Stop stretching your hamstrings…it’s a waste of time

You ever seen the guy in the gym with hamstrings so tight you could bounce a quarter off of them and they’d bounce back five nickels? Does that same guy stretch his hamstrings for 10 minutes every time he goes to the gym and still sees no change in his hamstring length?

STRETCHING YOUR HAMSTRINGS 9 times out of 10 is a WASTE OF TIME.

What’s better than stretching your hamstrings? Well let’s look at things in a much more panoramic perspective than the simple A to B logic of “i’m tight, therefore i stretch”.

The quality of movement that an organism (i.e.-Tight hamstring guy) will determine the resting length of a muscle. A muscle will only lengthen when it feels that it is safe to do so. In order for it to feel safe, it must not be yanked on all the time (the only instance where this is not the case is in people with sever adhesions in there muscles, which are less likely to appear in the hamstrings anyway). Stretching your hamstrings is like trying to untie a knot by pulling on it, instead of figuring out how the knot works and then gently untying it.

Some things to try first…

1) Test your hamstring flexibility first and then try a hip flexor strengthening exercise like Full situps (while on your back with your knees bent and feet anchored, place your hands behind your head with the elbows pulled back. Do a situp while keep the spine straight. On the way down, try not to round, and touch your shoulder blades to the floor first). Repeat 10 more times with as close to perfect form as possible. Afterwards, re-test your hamstring length and see if you notice a change. If you do, then congratulations, you didn’t stretch your hamstrings, you have now just taught your pelvis how to become stable and move through a full range of flexion, thus allowing the hamstrings to relax during a forward bend. This is a movement dysfunction, not a tight muscle problem.

2) The Romanian Deadlift is also a great exercise for the posterior chain muscles of the body (hamstrings, glutes and spinal erectors to name a few of the important characters), and also serves as a loaded stretch. This moves the hamstrings into a lengthened position while also strengthening them at the end range of motion. When done with good form, the romanian deadlift will improve flexibility while also improving fitness–see: “two birds, one stone”. I also recommend learning proper squatting and lunging movement patterns, as these also help strengthen and support the muscles of the hips, legs and trunk, while allowing the hamstrings to lengthen in function.

3) And lastly, your postural and daily movement habits are more important to hamstring length than any amount of stretching. If you sit at a desk all day, your body will just adapt to meet the demands of the chair. However, if you make it a point of taking the stairs everyday, adopting a movement practice that moves your body under control, then you will start to see that your hamstrings can achieve length and stay that way without wasting time on stretching.

Read. Digest. Act.

Posted by The Sarcastic Strength Coach http://sarcasticstrengthcoach.com/blog/

Understanding Egoscue Method Therapy (Synopsis)

Source: www.egoscue.com

The Egoscue Method recognizes that fundamental anatomical, physiological and biomechanical principles govern the human musculoskeletal system. With only very rare exceptions, each person is born with certain core design characteristics that serve as a strong, resilient and efficient operational platform. By using a blueprint of this extraordinary platform as a guide, the goal of the Method is to eliminate disparities that can occur when injuries or negative lifestyle conditions affect the way the musculoskeletal system actually moves as opposed to its underlying structural parameters. By restoring muscular balance, skeletal alignment and the harmonious interplay of internal systems, the body takes a quantum leap in healing power, stamina and physical capability. The Egoscue Method is not a form of treatment that chases after short term, symptomatic relief. Rather, symptoms provide a common sense starting point, a working frame of reference based on each individual’s unique combination of strengths and limitations. Our primary objective applies to everyone we seek to help—to eliminate musculoskeletal system disparities and the resulting postural dysfunctions that interfere with pain-free living.

A key part of the “blueprint” we refer to is familiar to all health professionals—it is known as the standing normal anatomical position. Without being overly technical the hip, knee and ankle joints are aligned vertically in paired stacks, each of which is subdivided by three horizontal parallel planes that extend through the joint pairs, creating what amounts to a partial dynamic load-bearing grid. The grid’s structure is completed by the shoulder joints which are in a functional interactive relationship with the major joints below instead of being aligned vertically like the others, although they too (the shoulders) operate individually and as a pair on a fourth parallel horizontal plane.Topped by the head, placed over the S-curved central spine that links the hips and shoulders, the grid allows upright posture and bipedal motion capable of a great range of movement. In addition, there is only temporary incidental rotation in the pelvis, legs, knees and ankles. (Think of rotation this way: Looking straight down on your upright body from above, draw a imaginary clock face with your head in the center facing twelve o’clock. In design position a straight line runs from hip joint to hip joint starting at nine o’clock and extending through the other hip joint, exiting at three o’clock. In such a configuration, there is no rotation, but if the lines depart from nine and three, say ten and four, rotation is present as the hips move off the design plane. This analogy works for the other load-bearing joints and the big leg bones. It is not unusual to find left-to-right pelvis rotation and right-to-left shoulder rotation.) The body is intended to rotate by twisting and turning, ascending and descending, in reaction to variations in the terrain and other temporary situations and then return to vertical alignment. When it remains stuck in rotation the integrity of the structure can be compromised

As you probably have concluded by now, the load-bearing grid we have just described means that vertical and horizontal alignment is all-important to both the musculoskeletal system’s structural integrity, smooth functioning and full, pain-free capability.

An individual whose body deviates from this design must do so for a reason. That reason is, (in cases that do not reflect past injuries), a muscular imbalance in strength and/or flexibility. An individual’s standing, static posture provides essential information to our therapists in predicting what the body will do as it moves. These predictions can be confirmed and often reinforced by observing the patient’s gait, the way he or she strides forward, turns and executes other routine maneuvers. In the process, changes in muscle tension/length may be detected, along with atrophy of underutilized muscles or damage to over-used muscles that results when one group of muscles is repeatedly substituted for another that is more appropriate to the task. Such postural anomalies, we describe them in general as “dysfunctions,” directly impact joint mechanics.

As well as being a highly integrated structure, the body has a tremendous capacity for self-healing. To effectively facilitate that healing, we must first remove the noxious stimulus that has disrupted normal function. This is a major premise of The Egoscue Method.

An individual who has experienced either some sort of trauma or who has had surgery or both is not beyond benefit from The Egoscue Method. This individual has had some external dysfunction placed upon their existing dysfunction. The combinations of the layers of dysfunction can seriously impede the healing process. Cases in which surgery is performed to accommodate a chronic symptom will have the same outcome as therapy performed with the same goal. It will not impact the cause of the symptom and therefore the symptom will return. Traditional rehabilitation following trauma or surgery following trauma is often much slower than expected and both patient and doctor are unhappy with the recovery. This is because although the trauma created the symptom, or accelerated its appearance, the body’s structural/mechanical dysfunction will not allow it to heal optimally.

The noxious stimulus is never removed. Even if a person has been physically altered due to surgery or trauma, the rest of the body is not relieved of its responsibility to execute its function. A body that lacks one of its components (i.e. meniscus, fused vertebrae), now more than ever needs the rest of the body to function as efficiently as possible to minimize the deficiency imposed upon it.

We must then return to our “blueprint”. The individual is visually evaluated with the aid of a plumb line and background grid. The therapist who is highly trained to recognize structural and mechanical deviations of the body as a whole and does so without the use of diagnostic machines or specific manual muscle tests. Based on the patient’s self reported history and the therapist’s observations, a series of functional demand exercises are developed. These exercises are designed to address the muscular imbalances and dysfunction leading to this individual’s structural deviations.

The exercises emphasize the deeper muscles of the axial skeleton and pelvis as well as the more superficial muscles. They require no special equipment and are designed to strengthen the body functionally. Our primary source of resistance is the person’s body weight and the force of gravity. The Egoscue Method’s therapists do not administer “hands on” therapy. The patient is instructed in a series of personalized exercises and then is expected to continue them on their own at home. Modifications are readily made whenever necessary. The home program prevents the patient from developing a dependency on someone else while pursuing their own well being. Instead, they assume responsibility for their own health. This is another major premise of The Egoscue Method. The exercises alone are not the sole determining factor in improving structural/mechanical function. There are three primary components: The application of specific exercises to a given individual’s dysfunction. We have a catalog of over 400 different exercises. Only those exercises that apply to that individual will be of benefit. The sequencing of the exercises within a given routine is critical. Each therapy session has a given objective. That objective can only be reached through a properly designed menu. The exercises must be sequenced such that one exercise prepares the body for the next and that a successive exercise does not negate a prior exercise. The exercises are performed for an average of seven days. At this point we re-evaluate the patient and redesign the routine accordingly. Often the exercises are of low demand and as the neuromuscular efficiency improves, the exercises become less effective. Therefore, the body must be put under an increased or varied demand to adjust to the changes that has occurred as a result of the prior routine. This provides the means to continued progress. Patients on the average are seen once a week for eight weeks. The Egoscue Method has had enormous success in helping people overcome their physical ailments. It is a technique that is attractive to many people because it is a common sense approach to the human body. The individual can see and feel the physical changes that take place as a result of their efforts. Associated with that is an increased feeling of confidence that accompanies the improved health that he or she is responsible for. A major concern of health care today is that of reduced costs and prevention. Therapy requires no special equipment or dependency on anyone other than you. Because we do not treat the symptom, but instead look to restore optimum function to the body, the implications toward prevention are obvious and very serious.