Stretching 5 - A summary

A while ago, in August, we wrote a series of blogs on stretching. We thought it would be helpful to give you a summary on stretching:

Warm up before you stretch.

When you stretch, don't count, just go with what feels right.

You are NOT looking for pain, you are looking for a pleasant sensation. If it's painful, its more likely that you are damaging muscles, not making them better.

Stretch gently and slowly (unless warming up for an event).

Breathe.

Breathe some more.

Make sure that you are stretching all the muscles that you are meant to be stretching. The most common one is stretching out one muscle in the calf and not the other one. Know what you are stretching.

Muscles have lots of different fibres. Don't just stretch in one direction, do it in multiple directions to stretch as many of the fibres as possible. Your muscles are not 2D and linear, they are 3D and work in multiple planes. Make sure they are flexible across them all.

Stretch before exercise (lightly) and, more importantly, stretch AFTER exercise.

Be aware of your limitations. This is not a competition. Every person is different, and has different things that need to be stretched. This is why there is not a stretching "routine" telling you what to stretch and for how long. It is as individual as you are. Find out what is inflexible in you, find out what the ranges of motion are meant to be, go away and gently stretch them.

Don't expect to get visible results in a day, a week, or even two weeks. You may have spent more than a decade getting tighter and tighter. You won't undo all that tension in a matter of a single stretching session. Be patient.

Its not just muscle you are stretching, but tendon and fascia.

And don't forget to DRINK WATER. Your muscles and tendons and fascia are more than 70% water. If they are dehydrated your body is like a swamp. Boggy and unresponsive. You need it to be more like a river. Trying to make dehydrated tissue flexible is like trying to make an old elastic band stretchy again. Its just going to break eventually. Luckily, unlike the elastic band, the body can regenerate. Drink water.

I hope at least some of the stuff I've written down has been of some use to someone, and I hope it hasn't totally confused you.

Once more I shall say, if you don't want to stretch, don't, but if you do, do it sensibly.

Diaphragmatic pain while running

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I have mentioned pain in my diaphragm when running in a couple of blogs recently. I used to get it a bit when I was starting out, it put me off running for a while, and then I went back and hoped it wouldn't hurt. Sometimes it would, sometimes it wouldn't. I never really knew what it was, and didn't think about it until recently when I started to get the same pain in races, stretching out on down hills, or just running on the flat.
Funnily enough, it never really happened when I was running uphill.

So I went about trying to workout what it was that was hurting.
The area that was most in pain was just under the xiphoid process (the bottom of the central part of the rib cage), to the right of centre. Somewhat contrary to common sense I tend to start poking around things that hurt to see if I can make it hurt more, generate a response and see if I can find trigger points - even when I'm running.

After this happened a couple of times in races, and running around with my hand jammed into my solar plexus, racing while trying to work out what hurts is a little detrimental to your final placing - but is a good way of working out what it is that actually is causing the pain.
I worked out that it was the diaphragm that was hurting... it has an attachment to the inner surface of the lower 6 ribs and to the xiphoid process. As I poked around, I could feel that the pain continued around the inside of the ribs, left and right, but it was mostly painful right under the xiphoid process.

I also noticed that as I was running, I felt more free when my body turned in one direction (twisting at the waist), than in the other. Hmmm. Rotation around the spine was easy in one direction, but restricted in another.
Interestingly, the diaphragm attaches posteriorly (at the back) on the upper 2 or 3 Lumbar vertabrae.

Following along a logical trail, there must be something else that is causing this pain - to hammer home a point, I was pretty sure that this pain in the diaphragm was the smoke, the symptom of something not being quite right, and the fire - the cause was somewhere else.

Working Anterior to Posterior, what muscles could possibly be causing this pain?
Directly attaching to the cartiledge of the lower 6 ribs is the Transverse Abdominus, favourite of Pilates instructors, and a muscle that compresses the abdominal contents,
Internal Obliques also attach to the bottom 3 ribs AND the abdominal aponeurosis (fascia)
Rectus Abdominus attaches to the xiphoid process and 5-7 ribs
External Obliques attach to the lower 8 ribs.

A very rough idea of whats going on. Black is External obliques, Green is internal obliques, Blue is Rectus Abdominus, and red is obviously the pain. (this is not an exact representation of origins and insertions, more to give an idea of where the tissues are and which direction the fibres go in).

Wow. All the flexing and rotating muscles of the front of your body, all attaching to pretty much the same place. Fascially they are all very much connected. If any one of them is slightly off, or is crossbridged to another by collagen, or is damaged, then its going to upset the whole lot. Once that happens, because they fascially connect together and are fascially connected to the diaphragm, guess what happens.
Yes, they will affect the breathing.

slightly difficult to draw on a person

After a bit of abdominal self massage I worked out that although they were a little tender, they were not spasming, and they didn't seem to be eliciting the pain that I was feeling in the diaphragm. So the obvious has been ruled out. What other structures are associated with the same attachment points as the diaphragm?
Well, posteriorly, psoas attaches to the bodies and transverse processes of L1-L5, lower down it shares an attachment with iliacus. Both are major hip flexors, and have a lot to do with running. Both are often neglected when it comes to massage, and psoas is a muscle that is fascially connected to the diaphragm.
Hmmm. Thats a possibility.
The way to test this is to stretch out before a race and see what happens.

Interestingly, if you go ahead and really stretch out the psoas and the iliacus, there is no way you can stretch them out with out also stretching the main abdominal group which I have also been talking about. By working through one muscle group, the other is automatically worked as well.

I have been working specifically on hip flexor flexibility for the past couple of weeks now, including stretching before races, and I haven't had any of the pain which bugged me in past races. I'm not going to come out and say that it was specifically psoas, or it was specifically iliacus, restraining psoas and making the diaphragm spasm, or it was specifically the abdominals and I'm going to refrain from making a statement like that for good reason.

All these muscles are fascially connected, the only reason they have different names is because someone went around arbitrarily dissecting and naming things, actively disgarding the fascia as they did so. I suspect it is something to do with an imbalance in the muscles and fascia somewhere, perhaps some collagen binding between psoas and iliacus, and aggravated by weak abdominal muscles. However, the answer seems to have been to stretch out the muscles and fascia associated with the motion of flexing of the hip - and so far, that answer has been vindicated.

As a minor note to this, from my visit to an Osteopath recently, it seems that my sacrum was wonky - which may well have contributed to the feeling of freedom on one side of my body, and stiffness on the other. Muscle, bone, and fascia are all linked and connected and the more I learn, the less physical distinctions I seem to be making.

Yes, I know they are only drawn on, but still.... grrrr.

Stretching Part 4

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Finally - he gets around to the bit actually about stretching instead of all the tedious stuff about muscle, fascia, collagen, emotion and stuff.
Yes, but the back story is important.
Understand before you do, take responsibility for what you do, don't just do it because someone tells you so.

Types of stretching for types of movement.
Stretching is not just about gaining flexibility, it is about warming up, it is about learning where your body is in space. Not all types of stretching will do all of that.
Developmental stretching will affect the PLASTICITY of muscles. You are looking for a plastic change in the tissue. Think about bending the lid of an ice cream box. Bend it for a short time, and it will go back to the original shape. The plastic "remembers" its original shape. Bend it for a long time and it plastically deforms into a new shape. This is the idea of a developmental stretch. It should not be done before exercise, and is training in and of itself. The muscles will need rest afterward.

Warming up before an event will incorporate getting blood into the muscles, increasing circulation and increasing the ELASTICITY of the muscles and fascia. Increasing rebound, becoming soft and flexible. You aren't looking for deformation of the muscle, you need may need speed, agility or to know exactly where your body is in space and time. This will need a different type of stretching, something that raises the sympathetic nervous system and gets you ready for whatever you are about to do.

Cooling down after an event will need another type of stretching as well. Bringing the parasympathetic nervous system into dominance, relaxing the body, elongating the tissues, enabling blood to bring nutrients to the muscles, and carry away metabolic waste. One stretch, or at least, one type of stretch does not do for all occasions.

Static Stretching
This is the old school way of stretching that we were always taught. Go into a stretch, Hold it. Hold it. Keep holding it. And release.
The problem with this, that I and most other inflexible people found with this, is that when you try to go into such a position, you tense muscles in order to attain the stretch. While trying to relax you find your entire body tensed up like a coiled spring, bringing more tension into it than releasing. The stretch starts to hurt, you can't breathe because you are tensing your abdominals, and it really is an unpleasant experience. Do this for a couple of days, the muscles feel like they hurt more and more, you become less flexible and eventually pack it in because the stretching that is meant to be making you light, limber and agile is making you feel old, achy and immobile. Sound familiar?

"Static" stretching is meant to be done as a developmental stretch. This is what you do in order to gain plastic length in your muscles, fascia and tendons. Obviously you don't want pain, because that indicates that soreness will occur in the future. When that happens, your muscles will feel tight, tired, achy and you won't want to stretch anymore.
So, go into a position where you know you will feel a stretch - like bending over to touch your toes. Don't force it, just hang where you naturally fall.
Then breathe.
Don't count, don't try to stretch any further, relax your muscles, and breathe. As you breathe in and out you may notice that the body rises and falls, you may also notice the body going deeper toward the ground. Then again you may not. Stay in the position as long as you feel it necessary. But whatever you do, DON'T force the stretch.

This is basically the idea for all developmental stretches. Get into a comfortable position where your muscles are not tensed, lean into where the stretch will be, don't force it, and breathe.
These stretches can go on for a while, don't rush it, just relax into it. If you aren't relaxing, you aren't doing it right.

Active stretching
This is where you purposefully contract the muscle which does the opposite action to the muscle you want to stretch. (for example, to stretch the Hamstrings, you engage the quads)- this has the effect of Reciprocal inhibition. In neuromuscular terms as you engage muscles that do one movement, the electrical signals stop the antagonist from contracting, and thus, they are "switched off" and able to stretch. This kind of stretch is not done with any support or prop and is a good tool for rehabilitation, but not so good for developmental stretching as there is always tension in one part of the body or other. The stretches are not held for a long time as the excessive muscular tension can become difficult to hold - about 10-15 seconds is the norm.

Passive stretching
Basically the same as Static stretching, but you have a partner, or a piece of apparatus which helps bring you into the stretch. This can obviously be hazardous and it is very important that there is no jerking or bouncing force applied to the stretched muscle. It is useful in gaining flexibility, but like static stretching, can be "overcooked" quite easily. You are not looking for pain, you are looking for a comfortable stretch.

PNF (proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation)
Fancy name, fancy stretch. You will need a partner, (if you don't have a partner, then isometric stretching is what you are doing, they are pretty much the same thing)
PNF stretching has evolved from a form of rehabilitation, it improves muscle strength, flexibility and can also help restore muscular firing patterns.
The muscle group to be stretched is placed so that it is under tension with the partner holding the limb so that it cannot move. The muscles to be stretched are contracted (isometrically - the partner prevents the limb from moving anywhere). This contraction is held for about 10 seconds, a deep breath is taken and on exhalation, the limb is relaxed and brought into stretch by the partner - this is held for about 20-30 seconds. Rest, and repeat.
There are a number of different thoughts and theories as to the amount of time for the stretch to be held, rest, etc. These timings are for guidance only.
Do Not use this technique on damaged muscles, don't use it to a pain threshold, don't over stretch.

Isometric stretching
For those who don't know, Isometric contraction of a muscle is where you contract it, and there is no movement of the limb. (as an example, try lifting a house, or pushing over a very large boulder. You will notice that even though you engage your muscles, the limbs don't move anywhere... THAT'S an isometric contraction).
To do an isometric stretch you need something to stretch against- to restrict the movement of the limb. Assume the position of stretch, and then contract the muscles that you are about to stretch, for about 10 seconds. Then take a deep breath and relax into the stretch for a generous amount of time.
This is quite a developmental stretch, and its probably not a good idea to be doing it day in day out. Some texts recommend waiting at least 48 hours between isometric stretching sessions, and it is not recommended for children or growing adolescents. 

Dynamic stretching
A swinging or bouncing motion is used in a movement - ostensibly to create greater range. This kind of stretching can be used to increase elasticity in the muscle in a pre-event session, but the gains are only ever elastic. They can also help with making fascia more elastic in the same kind of time. In easy terms, it makes the fascia more bouncy.
However, the motion should always be under control. The swing should never be uncontrolled and is in NO WAY ballistic. Dynamic stretching is controlled, gentle and purposeful. It is within range of motion and joints are NOT forced beyond their normal range.

As a note on ballistic stretching - once a popular form of stretching, using momentum from rapid swings and bounces, forcing joints and muscles beyond normal range - the risks of this kind of thing are way above and beyond any kind of gains. The short time that the muscle is beyond normal range gives no benefit to the athlete at all, and a muscle protecting mechanism is also set off, making the muscles shorter than when you started stretching - and so making them more liable to damage as you exercise. Ballistic stretching is probably not a good thing to be doing.

Pre-race/event stretching
Obviously you don't want to plastically affect the muscles in a long term way if you are just about to start doing exercise, or competing, you just want to get blood to them, warm them up, and get some elastic rebound going. There are two ways of doing this, one that affects the muscles more, and one that appears to affect the fascia more.
The principle is the same as static stretching, but with less time spent on each movement, and to a less deep level than you perhaps might if you were stretching "statically". This will create space in the tissues in order to help infuse areas with blood.
I know that "ballistic" stretching, has received a bad press - and rightly so in terms of flexibility gain. If you bounce into a stretch, the stretch reflex will kick in and the muscles will contract, doing the polar opposite of what you want them to do.
However, if you introduce a slight "mid-range" bounce-like movement (NOT end range - bad idea), this will help increase elastic recoil in fascia (source - some of the more recent findings by Schleip et al.). In personal terms - this means that my Achilles tendon is warmed up and has maximum elastic recoil when going into a race, instead of just feeling nice and warm.

Post event stretching
The idea of stretching at this time is to stop blood pooling in the muscles, get nutrients to the tissues that have been damaged, and get metabolic waste products out of the muscles and into the lymph system so that the body can deal with them. Post even stretching should be a mix of very light exercise and stretching. Generally 5 mins of exercise and 10 mins of stretching - or thereabouts. Go with what feels right. This is not a time for developmental stretching, that needs to be done at a time when you are not training. This is a time to help recover, relax, lengthen shortened tissues and ensure that everything works and moves as freely as it did before the training session.

Developmental stretching
To gain length and flexibility in tissue, this needs to be done relatively regularly. I don't even know if you should classify it as "stretching" as such, but just have it as part of your routine, an extra to be doing as you watch tv, just something that is done. That way, it feels less like a chore and less like something that you lie in bed at the end of the day and think "damn... I forgot to stretch today". Sit on the floor, work out what is tight, and slowly stretch the tissues. Breathe into it, like the static stretch explained above. Don't count, just feel, breathe, take it to a point of tension and no further. Do it gently and slowly, and come out of it slowly as well.
Make sure there is no excessive body tension, and work at the tissues all around the area.
Go slow. I know I keep saying it, but remember to breath.

Stretching part 3

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Ok, this is starting to become a bit of an epic in terms of parts. I apologise for that, but hopefully you're beginning to see why I can't really answer "why should I stretch" in an easy and simplistic way, there is quite a bit to talk about.

One of my favourite quotes is this, it is a conversation between a previously injured runner and his therapist
"when can I start running again?"
"when you can walk efficiently and effortlessly"

Yes, you can go off and run before you are back to walking well, but your days as a good athlete, or at least, your days at your current level will be numbered.
Cumulative stress and strain can and will take you down.

The question to ask before you ask "why should I stretch" is "where do I feel tight"? Don't just think about you sitting there at your desk/ on you sofa/ on the train, think about your daily movements, what you can do, and what you have to modify in order to do it. When you put on your t-shirt, or shirt, does one arm go in easier than the other? Could that be a shoulder capsule that needs stretching? When you put on your socks, can you stand up and put them on, is one easier than the other? Do you have to lie down because you aren't flexible enough? Think about how that might affect your sport, or your life in other areas... that's the hip joint that isn't flexible enough. I've just read a study that shows pro golfers have approximately 10% or more flexibility in hip rotation than amateurs, and are thus able to get greater club speed. That's through flexibility.

I hate to hammer it home, but one final point for all you power lifters.
Poor hip mobility and then squatting, or lifting heavy will do one thing. It will compound the hip joint tightness because you are adding intensity, frequency and duration. This will lead to greater compensation in other areas, and good form will become difficult to maintain.
Bad form uses more calories yes, but the accumulative training effects are a bad thing.

Braces for knees, hips, arms, shoulders and medications in the form of pain relief are good when used appropriately.
However, they are most often used inappropriately as a crutch for people who have not addressed underlying movement patterns, imbalances and compensations.
Find imbalances, find imperfections, work them out. Strengthen that which needs to be strengthened so that the whole organism works together as one. Not just the big muscles, but also the small stabilising ones. Keep the flexibility because once you lose that, the body becomes less able to work in harmony with itself.

So,
work out what lacks flexibility in day to day movements.
work out what lacks flexibility in your sport, what lets you down, what could make you faster, more powerful, more agile.
work out what you have injured in the past, no matter how trivial, see if it has affected the way you move, the way you think and the way you do things. Do you unconsciously protect one side of you, or have a foot that turns in or out because of a previously (forgotten) twisted ankle?
Roll out on a foam roller and see what hurts - that is often a really good indication of where trigger points and scar tissue have accumulated and places that would benefit from being stretched.
What feels tight? What doesn't? (beware if you are hyper-flexible, as sometimes the muscles "feel" tight, like you need to stretch, but the joint capsule will be compromised if you actually try to go all the way to the end of the stretch).

Yes, all this takes time, and it takes patience. But so does training. This is as important as that final hill climb of the day, as important as a PR, as important as a new set of wheels (and less expensive), and as important as the 3rd session down the wall this week. In fact its more than that.
If you lack flexibility, it may well be the thing that gets you through the plateau you have been training at.
Equally, it might well be the thing that enables you to have a pain free life, ending compensation patterns, muscular stiffness and annoyance at not being able to do things because of your body.

I'm starting to sound like a broken record of a rabid missionary now.
Again, you don't have to do this, I'm not advocating it as the be all and end all, but it might be something that you want to consider. Next blog I'll write some stuff about the different ways of stretching, why some people start and feel like they are losing their flexibility- and thus stop, why it sometimes hurts (it shouldn't), and other bits and bobs like that.
Again, if you have any comments or issues with any of this, please post, discussion is the way forward.

Stretching Part 2

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One of the key things to know when stretching is WHAT you are stretching. Not necessarily specifically which muscles (though that can be helpful), but more to do with the structures.
So, what exactly is causing the body to be "tight" and what exactly are you stretching when you stretch?

Muscle Tissue
When muscle is broken down by exercise, it is built back up again during rest. The "stuff" that actually does this is Collagen. Collagen is laid down in muscle tissues in a fairly haphazard pattern, its sticky, and it causes adhesions. However, it does align to lines of stress, and when you stretch the tissues, the collagen aligns to the stretch, causing the muscles to be healed in a more efficient pattern. If the tissues are not stretched, the collagen can cause cross fibres not only across fibres within the muscle making it less efficient as a unit, but across different muscles, making them both less efficient and more easily tired. Yes, Your muscles can stick together if you don't stretch.

Collagen is laid down in muscle tissue wherever there has been stress - it is there to support the muscle - however, as more collagen is laid down, it upsets the balance of water and elastin in the muscle making it more rigid than flexible. Exercise is the most obvious one, but also sitting around doing nothing causes stiffness as well. As you sit looking at this computer, your muscles are being used, and stressed, when they stop working (when you sleep, or whenever), collagen will be laid down in the muscles around your neck, upper trapezius, SCM and scalenes. This is helping the muscles distribute the strain of what you do on a day to day basis. This collagen is basically scar tissue in your muscles.
The extra tissue slows you down, and collagen will quickly lose its elasticity. Stretching will help maintain the elasticity and flexibility which you would otherwise lose through either over or under training.

Trigger points
The exact nature of a trigger point is an area of exquisite tenderness in a muscle. The pain will often radiate or refer to another part of the body. Trigger points are areas of ischaemic tissue, and are a major cause of myofascial pain and/or dysfunction.
They develop through muscle fatigue (again, this can be from exercise, or, from sitting in front of a computer for 12 hours a day). As the muscle is contracted, individual muscle fibres begin to fatigue to beyond the limit they can function. When they shut down, they contract to the minimum length they can. At this point, the fibre is "splinted" by fibres around it which take up the strain of the fatigued fibre. Over time, these become overly fatigued, and shutdown, causing more fibres to splint them, and so on and so forth.
When you have an area of chronically contracted muscle fibre, nutrients cannot get in, and waste products cannot get out. The muscle (or specific spot in the muscle tissue) is in a state of fatigue and will cause painful restrictions in movement, and will also shut down athletic strength and ability.

Joint Capsule
The joint capsule often shares nerves with the muscles around it, and can affect the range of movement by being too tight. The muscles may become hypertonic (too tight). Sometimes if a muscle becomes injured, the ligaments and tendons around the joint may tighten up to protect the structure, as the muscle heals, collagen (scar tissue) builds up, and then the joint is restricted by more than one thing.
Joint "blocks" feel abrupt. Like a tightening of the joint. It stops you from moving into a correct range of movement. A tight joint capsule will rob you of speed and power.

So why am I so inflexible?!
Well, any number of reasons really.
Overtraining or undertraining
As mentioned above, if you train too much, or not enough, there are excessive forces placed upon the muscles. If you then don't take the opportunity to stretch and make good the new collagen laid down in your tissues, that collagen loses its flexibility and thus, you lose flexibility.
Muscles and fascia can shorten to accommodate accumulated stress in everyday life. Look around you at people staring at computer screens, their shoulders around their ears. This is a sign of excessively short levator scapula, SCM and scalenes. Its not a short term thing, the muscles and fascia have adapted to their work posture to be as efficient as possible, ie. use as little energy as possible. That means laying down more collagen to hold muscles in a shortened position. It might be efficient for the muscles, but it isn't pain free.

Trigger points manifest themselves in muscle and fascia. This is a sign that the web of fascia is becoming unbalanced. The accumulation of stresses and forces can be seen across the body as it changes posture according to what you do with it, and what is done to it by the outside world.
For example, when an injury occurs, the body automatically tries to protect the area from injury. It will do this by creating a compensation pattern. Maybe you hurt the right knee. The body will start limping, placing more emphasis on the left leg in order to spare the musculature on the right in order for it to heal. As time passes, the injury heals, but the body continues to work in the compensation pattern. You continue to limp despite the fact the pain has gone away. Even years after, a discernible movement pattern can be seen despite the fact you have forgotten that you ever hurt the knee.
These altered patterns are often a response in which the path of least resistance is taken instead of the path of greatest efficiency. This will cause the body to do more work, increasing stress and strain.

Myofascia and this causes daily aches and pains. Compensations are made and sacrifices are made in terms of speed and power, medication is sometimes relied upon to get you through training, you become slower and you are never as good as you once were. Its all blamed on getting old. But what is getting old if not the accumulation of scar tissue in places where you didn't have it when you were young? What if that tissue was flexible and pliable again?

The final point is about stress - mental, and emotional. Physical stress affects fascia and muscle. This stress and strain can feedback to the emotional side, and when you are in pain, this can be increased in a very negative way. Pain increases bad moods, depression and feelings of hopelessness. In some cases, it may be that medication is taken to make these things go away.
However, medication masks the symptoms, it does not heal them. In many cases, the liver actually has to work harder as it tries to de-toxify the blood from the medications that are being thrown into the body.
I'd just like to clarify that I'm not saying all medication is bad, but just make sure that it's healing rather than masking. If it is masking symptoms, maybe the issue is deeper and, in some cases, may well be caused by pain in myofascia.

So its not just muscle.
Now, if you think about muscle, and about fascia, and the joint capsule, if you stretch in only one direction, you are introducing stretch along one area of the tissue, and pretty much in one plane of movement. Just as a thought, might it be a good idea to introduce that stretch to more than one area of the tissues that you are trying to stretch? Might those muscles be used for more than one plane of movement? As you stretch, it is a good idea to move the body around to get the stretch into different parts of each muscle. You may find that some areas are tighter and less flexible than others. These are probably going to be places that you need to work on, areas with less mobility, range and more tissue congestion.

Its probably a good point here to note when NOT to stretch.

• If you have joint instability, stretching is not a good thing to be doing. Personally I'd look at doing some kind of rehab work with weights to gain muscle and re-introduce stability into the joint, but that's just me. 

• Infection or inflammation around the structures you are going to stretch

• Acute injury. If you have been injured in the past 48hours, please don't stretch. You are likely to make it worse. 

• Excessive pain or other negative reaction to stretching. We aren't looking for pain. Mild discomfort is the worst that you should be feeling. 

• Not wanting to stretch. If you don't want to, you don't have to. Its your body. Decide what you want to do with it.  

So when IS a good time to stretch?
Forgive me for being a little facetious when I say "anytime".
It's true to a point, but not the most useful of answers.
Stretching before exercise is fine - but only in terms of warming up - helping blood to circulate, enabling nutrients to get to the right places etc. Generally a bit of arm waving/slight cardio before a stretch is a good idea - to get blood pumping around the system, and then light stretches - nothing deep or "developmental". You are about to exercise, you want muscles, tendons and fascia to be ready to work optimally, not trying to work out why they are longer than they have been in weeks...

After exercise is also good. The tissues you have been using are "injured" - they have been used, lots of metabolic waste product is lying around, blood is potentially pooling in muscles, so a little warm down, followed by stretching to get things in line, and repairing well is a good thing.
Also - at this stage, and in the proceeding hours, collagen is being laid down in the muscles. Collagen lies along lines of stress, so in the hours after exercise, even the day after, when you are relaxing, stretching and foam rollering will help the collagen form correctly, not haphazardly, and fewer adhesions and trigger points will form.

The best time for stretching is when you aren't exercising. Not as a warm up or a warm down - just generally when you are relaxed. It should also be noted that you shouldn't necessarily rely on stretching to work knots out of your muscles, its more of a prevention rather than a cure - for that you will probably want to use a foam roller or a massage therapist. Once the knots are gone, stretching can be used to maintain the quality of the tissue.

Stretching- an introduction

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Stretching, I swear that its one of those things that is the most misunderstood aspect of training. For a long time I didn't really see the point in it, and I know a large number of runners, climbers, cyclists and athletes who also don't see the point in it.
The reason being, "I do really well just as I am at the moment, and I don't stretch now, why would I want to stretch when it might make me perform less optimally?"
or
"the more I stretch the more it hurts, so I figure if I don't stretch, it won't hurt so much, and I'll just keep on going as normal".

In the past few weeks I have been asked a number of times, "Why should I stretch? Go on, convince me".
To be fair, if that is your attitude, I'm probably never going to convince you to stretch as you have your mind pretty made up that it isn't for you. Happy Days. Continue to not stretch, and watch me sail past you in the next couple of years as I continue to practice stretching, gain and retain flexibility and in so doing, continue to be fit and healthy.

Just for the record, I'll write a few bits and pieces below as to why it might be intelligent to consider adding some kind of stretching to your exercise.

The problem with poor flexibility is that it restricts how you move, and how far you can move without injury. If we take running as an example, imagine if your stride length was a little longer- if the tendons attaching muscle to bone enabled you to stretch out that little bit more and cover a slight bit more distance everytime you took a stride, it would make you faster.
If you are a climber, the suppleness would give you more ways in which to move your body to be balanced on top of a dodgy smear.
If you are a cyclist, it means that the muscles are freer to work independently of each other, and that individual muscles are able to fire individually, instead of dragging others with it, causing excessive premature fatigue.
In heavy lifters, it means that muscles are more balanced and that more muscular effort can be used for more of the time, thus making you less prone to fatigue.

Stretching creates space within joint capsules, space between layers of muscles and space in general within your tissues. This is a good thing. The more space there is, the easier it is for blood to flow around your body. More blood means more nutrients get to more places. Nutrients are obviously a good thing as it helps to heal muscles. The more efficient the flow of blood, oxygen and all that good stuff, the faster you will recover from muscular trauma. Also- if blood is getting to the muscles and tissues, as well as bringing nutrients to them, it is also efficiently transporting metabolic waste away from them as well. Lactate, hydrogen ions, the bits that make the muscle contract less well because of their presence, they are transported away from the muscles more efficiently, thus making your recovery faster, and making the muscles better, faster and, well, more efficient.
(its all about efficiency, see.)

Tight muscles, myofascia and joint capsules not only reduce range of movement, they also slow down movement within that reduced range. The feeling of tightness in a muscle will slow any movement, for fear of damaging tissue when moving.
Muscular force- the amount of force and velocity you can bring to bear over a specific range of movement is also impaired.
Speed and agility is also compromised.

SO.
Why should I stretch?
Potential benefits are these:
Better range of movement.
Better Force production over that range of movement (Power)
More efficient blood flow (and nutrient flow) to the muscles-
More efficient removal of metabolic waste- both these mean more efficient muscular recovery from aerobic AND anaerobic activity
Better proprioception- knowing exactly where your body is in space at any one time
Better agility (the ability to stop, change direction and go again)

And of course the ability to do all that without getting injured. 

If it was possible to get all these things, just with a bit of application, would you?
It seems like a no brainer to me, but then, each person makes their own decision as to what they want to do in order to train.
Look at the benefits and decide for yourself. Is it worth it to stretch?
If so, do it. If not, don't bother. I'm not here to convince you, just present you with facts so that you can make your own decisions.
Its your body, do what you want with it.


There are a number of different ways to stretch, a few myths and some untruths. There are also bad times to stretch, good times, good habits and bad habits. Its a bit of a minefield. I can understand that because of all the conflicting advice out there, there are those that don't stretch because inaction is preferable to doing something "wrong". Injuring themselves because of bad advice... that has got to be the worst thing to do.

If you disagree with anything I post, please do comment, I'd prefer it to be a discussion rather than a dissing exercise. I'd also like to point out that this is not a be all and end all, just accumulation of knowledge I have gained thus far. If there are other sources of information on stretching, please do point me in their direction.

calf stretches

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One of the most common questions I ask is "do you stretch", and more often than you think, the answer is "yes". Quickly followed by, "but only my calves".

This is fine, (well, its not, but at least they are making the effort), but the way people stretch out the lower leg muscle group is woefully inefficient and makes them THINK they are stretching them out all ready for a run, and off they bound, thinking they have warmed up their muscles... however, they have stretched ONE of the muscles. The other one, the (in some peoples opinion, the more important one) hasn't even been touched, and is being used to a massive capacity without any warning whatsoever.

yikes
running on cold muscles is not the greatest thing in the world, but running on cold muscles when you THINK they have been warmed up is probably a whole lot worse. That goes the same for warming down. Imagine thinking you had warmed down and stretched out your muscles after exercise, but in fact you hadn't. You'd start thinking why do my muscles hurt even though I've done everything I'm meant to have done?!

Ah, I think I see the problem. Inefficient stretching. Stretching of muscle groups which are missing out important specific muscles, which either are not being warmed up well enough, or not being cooled down/ flushed through with blood at the end of a session to get rid of all the waste products built up during the workout/run/cycle.

Quick physiology lesson. (you can also check this out on the plantar fasciitis post as its quite relevant to that subject as well).
Muscles of the posterior (back) distal (bottom) chain
There are a number of smaller muscles deep inside the leg, but we are going to concentrate on the Triceps surii. The Gastrocnemius and the Soleus.
Everyone should know what the Gastrocnemius looks like. Its the one you always see on skinny-ass runners and cyclists as they strain their way up a hill. We're just coming into Tour de France season- watch the lower leg muscles of the riders- they will have ridiculously well developed Gastrocnemius.

Showing the Triceps Surii. The muscle coloured Black is the Gastrocnemus. Note how it attaches above the knee joint. You can just about see the Soleus (in red), but there is a better pic of that below. I'm pointing out the Gastrocnemius on our leg model. (TdF athletes MAY have a slightly more well developed musculature)

The Gastrocnemius muscle attaches to the foot via the calcaneal tendon (achillies tendon), and to the leg at the top, ABOVE the knee on the femur. This is quite an important distinction as opposed to the soleus. The muscle itself is actually quite a thin muscle and does not run all that deep into the leg. However, it does look pretty impressive when it is tensed.
The Gastrocnemius is the muscle everyone knows about and the muscle everyone thinks is stretched when they do the calf stretch. (and they're right).

Soleus is the muscle that is always forgotten.
Soleus is deep to the Gastrocnemius and is actually a thicker muscle. You can't see it from the back because the Gastrocnemius is so showy that it completely covers it over. You can access it from the side though. The Soleus is sometimes referred to as the "second heart". This is because when it contracts, it plays an important role in sending blood back from the extremities to the heart. It is a very important muscle involved in your circulation, as well as in the gait cycle.

The Soleus attaches to the foot at the bottom on the same tendon as the gastrocnemius. They blend together into the Calcaneal (achilles) tendon. At the top is a very different story. The Soleus attaches to the top of the Tibia and Fibula- BELOW the knee. That is one of the most important distinctions between the muscles.

Soleus, the second Heart. As you can see, it blends with the Calcaneal (achilles) tendon, and attaches BELOW the knee, on the top of the Tibia and Fibula.

What difference does it make?
Well, when the leg is straight, it stretches out the Gastrocnemius beautifully- blood goes through it and all is good and nice. However, when the leg is straight, because all that is going on, the Soleus doesn't actually get a look in as it attaches below the knee. The blood can stagnate, waste products don't get flushed through, the muscle becomes hypertonic and tight, and this causes DOMS and might contribute to you getting Plantar fasciitis.
Even though you SWEAR that you always stretch out your calves.

So how do you stretch Soleus and stop all these horrible things happening to you?
When you stretch out in a "calf-stretch" the back leg is straight- right? Right. For half the time. This is the classic stretch that everyone does, and its brilliant.

Stretch 1- the one you always do. Stretches out the Gastrocnemius

Once you have stretched that, rock back on to the back leg so that it is BENT. You will feel the muscle stretch/ache in a slightly different place.
That is the Soleus.

Stretch 2- notice how the back leg is bent- that is stretching the Soleus.

Stretch that one as well.
And on the other leg.
NOW you have a slightly better set of legs. Go Play.

Just as a bonus- an extra stretch for the soleus, the rear heel isn't touching the ground, but it is being pushed down toward it. Be sensible and don't hurt yourself stretching. Its meant to do you good, not break you.

Desk Jockeys

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By this I mean a desk-bound employee pushing papers and typing at keyboards all day long. Low exercise levels (just on the job, we're not saying you're lazy), restricted movements and repeated actions, none of which are all that good for your posture.

So what does poor posture mean for our bodies? Well, muscles can become weak and elongated, short and overly tense, switch off completely because others have taken over their role or just generally dysfunctional. You might experience muscular pain, joint stiffness, headaches, a sense of not being quite right, or suffer from RSI (repetitive strain injury). Whatever the cause, poor posture isn't good for muscles, tendons, ligaments and joints, and the effect is felt all over your body.

Here's how it goes....you come to work, just like you do every day. Switch on the computer, check your in-tray, in-box, action list, make a coffee and settle in to the day's work. I know. I've been there. You do the same things over and over again, day in day out. Your chair stays in the same position. Your phone is probably a little out of reach because otherwise it gets in the way of the keyboard (go on, check how far away it is). Papers are piled up on either side of you. The filing piles up. If you're lucky (or perhaps unlucky) to have a paperless job then you just come in, sit down and keep your arms in the same position for what, 2-3 hours at a go? Longer? Basically, apart from the coffee breaks, a quick wander around the office and lunch (that is if you take lunch away from your desk), you're sat at your desk with your body fixed pretty much in one position.

Is that good for you? No. We've posted elsewhere (Fascia. Fascianating) about how fascia is kind of like plastic, needs to be able to glide freely and how it becomes stuck and bound together with inaction.

Now consider your desk set up and seating position. In the position you're in, with limited movements, think about what your shoulders are doing. Really take a few moments to notice how they are positioned. Now your neck. What's happening there? And what about your pelvis?

Lets look at each of those in turn.

Shoulders: most likely they'll be rounded forwards, hunched over. In general, this means the muscles on the front of your chest are short and tight (predominantly the pecs but also muscles in your neck and obviously shoulders) and those at the back will be weak and long (upper trapezius, rhomboids – in between your shoulder blades). Because your shoulders are forwards there could be a tendency for your mid back curve to be increased, putting pressure on your spine.

Neck/head: the ideal position for your head is with your ears directly above your shoulders. I'm betting your head is forwards meaning the chin is forwards and muscles at the back of your neck are long and weak, or maybe not firing effectively.

The average head weighs about 10lbs. For every inch your head is forwards your muscles have to cope with an additional 10lbs of weight – so for a 2 inch head forward position your head is effectively weighing the equivalent of 30lb – 3 times the weight that it should be!! Now imagine the strain that your muscles are trying to cope with, there's no wonder after years of sitting at a desk that a stooped forwards position leads to muscular pain, headaches and dysfunction. When your head is positioned correctly gravity distributes the weight downwards and your muscles don't have to work anywhere near as hard. This is because gravity is working in a good way, rather than pulling your head forwards and downwards.

Pelvis: are you slouching, in which case your pelvis will be tipped backwards (posterior tilt). Don't just think about what you're doing right now but about how you sit day in day out. Because you are now aware of it you probably sat upright a little more, this is perfectly normal, but what we're after is for you to think about how you usually sit. Good posture need not be sitting bolt upright, just keeping your spine in a neutral position is good. Going back to slouching, which I think it's fair to say from experience, after way too many years in an office myself, that the majority of people do slouch. What's happening to your muscles? Well, for a start, just sitting for long periods leads to short hip flexors – the muscles that bring your leg up in front of you. When you think about it it is common sense – your legs are bent in a sitting position so the muscles which bend your legs will be held in a shortened position, even if they're not contracting. Your glutes are inactive, they forget what their job is. Because your pelvis is tucked under your hamstrings (the muscles on the back of your thighs) also shorten. Even if you stand up and sit down a couple of times, its not your hamstrings or glutes that are really working, its the quads- which, as we mentioned, are already shortened. 

One thing I haven't mentioned so far is whether or not you sit with your legs crossed. I did, for quite some time, before working out (during training to be a massage therapist) that this wasn't such a good idea. It's led to me having one weak hip flexor (the psoas muscle) on the left and one which is too tense on the right – the leg that crossed. The good news is that with some strengthening work on the weak muscle I can rebalance this out fairly easily – oh, and I now keep both my feet flat on the floor when desk-bound!

It's common with head forward posture for the gravity shift to cause your upper back to curve backwards and your the hips to tilt – one thing is compensating for the other (we've said elsewhere that everything is linked and connected), and you end up out of shape, quite literally, feeling a little wonky and perhaps not being 100% comfortable but not really knowing what is not quite right.

The risk to your health because of poor posture are not only muscular aches and pains, but headaches, compression of the spine, dysfunctional muscles and postural imbalances. These can lead to all sorts of other health issues which you won't instantly connect with poor posture, such as breathing disorders.

How can you make things better? Find out if your employer will carry out a desk assessment, most places do these days because it's a serious health and safety consideration for them. Get one booked in. Your screen needs to be positioned so that you look straight at it without your chin dipping (ideally your chin should be parallel to the ground) – this will help you keep your ears positioned over your shoulders and the gravitational forces from your head going straight down. Shoulders should be positioned directly over your hips and spine in a neutral position. Your chair needs to be the correct height and if needed use a foot rest. Your telephone should be within easy reach and if you're on the phone a fair bit get your employer to invest in a headset – hands free calling significantly reduces neck and shoulder strain. Consider moving your mouse to the opposite hand for a few hours every few days – you'll get used to it quicker than you think.

To start with this will all feel a little weird. It's bound to because you've been sitting incorrectly for some time now. But please persist. Any imbalances which have worked there way into your body over months, maybe years, will take a decent amount of time to work their way out.

My final comment refers back to where this all began - restricted movements. You can change your job but for most it isn't a practical solution. So we have to make do with what we have. What you can do is to get up and move. Do as cats do every time they move or get up – Stretch! 

Most important is to move and keep your body fluid. I highly recommend a book called “Stretching” by Bob Anderson – he provides a simple easy to follow guide to stretches for various sports and daily activities, and I note the latest edition has a section on Computer Stretches!