Happy Friday!

Welcome to another edition of the “Train For Life” newsletter.

“My muscles feel tight I need to do more stretching” - Something we have all heard and said ourselves before no doubt….

This week we are going to look at whether static stretching is a good option to improve range of motion (ROM), and whether there might be other alternatives worth exploring?

However, first just a wee bit of technical stuff just to set the scene…

In short, ROM is ideally how far you can move your joints within the safe limitations your ligaments, tendons, joint structures and joint shapes allow.

If we look at “hamstring flexibility” it is the hip joint that will move, and if we look at “chest flexibility” it is the shoulder joint that moves.

So it’s actually our muscles that guide and control quality movement of our joints, because they cross these joints with their various attachment sites.

There’s generally 2 types of motion we see during movement and different types of exercises and stretches:

• Active ROM - How well you can ACTIVELY move your own joints into a position by way of contracting your own muscles.

• Passive ROM - How far you or someone else can PASSIVELY move a joint whilst in a relaxed state with NO muscle involvement. This is essentially what static stretching is.

Why is this important to know?

We can generally trust that moving through our active range of motion is safer, given our muscles are controlling the movement in sync with the CNS (central nervous system).

Our CNS is protective and is there to restrict us from stretching too far or moving into positions that are potentially damaging or injurious…

However, passive range of motion (stretching) involves relaxed movement with little to no muscle (or CNS) involvement. This allows us to push or move further into NEW positions…

Is it safe for us to do that?

It may or may not be? There’s a few reasons why it might not be ideal to try and stretch or push your joints into certain positions, which include:

• The shape of your particular joints might only dictate a certain range of movement….and you cannot change your structure.

• Previous injuries or wear and tear to joints often alters the conditions of the tissues (ligaments, cartilage etc).

• Ligaments and tendons don’t like to be stretched and often they are taken along for the ride when we perform stretches.

How can we guarantee we are ONLY stretching our muscles when we stretch anyway? There’s no absolute guarantee we are not affecting anything else…

So what else can we do to improve range of motion?

Well there’s actually a simple form of resistance based training called isometric exercises that can work really well to safely improve mobility and movement.

In case you don’t know, isometrics simply means a muscle is contracting against some resistance without movement.

“How can no movement improve my mobility though?” I hear you say, and it’s a fair question!

It goes back to the previous point made above, that muscles guide and control the movement of our joints.

Once we “activate” muscles in certain positions especially at end ranges, we actually increase the potential to MOVE FURTHER improving mobility.

Here’s a few reasons why isometrics are my preferred option to improve range of motion:

• Isometrics are ACTIVE meaning they require muscles to contract and therefore work with the central nervous system (CNS).

• Isometrics build stability and control as range of motion improves (see point above RE CNS).

• Isometrics are quick (around 5-10s each rep) and gains can be made with a low amount of effort.

To put all of the above into context I have posted 2 videos below that demonstrate a couple of different isometric exercises for you to try.

They focus on key movements such as overhead range of motion at the shoulder, and an alternative to the classic lying hamstring stretch.

Remember to test your mobility BEFORE and AFTER, and just 3-5 reps of 5-10 second isometric contractions each is all you need…

Give them a go and see how you get on!

On a final note, today’s newsletter is NOT to tell you never to stretch again or scare from doing it.

Just simply to plant a seed by giving you an alternative view point, and a different perspective on how to safely improve how you move.

For now thanks reading today, and stay tuned for the next edition of Train For Life next Friday!

Daryl