Flexibility – The Holy Grail of Injury Prevention

We all know that we should try to be more flexible and through all good intentions we mean to perform flexibilty exercises and drills before (or after) our training sessions.  In reality though, it increases the length of time in the gym, plus you really can’t be bothered because when you get to the gym you’re itching to train and when you’re done, you’re itching to get home, so the flexibility drills get forgotten.

Here’s the catch. You have just overlooked one of the most important parts of training because with good flexibility you will move with a lot more grace and your range of movement and form will flow as if you had been performing them for years. In additioning to you moving better,  your risk of injury will fall dramatically and your progress will soar !!

So are you now asking yourself why have you have not been performing;  Foam Rolling, Flexibility Drills and Myofascial Release Techniques. Why ? (apart from the above reasons) You probably haven’t been shown how. Lack of knowledge leads to ignorance and injury too.

There are various ways of increasing your flexibility. Below are the methods that i have found to be effective with myself and my clients.

Foam Rolling (SMR) Self Myofascial Release : Also referred to as a poor mans massage is very effective way in releasing and  lengthing tight muscle groups before performing exercise or as lead on to static stretching. Foam rolling consists of rolling the body at various angles across the roller until you find a tender point, at this point an even amount of pressure is placed directly onto the tender spot for between 30 – 60 secs  until the pain subsides and the muscle releases and lengthens. Muscles groups that can be targeted – Gastrocnemius, Latissimus Dorsi, Piriformis, Adductors, Quadriceps, Hamstrings, Hip Flexors, Thoracic Spine, Trapezius, Rhomboids and TFL /Iliotibial Band.

Below is a video by Eric Cressey

httpvh://youtu.be/8caF1Keg2XU

Flexibility -Is a joint’s ability to move through a full range of motion  : There are various types of stretching that can be done (Static, Ballistic, Dynamic, Passive, and PNF ) All of which have there place, but the three most commonly used in day to day training are Static, Dynamic and PNF. Below is a breakdown and description of each type of stretch so you have a better understanding on the various types of flexibility that can be performed before and after your workouts.

Static Stretching : Is were you perform a stretch and hold that stretch for a certain length of time, if you are looking to increase your range of movement which is exactly what we are looking to do, hold the stretch for a longer period of time 30 seconds during that time once you feel the initial stretch subside or become less intense then try to increase /lengthen the stretch again and continue holding.

Ballistic Stretching : Ballistic stretching  involves boucing and jerky movements to force ably  increase the range of movement. I personally would not perform this type of stretching until warm as there is a higher risk of injury especially to old injuries, which would negate the purpose of the stretching in the first place. Think of muscle and tendons as elastic bands when cold if you were to suddenly pull on either end of the band the risk of it breaking would be greater than if you were to distribute an even force gradually increasing the stretch the risk now of injury is far less.

Dynamic Stretching : Dynamic Stretching is used a lot in sports  and with athletes prior to a sporting event or before a training session, it may look similar in a way to ballistic stretching but without the bouncing and jerking. Typically you would perform arm swings, lunges, rotations, hip circles, leg kicks in a fast moving but gentle action gradually increasing you range of movement but with no hold at the end of the stretch.

Passive Stretching : Passive Stretching is similar to that of static in that you hold a stretch and then either use another body part, apparatus or partner to increase the length of the stretch, no bouncing, jerking is involved in this type of stretch it is gradually increased through external forces.

PNF Stretching (proprioceptive muscular facilitation) : PNF is probably one of the most effective ways of increasing your range of movement, but as most people do not no of PNF and how to perform it as it should be done. PNF stretching is the rolls royce when it come to stretching. I thought as PNF stretching can be a little confusing to descibe what better than a Demonstration.

Britt Bailey demonstrates this very well with good explanations on how to perform PNF stretching safely

httpvh://youtu.be/HpatAJI0-pU

Below is a Dynamic Warm Up delivered my Todd Durkin from Fitness Quest 10

httpvh://youtu.be/5S1q6abG4AI

Steve Cotter demonstrating several flexibility drills

httpvh://youtu.be/yEA9tYhxmIc

Ankle flexibility

httpvh://youtu.be/016I9Kl7tsg

Steve Cotter (tutorial on squatting)

httpvh://youtu.be/yjQWBOOH6WE

I hope by the time you reach the end of this article you will start to realise the importance of being flexible  in the prevention of injury and for all round better performance.

If out of all the drills you were to pick just one to perfect, ” The Overhead Squat ” would be my recommendation.  If you can master an overhead squat with great form then you have great flexibility, period !!