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Some excerpts from "Running Strong & Injury-Free" |
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Whether you walk or run for fun & fitness, or train to complete a marathon, maintaining good muscle flexibility
is a cornerstone of good training and injury prevention. The muscles of your legs work hard to carry you along,
and over time they'll gradually lose flexibility. How much they lose and whether they do this quickly or slowly is partly
determined by how diligent you are in doing your homework. There are lots of muscles and there are lots of different
theories on stretching - Active Isolated, PNF, Ballistic, Static... it's bewildering... use common sense, if it hurts you're
doing too much! I like to recommend a combination of approaches for best results. This means that the use of several different
approaches to flexibility will likely give the best results. Do some of your stretching with short hold times and some
with slightly longer hold times but ALWAYS listen to your body!! The exercises presented here are just the tip of the iceberg.
There are many more included in the book "Running Strong & Injury-Free" . First a few rules of the road...
Rules of the Road
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No stretch should be painful.
You should clearly feel a "tug" or "pulling sensation" in the muscle that you're stretching, but it should be a pleasant sensation,
not one where you're wrinkling your nose and wondering how long you have to do this. If you're wrinkling your nose you're
stretching too hard.
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Stretching should be done when
you're warm for best results. That's not to say that stretching cold muscles is dangerous... just that a cold muscle
is less elastic to start with, and you may place yourself at additional risk for a strain if you stretch cold muscles vigorously.
If you pay attention to the first rule (above), you can even stretch cold muscles... just be gentle about it!
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Stretch positions should be
held for a time (ideally about 30 seconds) for best results. That's not to say that if you only hold it 15 seconds you're
wasting your time; but rather holding it a little longer will probably net you more lasting results. Don't be in a hurry
with your flexibility routine.
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Stretching should be done daily,
whether you go for a run or walk or not. Remember, gravity never takes a day off! Daily flexibility exercises
will offer the best results, and will also keep you in touch with how your body is responding to your training activities.
If you're overtraining, you'll often "feel" it when you stretch. You may sense that things are tighter than usual, or
perhaps a stretch that is usually pretty easy and comfortable to do becomes noticeably less comfortable to perform.
These are important clues and shouldn't be disregarded.
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Stretching should not be done after a very long training session (over two hours). Give yourself a couple of
hours of recovery time, drink some fluids and get your fuel supplies re-stocked. Then take the time to warm up by either
taking a nice warm shower or going for a short walk (5-10 minutes) and then stretch. If you do stretch after a long
training session, then be extra cautious about how vigorously you stretch.
What to Stretch
We'll just cover two
basic stretches in this article. There are many more muscles to stretch, but these two are key players in many training injuries
so getting started on these will put you well on the way to many years of healthy training.
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This stretch is for the
muscles on the back of your lower leg. Stand facing a wall, about an arm's distance back and place your hands on the
wall at shoulder height. Place one foot back and the other forward as shown, and shift most of your weight onto the
back (straight) leg. Now for the important part... roll that back foot to the outside so that there is more weight on
the pinkie toe side than the big toe side of your foot. Don't turn the whole leg out though, the toes should still be facing
straight ahead. Now lock your arch by lifting your big toe slightly and pressing your heel down (see arrows).
You should feel the stretch in the calf muscle, just below your knee. Hold the stretch for 30 seconds, then relax and
change legs. You'll probably want to do this one several times a day for best results.
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Next on the hit list of
muscles to stretch are those that span the distance from your
buttocks to the back of your knee. This muscle group (there are actually three separate muscles) is called the hamstrings.
Stand facing a chair or low stool and place the heel of one foot up on the chair. Make sure you keep your hips and other
leg square to the surface you're propping your foot on. Keep the knee of the leg that is propped up slightly bent and
pull your buttocks back and chest up. You should feel a stretch in the back of the thigh of the leg that is propped
on the chair. Remember, you're not leaning over and trying to touch your toes, you're pulling your buttocks up and back
(see arrows). Hold the stretch for 30 seconds, then switch legs.
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© 2001Running Strong - all rights reserved, please contact Janet Hamilton for reprint permission
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Running Strong* 191 Crossing Dr* Stockbridge, GA * 30281 Phone/Fax: (770) 957-0986 Or 678-357-6406
Contact coach Mike Broderick in Gaithersburg MD * (240) 338-2210
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