3 Tips To Help Increase Flexibility
“I stretch & I stretch but my flexibility never seems to improve…”
This is a common problem that we see a lot - clients come in wondering why they don’t see improvements in flexibility despite stretching all the time. In order to actually see a difference in flexibility from a stretch, we need to make sure our stretch hits three critical components:
Duration Of The Stretch
Your shortest length of stretch should be 1 minute. If you are holding a stretch for less then a minute, then the “time under tension” isn’t long enough. What does time under tension mean exactly. When we are stretching a muscle, different stretch receptors are recruited. These receptors send a signal to the brain indicating that specific muscle is under tension, called the stretch reflex. When we contract a muscle, tension is created on the tendon, which activates the golgi tendon organs- our stretch receptors at the musculo-tendinous junction. The golgi tendon organ rates the change of tension in the tendon and sends the signal back to the spine. This signal has to exceed a certain threshold before it will crossover into the lengthening reaction, which will allow the muscle to switch off from a contracting signal to one of relaxation. If our duration of stretch is not long enough, it doesn’t allow the signal to change from protection/contraction, to a signal of relaxation/lengthening.
Intensity
The intensity of the stretch applies to the aggressiveness of a stretch. When in a stretching position, we should be at a point where it is barely tolerable. Pushing yourself to a point where you are looking forward to when that minute is over. This is not saying you should be in pain. There is a big difference between tolerance of a stretch, and forcing your body into a position of pain. We should never be in pain during a stretch at any point- pain is an indication that we are pushing into a limit beyond our bodies capacity. However, when I say barely tolerable, it means that I shouldn’t be able to sit and watch tv for an hour in this position. You are pushing yourself to a level that fully lengthens your muscle tissue effectively.
Frequency
The most effective frequency of a stretch would ideally be twice a day in order to get the most effective results. However, this goal might be hard to hit initially, so give yourself something more obtainable (such as once a day/four to five days a week) in the beginning and work your way up. When people tell me that they stretch all the time, it usually accounts for once to twice a week. But this is like saying you diet once or twice a week, yet you still aren’t losing weight. We need to think about stretching in the same capacity. If you only do something once a week, there is no time for change. In order to see a difference in our results, we need to be putting the time in. Muscle stretching is a compound effect. Each day you stretch, we activate these muscle fibers, creating new length. If we don’t send that same signal the next day, the body will go back to its original length. If we are able to continuously activate this signal, build on this signal, that’s when we will be able to see a difference in our flexibility.
If any of these three components are off, then the stretch will be ineffective to a certain degree. So even if right now you find yourself doing one or two of these components, by combining the three you will start to see the results that you’ve been wanting.
