A Little Bit on Stretching: Part II

So where are we? We’ve covered the different flavors of stretching. I now need to go back to something I said in Part I: No human movement is possible without stretching. This is going to get a little more complicated before it gets simple–but I promise to give you information that you can actually use outside the game of Jeopordy!

Look at the stride--the STRIDE!--not the filthy habit. Photo by Ed Yourdon / CC BY-SA 2.0

Each time we move, we use energy stored in stretched muscles to drive our limb into movement. When I take a step forward for instance, I hit the outer part of my heel and it rolls inward (calcaneal eversion). The arch of my foot pronates a bit, and it pulls my calf muscles (soleus, gastrocnemius, posterior tibialis, among others) inward which takes my lower leg (tibia) inward into internal rotation. At the same time, my body is moving forward over my ankle which creates dorsiflexion. The tibial internal rotation also causes my knee to flex and internally rotate. Once the knee moves in, it pulls on the IT band which is attached to my glute complex and now my glutes lengthen both forward and inward and my hip flexes–and if my hip is functioning properly it will move sideways into adduction in the direction of this leg that just took a forward stride. So all these muscles have worked and stretched to keep my foot and leg from collapsing into the earth. Now these muscles have all been turned on and with the energy stored inside them like stretched rubber bands they will propel me forward into my next stride.

Without going into every single action, the muscles and limbs of the opposite leg are contracting and creating extension, external rotation and abduction (though the adductors are stretching and slowing external rotation of the femur) at the hip, extension and external rotation at the knee, and plantarflexion and external rotation at the calf and ankle, and supination at the foot.

WOW!!! Are you kidding me!! What a lot of stuff!! And that’s the story from just from the waist down! All that and this lady can still manage to smoke a cigarette. Did you notice how many muscles were stretched in this process, and in what directions? Parts were moving forward, back, inward, outward and sideways. As Gary Gray terms it, this is 3-D loading to exploding.

In all seriousness, this sequence of events must happen in order for our bodies to efficiently produce force and absorb shock. Each stretch of each muscle in turn activates muscles up the line. If this process is inhibited (could be due to injury, sitting too much, doing the same thing over and over and over, or who-knows-what) then we tend to get knee pain, back pain even shoulder or neck pain.

These movements aren’t just important for walking and running. Proper movement in all three dimensions is vital for cyclists, skiers, dancers, even swimmers–even though their movement patterns are different from walkers and runners.

In Part III I’ll build on this whole process and show you an effective way to mobilize some important regions of the body via dynamic stretching.

A Little Bit on Stretching: Part I

Artwork for the cover of Fantastic Four vol. 3, #52 (Apr, 2002). Art by Mike Wieringo.

I’m all over the place here! I’m tremendously excited over some new concepts that I’ve been learning; concepts concerning human movement and how we function. A lot of it has to do with stretching but not necessarily the type you automatically think of (more on that in a little bit.) My difficulty is in how to write about all this without putting out a some sort of treatise. Maybe I’ll make it more than one part… Here’s the start.

A recent Washington Post MisFit column tackles the issue of stretching. Is it beneficial or is one of those things that we do just because we’ve always done it? What’s the evidence that there is any benefit to doing it?

I’ll tell you that I’ve done just about a 360 and then a 180 back the other way on stretching. Like most people I was taught that stretching was important so I did it but I didn’t really understand it. Then, several years ago I was persuaded to change my view. I became convinced that dedicated (static) stretching was not effective and not safe. Now I will tell you without hesitation that stretching absolutely must be done–in fact no human movement is possible without it! Remember that fact because it’s enormously important, and I’ll discuss it more later.

First, let’s figure out what stretching is. Most people have an idea what it looks like to stretch but most likely there are other methods that might not come to mind immediately. So let’s look at what might qualify as “stretching.”

Static stretching: This is probably what first comes to mind when you think stretching. This involves moving a limb into a position to the point where a slight burning is felt in the muscle and the position is held for anywhere from several seconds to a minute or so. Static stretching addresses passive flexibility.
Dynamic stretching: This is stretching with movement. Maybe the best examples of dynamic stretching are found in the animal kingdom. Ever see a cat or dog wake up from a nap? Essentially, dynamic stretching involves moving limbs or the trunk through its available range of motion. You often see athletes do this prior to a game. Examples include kicking the legs, swinging the arms, twisting the torso, lunging and other such movements. Dynamic stretching often involves swinging an implement such as a golf club, tennis racquet, or baseball bat. Dynamic stretching addresses active flexibility.
PNF Stretching – Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation: I won’t go into much detail on PNF as there’s a lot to it and I’m not terribly well versed on the topic.

The popular perception of (static) stretching says it’ll reduce likelihood of injury, increase range of motion, decrease muscle soreness. Is any of this true? Well, the evidence is not entirely clear. There’s very little evidence that static stretching prior to exercise or competition decreases injury. In fact it very likely contributes to injury. Why? I won’t go into every single physiological detail of stretching here but I’ll try to explain the big ideas as best I can.

Static stretching actually weakens the ability of a muscle to contract. Though you may gain range of motion (ROM) from static stretching it also results in a less-active muscle and thus a less stable joint or joints which that muscle crosses. This phenomenon has been shown by testing athletes strength and/or jumping ability pre- and post-stretch. So if you stretch statically prior to your soccer or softball game what you’ve done is create weaker muscles and less stable joints. That’s not what you want. Dynamic stretching is safer and more pertinent to real-life situations.

Dynamic stretching is now generally recognized as an appropriate activity prior to a workout or athletic even, as research (see ch. 3 of Siff’s Supertraining) has shown that active flexibility is more closely correlated to sporting proficiency than is passive flexibility. In this way, you wake up the nervous system and prepare the body for action. A dynamic stretch routine should include movements that you will perform in the workout or game. Examples include body weight squats, various lunges, twisting the torso and swinging and reaching the arms in various directions.

How’s that for part I?

Exercise Demo: Squat to Press

Preparation:

Stand in good posture with feet shoulder width apart and feet facing forward.
Hold a barbell, dumbbell(s) or kettlebell(s) at clavicle height.

Execution:

Perform a squat as low as you can while maintaining good form and posture.
Drive back upwards with the legs then press the weight or weights fully overhead.
Return weight(s) back to clavicle height.

Tips:

You may use one dumbbell or kettlebell to create an asymmetric load, and thus a different exercise.
You may vary your foot position: feet wide/narrow, staggered stance with one foot slightly ahead of the other, toes in/out, or any combination of these positions. Again, this will create a slightly different exercise.

Distance Running and Human Evolution

: http://www.flickr.com/photos/theowl84/
CC BY-NC 2.0

With the recent running of the New York City Marathon, some information on distance running seems appropriate. The Human Body is Built for Distance is a recent story in the New York Times Health section. Part of the discussion includes the theory that humans are unique among animals in our distance-running abilities. It seems that we might indeed be the fastest of earth’s land-based creatures over the long haul. Some of our advantages include our foot structure, spring-like connective tissue, our cooling system, our glycogen storage capacity, and even our sense of balance.

Of further interest is the discussion on running injuries and footwear. Christopher McDougal author of Born to Run suggests in the article that many of our ancestors as well as some of our less-advanced contemporaries ran and do run many more miles with far fewer injuries than we do with our fancy modern running shoes. The idea that primitive running is better running has been suggested here, and here. It’s also the driving idea behind shoes such as the Nike Free and Vibram Five-Fingers. About 90 percent of runners training for a marathon experience injury according to statistics in the article.

Sort of makes sense right? How long have modern running shoes been around? Nike started business in the late 1970s. Meanwhile, humans were running around a lot longer than that, their feet shod in some very minimal items. So what’s going on here? As our running shoes evolve are the wearers actually devolving?

I know enough to know that I definitely don’t know the answer to this question. I’ve gone back and forth on the issue and I’ve moved from running in Nike Frees to running in Nike Frees with Sole Supports in them. Isn’t that odd? From what I’ve read and experienced though, the issue of high-tech running shoes vs. low-tech running shoes vs. barefoot running is an extremely personal matter. What works miracles for one running may wreck havoc on another. It can be a maddening process trying to find the ideal way to address your feet.

If this topic is of any interest to you, I recommend strongly that you read the Science of Sport’s series on running. It’s remarkably in-depth in its analysis of shoes, feet, and running technique.

Achilles Tendon Injury Resource

I just found this site The Running World According to Dean and it’s got some very interesting information, particularly some good information on Achilles tendonitis and/or tendonosis. I’m going through this issue right now and it’s tremendously frustrating and mysterious.

Click image for source.

It’s not a cut-and-dried sort of thing. It seems everyone’s Achilles issue is particular to them. It may arise from simple overuse like running too much, too fast, up too many hills and/or running too fast up too many hills. It could also arise from various biomechanical issues that aren’t always easy to identify. The wrong shoes seem to also play a role. Even certain types of medication can contribute to the matter.

Beyond the many causes, there are almost as many treatment recommendations: ice, heat, stretch, don’t stretch, run a little, don’t run at all, orthotics, shoes… Anyhow, if you’re going through any of this then this site might be of help to you.

Benefiber??? Are we Insane?

My gym is currently handing out free samples of something called Benefiber. Sounds healthy, right? It’s got the word fiber in it and it even has the first part of the word beneficial in there too! Fantastic… (Also doesn’t sound much like real food, does it? This is a food-like substance.) What is Benefiber? The label tells us it’s a fiber supplement, and that it “Makes Taking Fiber Easier.” It’s a flavored sugar-free powder that comes in a small packet that’s emptied into a container of water, mixed, and drunk. For your troubles, you’ll get a whopping three grams of fiber for only 15 calories. Flavors include: kiwi strawberry, raspberry tea, citrus punch, cherry pomegranate, or unflavored.

So miracle of miracles, we have a fruit-flavored source of fiber that we can drink–thereby eliminating the titanic burden of actually eating a piece of fruit. We can now rest easier. (If this doesn’t yet sound a little koo-koo to you, then you might want to move along and find something else to occupy your time.)

Let’s back up just a little and figure out why we might be concerned with fiber at all. It’s fairly well known that food high in fiber helps confer good health. Fiber’s health benefits include the following: helps control blood sugar levels which probably reduces the risk of diabetes, reduces risk of heart disease, facilitates a healthy digestive tract, and fiber probably helps regulate the appetite. Nice stuff this fiber.

So Benefiber must be good for us right? What else is in this stuff? Well, that’s what’s really interesting. There are 11 ingredients, most of which are almost unpronounceable. They’re probably nothing you could cook up in your kitchen or reach for in your pantry. (Anyone ever brew up a hearty batch of acesulfame potassium?) These things are remarkably complex substances that were built by people in laboratories. This stuff is not found in food. Other animals don’t eat these things. I wonder how much time, effort, electricity and money went into concocting these magical items?

Is it food or Is it furniture varnish?

Look at the fourth ingredient, aspartame. It has two asterisks next to it. Down below the ingredient list in menacing bold print is PHENYLKETONURICS: CONTAINS PHENYLALANINE. Good lord what does that mean? I think we’re being warned. The issues associated with aspartame and other artificial sweeteners are more than I can go into here, but the point is there are more than a few concerns about the safety of these things. All this for three grams of fiber.

This seems like a product sold by Monty Python. Good nutrition in a powder is silly!

Meanwhile, I could eat actual cherries, strawberries, kiwis, oranges, or any number of other fruits and/or vegetables–real food in other words–and get the same amount of fiber plus untold amounts of various healthy molecules and none of the weird science-fiction chemicals. This whole thing seems absurd. It might be one part health to four parts poison. What are we doing here?

Drinkers More Physically Active Than Abstainers

Who’da thunk it?? Science Daily reports on a study in the September/October issue of the American Journal of Health Promotion indicates that drinkers exercised more than abstainers–and those who drank more exercised more!

“Among women, those currently using alcohol exercised 7.2 minutes more per week than those who abstained. Relative to abstainers, the more alcohol used, the longer the person exercised. Specifically, light, moderate and heavy drinkers exercised 5.7, 10.1 and 19.9 minutes more per week. Overall, drinking was associated with a 10.1 percent increase in the probability of engaging in vigorous physical activity. The results for men were similar.”

That outcome might be surprising to a lot of people. However, it’s interesting to note that for 2008 Colorado was the leanest state in the nation with an obesity rate of 18.4% yet a recent Men’s Health survey listed Denver as the most dangerously drunk city in the nation.

What does all this mean? It seems we might see parallels between alcohol and medicine. Too much of either will sicken and/or kill us but the right amount might be healthy. It certainly seems clear that some degree of alcohol consumption works well for a lot of people.

In my experience the drinking culture here in the Denver area is one that is strongly balanced with vigorous exercise. Hiking, skiing, kayaking, mountain biking, and/or running is often followed by a loosely reasonable amount of the region’s superb beer. Combine these habits and you get a fairly healthy and happy population.

Ski Conditioning

The ski season is very (VERY! VERY!) close at hand and appropriate preparation is in order, so here’s a plan I put together. Several capacities are key to good skiing performance: endurance, flexibility/mobility, strength/power, and power-endurance.

The periodized plan is composed of three four-week training blocks with each block separated by one week off. The first two training blocks consist of three gym workouts per week. The final block has two gym workouts per week. The week off should allow for thorough rest and recuperation prior to beginning the next block.

Emphasis is placed on training a certain capacity in each block, but the other capacities are trained as well so that nothing is lost as the plan progresses. For instance, though strength is emphasized in the first block, endurance and balance training also takes place. The skiing performance capacities I’ve addressed and my thoughts on each are as follows:
1.   Endurance (already established over the summer through running and biking): I must have the endurance to stay on the mountain all day at altitude. The endurance base will be maintained over the course of the plan.
2.   Strength: Skiing is very thigh-dominant thus I must have very strong legs to ski well. A strong trunk and upper body is essential for powerful turns.
3.   Mobility/Stability (two sides of the same coin): Effective ski technique requires tremendous hip and leg mobility during turns, especially at high speeds. While the legs and hips must be mobile, the trunk typically must be rock-solid and stable during turns.
4.   Power: Strength must be transfered to power. It’s not enough to be strong and slow to ski well. I must be able to express strength at high speeds.
5.   Power-endurance (Here’s where the training gets very specific to skiing.): Skiing requires one to be powerful over and over again for several minutes. Then the skier typically gets a rest of several minutes while he or she rides back up to the top of the mountain. So it’s not enough to be powerful once and then rest.

Here’s the plan:

Block 1: Strength & Mobility
- Strength Day
  - front squat: 3-6 reps, 4-8 sets
  - bench press: 3-6 reps, 4-8 sets
  - face pull: 8-12 reps, 3-4 sets
- Balance Day
  - single-leg squats from a box
    - heel reach forward
    - toe reach back
    - toe reach forward
    - rotational squat
  - single-leg bent over dumbbell row
  - single-arm overhead dumbbell press with frontal plane hip drive
- Mobility Day
  - multi-directional lunges with varied arm drives
  - dips
  - rotating cable pulls from various angles
- Endurance: running and biking throughout the week
- One week off
Block 2: Power
- Day 1
  - multi-planar jumps/hops: 6-10 reps, 3-4 sets
  - barbell clean to front squat: 3-5 reps, 4-6 sets
- Day 2
  - Kettlebell swings: 8 reps, 3 sets
  - Kettlebell swipes or chops: 5-8 reps, 3 sets
- Day 3
  - long jumps: 6 reps, 3 sets
  - dumbbell or barbell push press: 3-5 reps, 4-6 sets
- Endurance: same as block one
- One week off
Block 3: Power endurance
Due to the high stress of these workouts, only two are performed per week.
- Day 1:
  - barbell complex
  - clean
  - front squat
  - bent row
  - Romanian deadlift
  - floor press
  - followed by multi-planar jumps/hops
- Day 2:
  - Kettlebell complex (may vary widely)
    - snatch
    - clean
    - chop
    - press
    - swing
  - running or rowing intervals

The Benefits of Supervised Strength Training

Supervised Strength Training is More Effective, Swedish Study Finds, is an article from Science Daily. What does it tell us? It turns out that supervision and personalization is an important component of an injury-prevention (prehabilition) workout–at least when it’s performed by Swedish volleyball players. This information probably isn’t a huge shock but the implications are worth considering not only for injury-related issues but also for any fitness or sports performance goals.

The study surveyed 158 elite-level volleyball players by way of a questionnaire. The answers indicated that almost all the players performed some kind of injury-prevention program yet almost half of the players had been injured. Most of the players exercised without supervision. Further, two groups of players were given exercise programs. One group was given a personalized program and was supervised by a physiotherapist. The other group was given a non-personalized program and they were not supervised during workouts. The supervised group both improved their performance more than and had a lower injury rate than the unsupervised group.

Now, from the description of the study, there are several weak points that we could discuss: small sample size, physiological differences in the groups that might predispose or protect the players from injury, effect of the supervision vs. the effect of the personalized workout in the results, validity of the questionnaire. What’s more important though is that even elite-level athletes might benefit from a personalized, supervised conditioning program.

“I have a feeling that more athletes really stick to the program and focus on the task if there is a coach present. Many players may feel that the strength and conditioning training is the boring part of their sport, which makes it tempting to ‘cheat’ when nobody is watching,” says Sofia Augustsson, author of the study.

These are people for whom their sport is a major focus of their lives to the point that they may be earning a living from volleyball, so we might expect very strict adherence to any exercise program given to them. However, the behavior of these athletes and the results of their exercise programs confirms something I learned in graduate school: personalized programs and close interaction with individuals has impact. The more a fitness instructor or coach can work with one person or a small group the more likely that person or group will adhere to a program and succeed.

Does this sound like an argument for hiring a personal trainer? Well, yes, absolutely it does! Obviously I’m biased here but at the same time, there seems to be just a little bit of science to back up the idea.

To take it a little further, what I often see in the gym are people exercising but putting forth little effort. They’re often doing the same workout over and over. They may be neglecting their needs in favor of their “wants.” (“I want bigger pecs,” or “I want washboard abs” for example but what he or she may need is more hip or spine mobility, better shoulder stability or better nutrition.) So often these folks are putting in the time but they’re not getting the most value for their time–but at least they’re doing something in the way of exercise. Many more gym goers will give up altogether. They’ll spend some time exercising but never knowing the important whys and hows of getting to their goal. They’d stand as good a chance of getting a college degree without a degree plan. (BTW, here are some interesting stats on Americans’ exercise habits… Had to throw that in somewhere.)

It’s entirely likely that some time (and yes money) spent with a trainer could improve things dramatically. Just about anyone will benefit from a different set of eyes to look over their goals and their methods to achieving those goals. Even the most dedicated gym rat works harder when someone else is pushing him or her. Getting in shape and staying healthy is more than just reading an article or doing the workout you did in high school. So if you want to get the very most out of your time in the gym, or on the road, or on the track, the pool, the basketball court–wherever it is you exercise, seek out professional advice and you may achieve more than you ever imagined.

Why do you exercise?

Do you have physique goals? Is sporting performance important to you? Do you exercise for the purpose of disease prevention? Maybe it’s all or some of the above.

For whatever reason, some of us simply enjoy picking up heavy steel objects and running/biking/climbing/jumping around to the point of exhaustion. We derive pleasure from discomfort: burning, aching muscles; lungs on fire; sweat in the eyes… What we do isn’t always fun like a birthday party but deeply fulfilling.

The fascinating thing to me about exercise is that it is clearly very simple in most regards. Pick up something heavy several times. Move fast enough and/or long enough to sweat and pant. That’s exercise for the most part. It ain’t Greek philosophy, trigonometry or neurosurgery. Yet look at how many smart, highly accomplished people simply cannot find a way to do something so simple—even though we recognize how vital exercise is to a long, healthy life. Think of a time when you’ve pushed yourself—or have been pushed—to extreme physical exertion. It doesn’t take complex mental skills but we all know these kinds of efforts take tremendous mental fortitude.

Denver Fitness Journal

All Things Health and Fitness by Kyle Norman, MS, CSCS, FMS, RRCA Running Coach