February 2020

“My hip flexors are tight, do you know a stretch for that? Have you got a stretch for tight hamstrings? My posture is rubbish, got any pec stretches?”

Are examples of some of the most common questions I receive as a strength and conditioning coach and personal trainer.

Anything that is not quite right with an area of the body and the first thing that comes to mind for many is that there NEEDS to be a stretch for it.

The thing with stretching is that… there’s hardly any scientific evidence to say that it does… anything at all actually.

With very limited/hardly any evidence supporting its use for an effective warm-up, in preventing muscle soreness or in preventing injury. There’s even evidence saying it can reduce tendon stiffness (not good for power athletes) and reduce strength performance!

When you read deep into what stretching really is, it’s just an activity that helps you increase your mental tolerance to the discomfort of a certain range of motion. This makes the process of stretching a muscle more of a neuromuscular process than an actual structural change in the muscle.

So, does this mean you should knock stretching on the head completely if there is no actual long-term change?

NO!

But why shouldn’t we stop stretching is it doesn’t make a long-term difference?

Well… although stretching appears to be a placebo…. it still does some of what it claims to do.

It can make you FEEL like your muscles are looser, it can make it FEEL like you can reach new ranges of motion and it can make it FEEL like muscle soreness has been reduced slightly.

Using stretching as a method of tricking the body into getting what you want from it can therefore be advantageous.

But what actually improves flexibility? The answer… loaded stretches!

If your goal is to actually be more mobile and flexible in practical/sporting situations, training through a full range of motion and gaining strength in the deepest range of motion you can reach will be your most effective and time efficient option.

You can still stretch in your warm-up, however use it as tool to simply achieve certain positions and let your strength exercises make the permanent change!

For example, mobilise and stretch ankles and hips to achieve a deeper squat initially but the loaded squat itself is what will make the long-term change to mobility and flexibility (likewise with other lifts).

Another question to be asked is WHY you have a tight area of the body. Unless injured, this will most likely be due to a poorly designed training programme or poor exercise technique (poor range of motion).

A well-designed training programme should address your weak/immobile areas with specific exercises that load these ranges of motion.

If you are failing to target your tight and immobile areas of your body, please enquire about coaching so we can design a programme that fits your needs!

Consultation Form: https://highperformancestrategies.wufoo.com/forms/z14qxxod0zqdmlo/

Yoga has become increasingly more popular in recent years. But should YOU be doing yoga.

Yoga has lots of potential benefits including: improvements in flexibility, balance, reductions in stress, anxiety, depression and even research supporting its use for heart health, sleep and strength increases.

Many yoga lovers boast about its many benefits. But in comparison to what…? And are these benefits worth your time in comparison to other types of training and exercise.

Yoga is often recommended to those who need to work on flexibility/mobility restrictions. I would argue however, that yoga is a very broad and time-consuming method of improving YOUR specific mobility restrictions.

A mobility session targeting the key areas that are often lacking in mobility (hips, upper back, ankles etc) should take no longer that 10-20 minutes (if that). Not to mention that weight training through a full range of motion is one of the best forms of mobility training there is!

So why yoga? Well yoga has hidden reasons why it works and why I still think it has a place.

The main reason being that it’s a specific time and place to actually do your mobility work and chill out!

Mobility and movement training are often the first thing to be brushed under the carpet in someone’s weekly training routine (either because someone hates it or doesn’t actually know what to do…). Committing to a yoga class is one way to guarantee that you will be getting at least some mobility work in.

The second reason is its psychological benefits. Again… another example of something you probably wouldn’t get elsewhere (unless you meditate frequently). It’s ability to help you destress and reduce anxiety alone is enough of a reason to keep many coming back!

With all that being said, many people forget what yoga actually is… its not magic. It’s a low-intensity, sub-maximal exercise consisting of mainly isometric movements using a full range of motion, performed in such a relaxing fashion that it provides great psychological benefits.

I would personally recommend yoga to anyone looking for a place to destress and reduce anxiety or anyone who is struggling to get some mobility work into their week. Give yoga a go and see what you think!