I just started doing a bit of stretching every night, and it has been very nice, especially for my lower body... I do a few hamstring stretches, quadriceps, and hip flexors. It really feels great, and I hope to see some continued improvement from it....
Mike and I seem to have been proclaimed "the flexibility guys" lately, so I figured I ought to chime in on this.
I think you need to look at this from three standpoints.
1) Dynamic Flexibility - Mobility Training integrated with activation work (learning to turn the right muscles on and off at the right times, having stability in the range of motion you possess, greater carryover to activities of daily living/training because it's velocity specific and generally closed-chain)
2) Soft Tissue Restrictions - foam rolling, ART, massage, etc. (you can't optimally lengthen a muscle if you've got big knots in it)
3) Static Flexibility - plain ol' passive stretching (can be good or bad, depending on the situation; most people do well working on their hip flexors, ITB, calves, neck, pecs, lats, and hamstrings)
well.. I can just say from my experience.. when I was real flexible.. besides actually training for it.. I got it alot from doing every day things in stretching positions.. like doing my homework sitting on the floor with legs apart and writing bending forwards with the paper on the floor.. etc
these days though I wanted something more structured and regular.. so I just started Yoga class at the gym (it's free, included in the membershipt) twice a week.. I think it will help.
Mike and I seem to have been proclaimed "the flexibility guys" lately, so I figured I ought to chime in on this.
I think you need to look at this from three standpoints.
1) Dynamic Flexibility - Mobility Training integrated with activation work (learning to turn the right muscles on and off at the right times, having stability in the range of motion you possess, greater carryover to activities of daily living/training because it's velocity specific and generally closed-chain)
2) Soft Tissue Restrictions - foam rolling, ART, massage, etc. (you can't optimally lengthen a muscle if you've got big knots in it)
3) Static Flexibility - plain ol' passive stretching (can be good or bad, depending on the situation; most people do well working on their hip flexors, ITB, calves, neck, pecs, lats, and hamstrings)
I recently did an interview for Brian Grasso's newsletter; it delves into this in quite a bit more detail, and should be out within a few weeks.
I've got Eric and Mike's DVD. It's great. Highly recommended! It goes through a variety of mobility exercises that you can use as a warmup, increasing your flexibility in the process.
Also, at the summit, Bill addressed a ton of flexibility issues and showed us (by demonstrating it on our pathetic bodies) that stretching isn't necessarily the answer. You can be less mobile than you'd like for a variety of reasons. Sometimes, it takes mobility exercises to get your body working the right way. You have to relearn how to make certain muscles stop working against others. Retrain yourself to use the correct motor patterns.
well.. I can just say from my experience.. when I was real flexible.. besides actually training for it.. I got it alot from doing every day things in stretching positions.. like doing my homework sitting on the floor with legs apart and writing bending forwards with the paper on the floor.. etc
these days though I wanted something more structured and regular.. so I just started Yoga class at the gym (it's free, included in the membershipt) twice a week.. I think it will help.
I tried doing that few times in the past. Basically watch TV or do something in the stretched position. It only seem to hurt the tendons. If I would guess, it's because the muscles were not warmed up.
Flexibility training...
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