|
 Joy
Lynn Freeman, D.C., Ph.D.(cand)
Why do our muscles
become less flexible as we age?
-
Some of this has to do with
the change of fluid and mineral balance within the cells of the
muscle—the normal biochemical changes that take place within the
body as we age. Some of this can be altered by what we eat and the
supplements we take.
-
Another large contributing
factor involves the amount of activity the muscles get. Diminished
activity of the muscle will result in not only loss of muscle mass,
it results in loss of flexibility as well. So some of the loss of
flexibility is simply do with decreased activity. A muscle that goes
through alternating bouts of contraction and relaxation, which
happens in exercise, will be kept more flexible from this process. We
all know the old adage—what you don’t use, you lose.
-
But the other aspect of
this more directly relates to stretching or lack of. Part of the
reason for this lack of flexibility has to do with build up of normal
metabolic waste material from muscle activity which occurs when it is
not properly eliminated from the muscle. Metabolic waste material is
a normal result of muscle use in short term muscle activity and will
also happen with an underused muscle over the long term. This build
up will cause muscles to become stiffer and more rigid ldots; less flexible.
-
One more factor in this
loss of flexibility has to do with the joints themselves. They begin
to lose synovial fluid or lets say, the viscosity of the joint
changes, hence the joint becomes less mobile.
How can stretching help
us maintain our more youthful flexibility?
Stretching helps us keep
those waste materials moving out of the muscles—promoting the
proper exchange of waste materials for fluids and minerals that are
necessary to maintain proper muscle function. (These waste materials
can also be called byproducts of the chemical reaction that occurs
every time we ask a muscle to move.) Stretching also keeps the joints
more fluid, keeping them from drying up. There it is again, you if
you don’t use it, you lose it. I like to think of it as,
stretching is what brings life force into all parts of the body. It
reaches into those nooks and crannies that would otherwise remain
dormant or congested.
How does stretching work
to help strengthen muscles?
-
The physiology of this is a
hard thing to describe with out a picture. It is like this—a
muscle that is over contracted, or tight, is shortened. Slide the
fingers of your two hands together moving from tips touching to all
the way in. This is how muscle fibers line up. To demonstrate a
relaxed muscle have your fingers overlapping slightly. If the muscle
is already contracted that would be demonstrated by your fingers slid
all the way in. This muscle will not have the same distance to travel
when it contracts as a muscle that is at its most healthful length.
Since Power = force times distance, it stands to reason that if a
contraction happens over a lesser distance, it will not be as
powerful-hence not as strong. A muscle full of waste material also
creates an inhibition of the contraction, lets say there is more in
the way of a most effective contraction. So it is the same result as
an over contracted muscle.
-
Another physiological
reason is that when muscles become over used or have a build up of
waste material the fibers of the muscle line up every which way
rather than in nice neat rows. They are said to be deranged-much like
a railroad track becomes deranged. The degree of this will vary. In
the case of injury, i.e. sprain or strain they will be greatly
deranged, but even in the case of just repeated muscle use and waste
material build up they will be slightly less lined up. (how much I
can not exactly say) But suffice it to say that when in this altered
state, whether slightly or a lot, they are definitely not as
efficient or strong. Hence stretching helps to bring these fibers
back into alignment as well as eliminate the waste material, which
then gives them the space to be in more optimal alignment as well as
allows proper exchange of minerals necessary for muscle activity.
-
Though there is another
aspect of strengthening here. Because when we refer to stretching, it
does not always just mean the elongating hold moves. Stretching to me
also involves holding statically in some positions, or doing some
slow simple moves. These moves or positions still fall in the
category of "I am doing my stretching", but they are
actually strengthening moves. For example, holding a position that
involves isometrically contracting the quadracept (the large muscle
on the front of the thigh).
How does stretching
protect from injury?
It is a similar answer as
above. If the fibers are lined up properly, free as possible of any
excess waste material, and are able to go through their full range of
motion in a contraction, it stands to reason they will be less prone
to injury. In other words they are just preventatively in a healthier
state. But I will say this is controversial for some people don’t
thing stretching makes any difference. But then are people who
don’t think healthful eating makes any difference. Since they
haven’t done any significant quantitative studies that I know
of, regarding reduction of injury for those who stretch, I cannot
state this in the definitive.
What are some of the
commonly overlooked body parts that are important to stretch?
Most often overlooked are
the posterior or extension muscles of the spine. In other words,
exercises that might require you to lie on your stomach and lift your
upper body up off the floor. I am not only referring to the
stretching type moves like the "cobra," but also
strengthening exercise where in this same position you might take
your hands off the floor for a few moments and lift your upper body
up with out the help of your hands. Both of these exercises, that is
with and with out the hands are very important in prevention and
relief of back pain. As this brings, strength and flexibility to the
small muscles as well as the large muscles of the spine. We spend so
much time in the flexed position, i.e. looking over a computer,
standing over a sink, table or myriad of other forward bending jobs,
that our spines suffer by the lack of extension, or back ward
movement. Our lower spine has a natural forward curve for shock
absorption. All the sitting and forward bending reduces that natural
curve and causes many problems and symptoms. But I also feel the
keeping the hamstrings flexible and strong plays a huge role in
keeping our backs in good shape as well.
What muscles should we
stretch every day?
The hamstrings (large
muscles of the back of the thigh) are one of the larger muscles of
the body and are constantly required to work, just in holding us
upright and carrying us around—walking from here to there. When
these are tight, we feel boggy, tired. It is harder to move about or
get out of bed. We waste a lot of energy moving against over
contracted muscles. That is why stretching makes us feel so good and
so free in our bodies. It is not as if you can even feel it when your
muscles are tight. You just know you don’t feel as alive, as
vital. I call it boggy. If I go too may days with out doing some kind
of stretching-as little as a few minutes, I know it in my state of
mind, loss of enthusiasm and sluggishness of my body.
So back to the question.
Main muscles—hamstrings, spinal extensors and the quads for some
people. Twist your spine a bit. But the bottom line is do a little
bit of something most each day. It almost doesn’t matter which
ones you stretch. As long as you follow your body’s message and
do the stretches and positions that feel good to you and do it for a
digestible—doable amount of time so that you WILL do it
regularly, that is all that counts.
How long should you hold
and what should it feel like?
Typically 20 seconds in a
static as opposed to bouncing stretch.. What it should feel like is a
hard thing to describe, but lets say, gentle or mild discomfort is
OK. Pain—NO. You might actually call it a pain that feels good.
If it feels horrible or what you would truly describe as
pain—then stop or don’t do that stretch. When you first
start it usually feels much worse than after you have been doing it a
while. So hang in there because you will get to where you say it
feels good.
How much and often
should people stretch?
This is my favorite
question because this is what makes it or brakes it for people.
Typically when a person decides, "I want to begin a regular
exercise program, be it stretching or any type of self care, they
tend to be over zealous and start with much more than they can
maintain. I recommend starting out with a little longer routine in
the beginning just long enough to learn what is new, then intend to
create a very short routine for oneself. It is almost guaranteed that
if the routine is not quite short it will not be continued and less
done over a long period of time, is many times better than a long
routine done for a short time. I have been stretching for years now,
but I only do it regularly because my routine is very short and easy.
Hence the way I feel when I don’t do it, which is tired,
sluggish, sometimes headachy or back pain, far exceeds the slight
effort it takes to do—so I do it. I am now 47, have better
health and energy than I did years ago and people consistently say I
look in my thirties. I attribute this to a combination of things; the
emotional and attitude work described in my book Express Yourself,
moderate eating—eating mostly healthful foods in moderate
quantities (that is listening to my body when it says stop), moderate
exercise—exercise that is fun to do and hence easy to maintain,
like walks or swims, and regular stretching—5-10 minutes (or
sometimes less) most days. This is not to say that more of any of
this isn’t good, if you love it and do it regularly, then great.
But if you are like so many of us in this fast paced world, where so
many other things tend to take our attention or priority, developing
routines you can stick with are the key. Stretching is so easy and
can be done any hour of the day (even right before bed) because it is
so relaxing. I tend to think before bed is the best time, because it
slows me down, clears my mind and it is so much easier to get out of
bed in the morning. But what ever time works best for you, just do
any stretching even a small amount you can maintain. I cannot
recommend it highly enough.
What is the best way for
people to learn to stretch?
I recommend a good yoga,
stretching or back care class. In person is always better than a book
or anything else. But for those who do not have the time or
availability of a class or feel uncomfortable doing things like this
in public, my Back-care-cise videos are excellent tools for learning
many new stretches and strengthening exercises. They are in class
format and every video has different exercises so there are many to
choose from. I always say to use them as a learning tool, just long
enough until you can find the exercises that feel really good to you,
learn them by heart, and then develop your own short routine based on
this. Again, expecting to do a public class or even a 20-30 minute
video on a regular basis or an extended period of time is
unrealistic. So start out with the intention to do the more extended
version of your exercise, just long enough until you can make your
own do-able routine that you will stick with. Otherwise, we all know
what happens and regularity is the key to positive, permanent
improvement of anything.
More
Articles
|
