![]() This is a big reason why it’s best to structure your strength training around the fundamental human movement patterns (squat and hinge for the lower body, push and pull for the upper body). As long as you are selecting exercises that move your joints through full ranges of motion, then strength training is basically ‘loaded stretching’ which improves both flexibility and strength (and thus, mobility). Strength training is an excellent way to improve mobility. There are more stretching methods, but these two are the most widely understood. Holds of up to two minutes or more are the requisite time to get an effective training effect. But to make a real dent in your flexibility, static stretching reigns superior. (Hopefully, it is all beginning to click now and you understand the relationship between stretching vs mobility!)ĭynamic stretching is a great way to prepare for physical activity, such as going for a run or strength training. So it’s a useful method for this purpose. ![]() StretchingĪs we’ve touched on, stretching is a training method that can improve flexibility (one of the key components of mobility). So these methods should aim to improve both components. Remember that mobility is a combination of flexibility and strength. Mobility can be improved through a variety of training methods. You could argue it’s a prerequisite fitness attribute for other fitness attributes because you first have to move well! Mobility is a desirable fitness attribute. The sum of which makes up your total movement capacity. Think of mobility as a combination of flexibility and strength. Mobility can be defined as ‘the ability to actively achieve extended ranges of motion’. (Other fitness attributes include things like: flexibility, strength, power, and aerobic fitness). That means stretching alone does not decrease the risk of injury or improve performance – that’s where mobility comes in. If we don’t have strength and control over our ranges of motion, then it’s pretty useless. However, as the definition of flexibility points out, this range of motion is only ‘passive’. Stretching is one training method that can help us to achieve that. To move and function well through life, especially during physical activities, we need a reasonable amount of flexibility in our joints. Therefore, stretching works by convincing your nervous system to allow you access to an increased range of motion. ![]() Thus, your stretch tolerance is increased. It’s there to protect you from potential injury.Īfter lots of stretching, the stretch reflex is delayed, allowing you to move into deeper ranges before it kicks in. Have you ever wondered why you can only stretch so far before your body refuses to let you go further? This happens because of the stretch reflex, a safety mechanism that kicks in when you stretch a muscle up to a certain point. It occurs because you increase the ‘stretch tolerance’ of your muscles. But this does not happen because your muscles have been made ‘longer’ as it’s commonly thought. In the long term, after lots of stretching, this extended range of motion becomes more permanent. In the short term, your body is granted a bit more range of motion than usual immediately after you stretch, as it alters the viscoelastic properties of the muscles. There are different stretching techniques, the most familiar being static and dynamic stretching. Stretching is a training method that is used to improve flexibility (defined as ‘the ability to passively achieve extended ranges of motion’).
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