete without a stretch for the IT band and hip abductors. The stretch is difficult to explain verbally, but you can see below the idea is to cross one leg over the other, and then lean in the opposite direction.

There is often concern about which leg to put in front and consequently what direction to lean, so it might help to think about the hip remaining fixed and moving the foot and arm toward the opposite side.  Once in position, reach the upper body and arm up, whilst pushing the hips to the other side. Try keeping the hip and shoulders reasonably in line, but you can play with this a little to target the stretch a little differently.

To complement the post cardio hamstring and calf stretches, here is a standing Quadricep stretch.  It tends to work better lying on your stomach, but this isn’t always practical when outdoors, especially when you live in the rain forest like I did.

The top picture attempts to illustrate the idea that both legs should be parallel and lined up. Often, particularly if the quad and hipflexor are tight, the knee will wander forward as shown directly above.  Work on tilting the hip forward rather then pulling hard on the foot.  Anytime you do this stretch, think about tilting your pelvis just a little, pressing your hip forward slightl.  By squeezing your glute, and you will find you feel it “even more”.

It goes from a 10 to an 11.

Hamstrings are always in need of a good stretch, and the following accompanies the preceding standing calf stretches which can, and should, be done after any walk/run or ride.

The stretch should performed with a flat back or neutral spine (more to follow on that with subsequent posts), one heel in front and back leg bent.  Often when performing this stretch the pelvis tends to shift so that one hip lowers……

To target the stretch where its needed be sure to level out your hips as shown.

Also watch to avoid locking the knee and/or rounding the back.  I do realize there is something a bit funny about the “view” but wasn’t sure how to truly explain the hip tilt issue without giving the full complete picture, and for those of you who really do the stretch, you’ll see how integral this piece of info really is.  Trust me, if it weren’t, I wouldn’t have ventured to expose this view so publically.

Here is a great static post exercise standing calf stretch that can be done anywhere, and perfectly follows a run, walk or ride.

Press your back heel towards the ground, or floor, as you shift your weight forward, being careful not to let your front knee come forward of your ankle.  Watch the angle of the back foot, as often people tend to cheat a little by rotating the foot outward as shown below.

Keep the toe and heel pointed directly ahead, and back heel on the floor or ground.

Another great standing calf stretch can be performed when you have something you can incline your foot on, and as you can see in the photo even a car tire works well.

Keeping the heel on the ground, place the ball of the foot a little higher, while trying to keep the majority of your weight on the supporting leg. Lean your hips and body forward until you feel a little stretch in the calf area. This stretch also works well on the side of a pool after swimming, pool running or an aquafit class.

Stretching has got to be the most under rated, neglected, and seemingly unglamourous, area of fitness, yet it’s incredibly important. Regular flexibility training helps to prevent injury, alleviate muscle aches and pains, relieve stress, and promote good posture.  Plus, it enhances strength building capacity through increasing the range of motion used to build strength.

Ideally stretches should be held for 30 seconds and it’s wise to periodically time yourself, as we all seem to cut this short.  Stretching should be done when your muscles are warm.  Think of your muscles like taffy or toffee; when warm they becomes pliable and soft, but when cold are brittle and breakable.  Be sure to avoid bouncing or pushing yourself into a stretch, especially before you are warm, as this actually causes the muscle to contract, the complete opposite of what you intend.

Try to stretch all major muscles of the body after activity, but particularly those that tend to be tight; chest and front of the shoulder, back of the neck, hamstrings and hipflexors.  Hold at the point of mild tension and breathe.  It should feel pleasant, not agonizing.

To truly experience the joy of stretch, hit the pause button of your life.  (If you find it, tell me where.  I can’t always seem to locate it.) Turn out the lights, light some candles and put on your favorite soothing or relaxing music.  I’m currently loving Pearl Jam’s song “Just Breathe” from their new album.  This can be a wonderful way to wrap up your day and quiet your whirling mind before crawling into bed.  In fact I think I’ll head off now….

That’s my word for New Year’s Fitness gimmicks and fads, and it best expresses my feelings about said gimmicks and fads when the vowels are drawn out making it sound a lot like giiiiiiifaaaaaaw. 

I go crazy at this time of year when even my closest friends, who have been subject to my endless rants about how to achieve true lifelong health and fitness, still feel irresistibly compelled to purchase some trendy piece of fitness equipment destined to become a very expensive clothes rack, or worse yet start some ‘special’ three month fast guaranteed to take off pounds fast.

So I ask myself why, and maybe you can help me, but I think like pretty much every thing in our society we want the quick fix now, especially if we can buy it.  Peter Senge, writes about sustainable change in his recent book The Necessary Revolution.   He talks about how our addiction to short term easy fast fixes often keeps us from dealing with the deeper cause of a problem or issue, but that truly sustainable change only comes from dealing with the fundamental root issue which usually requires more initial effort, hence, we avoid it.

Yes… every year on January 1st, millions of us embark on countless new diets.  We purchase reams of useless and bizarre exercise devices (for lack of a better word), and we allow ourselves to be talked into gym memberships, signing contracts in our moment of weakness, binding us to monthly dues for years to come.  Yes, we spend billions and billions on quick fixes, which ultimately don’t work.

There really is another way, but it means we need to look at how we live our lives each day and commit to making healthy change.  The good news is this method endures.  Its effects are viral, touching all aspects of our lives and those around us positively, and it costs far less than all those listed above. 

This year I am dedicating this blog to providing you with information, gleaned from my twenty year career as a fitness professional, and hopefully inspiration, to assist you in creating long term effective, sustainable health and fitness changes in your own life.  Remember though, you won’t find any giiiiifaaaw here.

Here’s to real change in 2010!