Mobility, Flexibility and Stability - Why are they important in performance?

Hello again and welcome.  Today’s article will be based around mobility, flexibility and stability. I’m sure these are generic terms you have all heard of before, but this article will look specifically into why we should focus on them when training.

What are they?

Okay, so to start off with, let’s look at how these terms are defined. I always believe it is important to have definitions in the back of your mind when training so we can justify our training methods by keeping a focus on the enhancements we are trying to achieve.

Mobility is the ability to be able to move freely and easily, flexibility is the range of motion possible at a joint or muscle and stability describes how efficiently the body manages forces to remain stable under pressure.

Why should mobility, flexibility and stability be trained?

A short session containing mobility, flexibility and stability exercises before a training session will increase the body’s ability to move freely and easily, increase the range of movement possible and improve the ability to maintain form under external forces. These training adaptions will consequently improve your level of performance and also decrease your risk of injury.

How can these be trained?

Personally, I like to add the session onto the start of my normal training session, incorporating it into my warm up. Along with mobility, flexibility and stability exercises, the session consists of foam rolling and some glute activation. This acts as a pre-training session to prepare the body for exercise to ensure I am reducing my injury risk but also maximizing my levels of performance.

Mobility

In order to allow the body to move freely and easily, we need to loosen off and exercise our joints and muscles through their full range of motion. It is recommended to focus on joints such as your shoulders, back, hips, knees, ankles as well as all major muscle groups.

I start my initial focus on general mobility by going for a short jog, incorporating skipping, arm circles and trunk twists. I then focus on my back by performing various back loosening exercises such as knee rolls or cat-camels then onto my hips with some hip openers and leg swings.

Following on from these exercises, I would then further focus on the lower body by performing a number of functional squat and lunge (forward, backward, lateral) based exercises, promoting that high range of movement in my joints and muscles.

Flexibility

Once warm, and you have been through your mobility exercises, we can now look to increase that current range of movement through some flexibility exercises. There are numerous ways to train flexibility; it may be worth looking into each method and seeing which is best for you. Most commonly used methods as part of a warm up protocol are static and dynamic stretching. When stretching statically, ease the body into a position in which you can feel a slight stretch or discomfort (not pain) and hold for around 30 seconds. Any increase in flexibility this generates will consequently improve your mobility also.

For sports such as football, there is clearly significance on the lower body. Try to focus on your glutes, hamstrings, groin, quadriceps, hip flexors and calves.

Stability

Similarly to mobility and flexibility, the actual exercises you select are dependent on your sport. For example, if your sport is tennis, you may focus more on the stability of your shoulders but there are several areas of the body that require stability work. As I am a footballer myself, for the purpose of this article we will focus on ankle stability.

In sports such as football, it is often required to make sharp lateral movements from a single leg stance. Consequently there is a load being placed on the ankle which, if not managed correctly, can lead to injury. If the ankle is strong and stable enough to manage these loads correctly, we can cut away quicker, sharper and more powerfully (away from opposition). Another advantage of ‘stronger ankles’ is improved balance. Strengthening the muscles surrounding the ankle will enhance our balance when performing on a single leg.

Some example exercises include hop and sticks (forward, back, lateral, 180 degree turn), single leg balances (even or uneven surface; un-weighted or weighted) and single leg medicine ball throw and catches to add a force to resist against, forcing your ankle to work and developing balance.

What does the research say?

Now lets look at what the research has had to say regarding mobility, flexibility and stability. All references can be found below in case you would like to look further into any studies or read up further on any theory.  

So, is it really worth it?

Joyce and Lewington (2014) write that mobility exercises should focus on joint range of motion and tissue length. Athletes should perform a series of these mobility movements to access full range of motion, stabilise the joint and create clean movement within the body, preparing them for maximum performance.

A study by Johnson et al. (2014) investigated hamstring flexibility, measuring knee extension range of motion, after a six week programme of stretching. Results showed that participants were successful in increasing their joint range of motion after the programme, which supports the hypothesis behind flexibility training.

A study looking into ankle sprains by Thacker et al. (2003), concluded that special emphasis should be placed on ankle strengthening, particularly with use of a balance board or similar.  It was suggested such methods are likely to lead to a reduction in injury risk and improvement in performance

Joyce and Lewington (2014) also state that unstable surfaces are a potent tool for stimulating muscle stabilisers and incorporating this stability / balance training into a warm up can enhance proprioceptive input.  This also reduces the risk of lower back or leg injuries (Bird and Stuart, 2012).

So why not find the time to incorporate this into your training programme and see if it works for you?

As always, We’d love to hear what you think!

References

Bird, S. and Stuart, W. (2012). Integrating Balance and Postural Stability Exercises into the Functional Warm-up for Youth Athletes. Strength and Conditioning Journal, 34(3), pp.73-79.

Johnson, A., Mitchell, U., Meek, K. and Feland, J. (2014). Hamstring flexibility increases the same with 3 or 9 repetitions of stretching held for a total time of 90 s. Physical Therapy in Sport, 15(2), pp.101-105.

Joyce, D. and Lewindon, D. (2014). High-performance training for sports. Human Kinetics

Thacker, S., Stroup, D., Branche, C., Gilchrist, J. and Goodman, R. (2003). Prevention of ankle sprains in sports: An Update. International Sports Medicine Journal, 4(4).

Why Your Mobility Work May Be Harming You

Over the last few years, I’ve watched happily as people have started to come to terms with the importance of mobility work. Of course, given the pendulum that is the fitness industry, now everything that doesn’t work is thought of as a mobility problem.

Erm, no.

Can't Squat or Won't Squat?

Let’s try this as a test. If you know someone who says he can’t squat, tell him to lie on his back and pull his knees to his chest, keeping his tailbone on the ground. It might even be you saying you can’t squat. If so, try this drill yourself.

Being able to get into this position demonstrates that you actually have adequate range to squat. In other words, even though you can’t squat, you do have the requisite mobility.Your inability to squat is not mobility related. Instead, it’s a problem between your ears.

The Cause of Pain Is Poor Movement

Recently I sat in on a workshop led by Dr. Perry Nickleston at the Strength Matters Summit.I was reminded how the body works as a system, not as a sum of its parts, as many still insist upon telling us. The boiled-down version of the workshop goes like this: stiffness at a joint or pain in a muscle is because of a lack of stability elsewhere.

I’m not prone to one-size-fits-all statements, but barring impact injuries, the cause of pain is poor movement. The thing most people miss when using the joint-by-joint approach is that mobile joints need the stiffness from stable joints to function correctly. Imagine holding a bow in your hands. The front hand needs to be stable so that the back hand is free to move. If the front hand waves all over the place, then the back hand will never move to where it is supposed to go and the whole system is inefficient.

"The thing most people miss when using the joint-by-joint approach is that mobile joints need the stiffness from stable joints to function correctly."

Following this logic through, what we see is that an ankle that should be mobile could become tighter and immobile if the core isn’t working well. Distal stiffness is caused by proximal weakness. So the runner who has started suffering from plantar fasciitis or Achilles tendon issues is creating stiffness in that area to deal with the lack of stiffness required elsewhere.

Release and Activate

This is exactly why the idea of just doing some mobility work is flawed. It’s no good just to smash this, floss that, or roll this. Nickleston has an acronym for his system that sums it up brilliantly: RAIL. Release, activate, integrate, locomote.

Most avid fitness buffs are good at the release part. Through using a variety of tools including balls, rollers, and massage itself, it seems everyone has grasped that some kind of release work is vital to tissue quality before any form of corrective or load is added.

But most people fall down in the other sections. It’s no good to get new range from a muscle if you still end up right back where you started - with a problem between the ears. It’s the brain that ultimately controls how much movement you get from a joint. A muscle that is bound up is usually that way because it is working more, not less, than the surrounding muscles.

The muscle that decided to stop working needs to be reprogrammed to do its job properly. Range of motion on its own does nothing to help you. In fact, it may put you at greater risk for injury as now you have more space to control. So don’t just mobilize, re-pattern your movement as well.

Integrate and Locomote

But the road shouldn’t end there, either. Reminding the body of the motor pattern is only part of it. Now you need to integrate this all back into compound movements. This is where you start to see a sequence emerging. Release, activate, and then integrate. You can use primitive pattern work such as crawling and rolling because most of your misfiring muscles will be hit by these.

But that’s still not the end of it all. Because only in standing are we truly in a functional posture, so only in standing can the final work be done. RAIL says that the final step is in locomotion. We spend so much time these days on rolling and mobility work that we forget the final step of the puzzle is always to make sure our movement works in walking and running.

I’m always amazed at how much lip service gets paid to primitive patterns while ignoring the most primitive pattern, and the one that dictated most of our evolution as a species. If your body works right in running, it’ll do everything else properly for you too, as it’s the hardest pattern for the body to get right.

An Example of the RAIL System

Using myself as an example, I came home last week from three weeks away due to work. At the end of this week, I have a half-Ironman distance race (Challenge Shepparton). In an effort to get my bike legs back quickly, I’ve done five hard rides in five days. At the end of the Sunday ride, I noticed my left kneecap was starting to get sore on the top outer edge - a typical symptom of impending IT band troubles.

"The muscle that decided to stop working needs to be reprogrammed to do its job properly. Range of motion on its own does nothing to help you."

The first thing I needed to do was to remove the problem, so there was no riding on Monday, even though the plan said there should be. Second, I spent a lot of time doing release work on my IT band with a roller, as well as the hamstring, quad, calf, and glute on the same side. After each of these sessions, I would go for a walk and see if things had improved. While attacking the ITB made it a little better, the thing that really helped was doing trigger point work on the glute. When I added stretching the glute in pigeon, the situation improved the most.

But you can’t stop there. I’d done release and now needed to activate. Lying prone I did some thigh extension, external rotation, and abduction work to fire up the glutes. Another quick walk around showed that things had improved a little more. The integration aspect came by doing some single-leg deadlifts, which improved the pain again, to the point of almost being completely gone.

The final step in the process was to run again and make sure I was pain free. I did another three rounds of release, activate, and integrate during the day (with a walk test after each time) before heading out the door for a trial run. The result? I was completely pain free.

The Take-Home

Remember, it’s no good to just seek mobility unless you have the follow-up steps in place. Mobility without motor control is just another injury waiting to happen. 

Heal Your Lower Back Pain With These 5 Yoga Poses

In the United States lower back pain is one of most common complaints. The Mayo Clinic states that most people will experience low back pain at some point in their lives. Lower back pain is experienced by sedentary people as well as highly-trained athletes.

If you look at a typical weekday of an average American who works a nine-to-five job, it is easy to see why lower back pain is an issue.

A Marathon of Sitting Leads to Low Back Pain

Upon awakening one may sit to have coffee or breakfast before sitting to drive to work. When arriving at work the corporate employee will often sit at a desk or in meetings until lunch. Lunch involves more sitting, before sitting at the desk to finish the workday. Then of course there is the commute home and another sit-down meal. Exhausted from a long day of sitting at the office one may choose to sit on the sofa to watch television to unwind. If we look at it from an anatomical standpoint we realize the hamstring muscles and the illiopsoas muscles are shortened from the many hours of sitting and this causes strain on the lower back.

Athletes on the other hand are not sedentary, so why the lower back pain? Any weight-bearing sport or exercise that involves running, jumping, or rapid dynamic movements produces tension on the lower back. When these activities are repeated over time without properly stretching and releasing these tight muscles overuse injuries may occur.

For the sedentary nine-to-five worker exercise is key for relieving lower back pain as well as reducing the risk of heart disease and diabetes. However, I’m assuming you are not in that category. If you are, then add some cardiovascular exercises along with the stretches suggested below. If you have a slipped disk in the lower back or sciatica, please avoid all deep forward bends as these can make your condition worse.

Lower Back Pain Relief Yoga Sequence

For lower back relief please do the following poses daily or at least after your workout. Breathe deeply in and out of the nose while doing these poses.

1. Supine Hamstring Stretch

Lying on your back, bend your right knee into your chest and place a strap or rolled-up towel around the ball of your foot. Straighten your leg toward the ceiling. Press out through both heels. If the lower back feels strained, bend the left knee and place the foot on the ground. Hold for 3-5 minutes and then switch to the left let for 3-5 minutes.

2. Two-Knee Twist

Lying on your back, bend your knees into your chest and bring your arms out at a T. As you exhale lower your knees to ground on the right. Keep both shoulders pressing down firmly. If the left shoulder lifts, lower your knees further away from the right arm. Hold for 1-2 minutes each side

3. Sphinx

Lying on your stomach, prop yourself up on your forearms. Align your elbows directly under your shoulders. Press firmly through your palms and the tops of your feet. Press your pubic bone forward. You will feel sensations in your lower back, but breathe through it. You are allowing blood flow into the lower back for healing. Hold for 1-3 minutes.

4A. Pigeon

From all-fours, bring your right knee behind your right wrist with your lower leg at a diagonal toward your left hip. Square off your hips toward the ground. Bend forward. Widen the elbows and place one hand on top of the other as a pillow for your forehead.Hold 2-3 minutes and then switch to the left side for 2-3 minutes.

If pigeon pose bothers your knees, then do Thread the Needle.

4B. Thread the Needle

Lying on your back, bend both knees with the feet flat on the ground. Bend the right knee like a figure four, with the outer left ankle to the right thigh. Lift the left foot into the air, bringing the left calf parallel to the ground. Thread your right hand between the opening of the legs and interlace your hands behind your left thigh. Hold 2-3 minutes and then repeat on the other side.

5. Legs Up the Wall

Scoot your buttocks all the way into the wall and swing your feet up the wall. This pose is excellent for relaxing the muscles of the lower back and drains stagnant fluid from the feet and ankles. Do this pose after a challenging workout and always after traveling by plane. Hold for 5-10 minutes.

Beyond the FMS: How to Design Powerful Corrective Exercises

The Functional Movement Screen (FMS). As healthcare and/or fitness professionals and enthusiasts, we know the routine. We perform our seven movement pattern assessments. We score each movement pattern. We take note of any weaknesses, deficits, asymmetries, or limitations in flexibility. We design a rehab or fitness program consisting of what our patient or client can do safely to achieve his or her goals.

 

And, hopefully, our client’s condition improves. He or she moves more efficiently and safely or improves performance on the field or at work, and everyone happily moves on with their lives. Right? Isn’t this the way it is supposed to happen?

 

 

How Valuable Is the FMS?

But what if this cookie-cutter approach doesn’t work? What if your client completes the FMS without any significant weakness, deficits, asymmetries, or flexibility limitations, but is still limited functionally and having trouble performing at work or on the playing field? What then?

 

Do we abandon the FMS completely? Or does this potentially valuable evaluation tool still have merit in our treatment plan or fitness program?

 

I believe the FMS most certainly does have value, but based on a particular aspect of the screen. An aspect that, in my clinical experience, is frequently either never considered or not fully understood. I am talking about the aspect of neuromuscular control and sequencing.

 

When Measures Are Normal, But Movement Is Not

Let us use, for example, a female patient who comes to physical therapy with an order from her doctor for you to “evaluate and treat” generalized weakness. You decide to administer the FMS as part of your initial evaluation. Your patient performs the FMS without difficulty and scores twos throughout. 

 

RELATED: Can the Functional Movement Screen (FMS) Actually Determine Ability?

 

According to the FMS, this particular patient has no outstanding deficits that would potentially limit her functionally. But despite three weeks of a treatment plan consisting of stretching and strengthening, your patient still cannot flex forward and touch her toes in sitting or standing position. She reports that this limitation is problematic in several aspects her life, including caring for her children and completing tasks at work.

 

So, being the thorough clinician that you are, you again tediously check all the normal parameters: hamstring and gastrocnemius flexibility, hip range of motion, lumbar flexion, pelvic tilt, and sacral angle. As with your initial evaluation, all the measures prove to be relatively normal. Without any new objective findings, you and your patient continue to blindly implement a program that is clearly ineffective.

 

 

Neuromuscular Control and Proper Sequencing

But the problem may not be the musculoskeletal system exclusively. Rather, this patient may have deficits related to neuromuscular control and proper sequencing of key functional movements. Consider that maybe this patient has an overactive posterior chain. In other words, her hamstrings and gastrocnemius-soleus complex are always on and she does not possess the ability to consciously turn them off.

 

As evident by your initial evaluation, it is not a posterior chain flexibility or tissue extensibility issue. Rather, it is a neuromuscular sequencing problem or motor control dysfunction. Gray Cook, one of the creators of the FMS, uses the term SMCD (stability or motor control dysfunction) to describe such a deficit.

 

But why does this happen? How do we develop muscle groups that are excessively active and hypertonic and limit normal functioning? In his book Movement, Cook provided a possible reason. He hypothesized that it is due to “pain, previous injury, or chronic dysfunction.” Furthermore, he stated that such dysfunctional patterns need to be broken before implementing an effective program to improve stability and motor control.

 

"Incorporating effective corrective exercise into a rehabilitation program requires thorough examination of a patient’s history and current condition as well as intense effort regarding design and implementation of stability and motor control corrections."

Designing Powerful Corrective Exercises

Treatment of SMCD can be difficult and is, for the most part, outside the scope of this article. Evaluating and treating SMCD borders on application of the Selective Functional Movement Assessment (SFMA). The SFMA is the clinical big brother to the FMS and is performed only by healthcare professionals (physical therapist, chiropractors, etc.). However, for discussion’s sake, we will consider how to approach SMCD.

 

Let’s be honest, the neuromuscular system is relatively abstract when compared to the musculoskeletal system. In our example, we can easily understand posterior kinetic chain tightness. We know the origin and insertion of the hamstrings, and we know several effective ways to stretch them, both at the proximal origin and distal attachment. Furthermore, we understand the gastrocnemius -soleus complex. And like the hamstrings, we can easily attack associated deficits in our treatment plan or fitness program.

 

 

But such superficial understanding of the musculoskeletal system is not sufficient to treat a true SMCD. As Cook stated in Movement, “[W]e cannot simply lengthen a tight muscle or move a stiff joint and think we have effectively changed a movement pattern.” Unlike the musculoskeletal system, the neuromuscular system is not always so easily understood. As a result, it is often ignored. Incorporating effective corrective exercise into a rehabilitation program requires thorough examination of a patient’s history and current condition as well as intense effort regarding design and implementation of stability and motor control corrections.

 

Two Important Factors in Designing Corrective Exercises

True corrective exercises are not challenges to the body. Rather, they are challenges to the brain. Gray Cook went as far describing corrective exercises as “experiences” instead of exercises. It is important to remember the brain has developed and memorized faulty and inefficient movement patterns that inevitably lead to dysfunction and injury. The brain and body would love nothing more than to continue to perform and refine these patterns as long as possible (as long as we allow).

 

In order for corrective exercise to be effective, the brain must perceive that it cannot perform a new challenge (or experience) without developing a new behavior. The brain realizes the previously learned, faulty movement patterns are not sufficient to support the new demand and a new behavior must be learned.

 

Corrective exercises must also remove all compensatory strategies and techniques. The brain is a master at creating and using compensation patterns throughout life, particularly when faced with injury or pain. This talent can be a wonderful thing, but it becomes problematic when compensatory techniques are developed with no regard for quality.

 

"In order for corrective exercise to be effective, the brain must perceive that it cannot perform a new challenge (or experience) without developing a new behavior"

Habits are formed for the sole purpose of immediate survival (or function). The brain never considers potential detriment, injury, or dysfunction in the future. It is not until these detriments, injuries, or dysfunctions present (possibly years in the future) that we become motivated to correct them. So, it is imperative that corrective exercises remove compensatory patterns and force the brain to adopt a new, safer solution. 

 

Conclusion

Treatment of SMCD is not always the answer. Often, your patient or client may truly only be lacking hamstring flexibility or shoulder range of motion. But if your current plan is ineffective in addressing whatever deficits exist, consideration of neuromuscular control and sequencing may prove to be invaluable.

Stretching Doesn't Work (the Way You Think It Does)

Does stretching make you more flexible? I know the obvious answer to this question, based on what we’ve all been told about the merits of stretching, is, “Duh! Yes!” But it turns out that might not be the case. But it might be the case. At least a little. But not totally. Okay, let me explain.

Stretch Your Bits or Stretch Your Mind?

I’ve had a few things come up recently that have me rethinking the common stretching belief that goes something like this: stretch tight bits in your body and they will get longer/more flexible/more supple.

The things that have me rethinking this are:

1. An interview I did on the Liberated Body Podcast with Jules Mitchell who is writing a book (and just finished a thesis) on the science of stretching.
2. A guide I am putting together on how to resolve short hamstrings (it’s out on Liberated Body in October), which had me immersed in the research about how hamstrings specifically manage to return to a more functional length.
3. And last but not least, I am reading Katy Bowman’s new book Move Your DNA where her insights on sarcomeres have my attention (plenty of other things too, but I’m already trying to keep this post from becoming epically long).

I’ll do my best to summarize the a-ha moments that have sprung out of these three things.

Your Nervous System Runs the Show

In her interview with me, Jules Mitchell* talked about how she began her thesis with the intention of taking a biomechanical view into yoga asana, which is exactly what she does. However, because she started her work from the perspective of a yoga teacher- with all the training that had told her that stretching leads to increased flexibility, she was surprised to discover that the research on stretching did not bear this idea out.

She discovered this idea - that if we stretch more and stretch harder that our tissue will change - was untrue. In reality, we are not lumps of clay that can be molded by persistently tugging on things. This is because our nervous systems are running the show.

So what does that mean? That means that unless you are under anesthesia (where you will miraculously gain full and even excessive range of motion, but I do not recommend attempting to go through life under full anesthesia simply for its flexibility gains), your ability to stretch at any range is determined by your nervous system’s tolerance to that range.

As in, when you have super short hamstrings and you try to forward fold and meet rigid resistance, it is not that you need to pull on your hamstrings like they are inanimate taffy, because you can’t. Your nervous system is the thing giving you that firm end range, and it’s basically saying, “Nope. Sorry buddy. I don’t feel safe there, so I’m not going to let you go there.”

Getting pushy about it and trying to force your hamstrings into ever deeper end ranges will have one of three outcomes:

1. Nothing will change
2. Your hamstrings will get shorter
3. You will injure your tissue (which, P.S., has about a two-year healing period if we’re talking about a tendon injury).

I recommend not trying to force override your nervous system on issues of flexibility. It will win. It will be unpleasant.

Your Body's Emergency Brake

Why would the nervous system not feel safe and therefore limit your mobility? Because that range is unfamiliar, or because compensatory patterns in your body have determined that certain parts of you need to function as an emergency brake in order to hold it all together (and of course these two things are not mutually exclusive). Both boil down to issues of motor control (plenty more to chew on here) and of Davis’ Law, which can be (over) simplified to, “use it or lose it.”

While working on the Liberated Body Short Hamstrings Guide, I kept coming back to the issue of how the hamstrings function, in some chronically short-hamstringed people, as an emergency brake. This kind of compensatory pattern happens for plenty of reasons, but top among them might be under active deep core musculature, too rigid core musculature (yes, underactive and too rigid can come together), weakened adductors, and more. If these or other key stability structures can’t fully do their job, the hamstrings are at the ready. They sub in for a lack of support elsewhere by battening down the hatches.

To go back to the emergency brake analogy - if your car were parked on the edge of a cliff and was held there only by its emergency brake, would you release it? Not if you are sane.This is the same decision your nervous system is making when you attempt a forward fold and are stopped prematurely.

Those Naughty Sarcomeres

In regards to the use-it-or-lose-it part of the flexibility equation, let’s talk Katy Bowman**, moving your DNA, and the sarcomeres. Bowman has been a champion of getting people to understand the difference between frequency and intensity. In short, that what we are doing with our bodies most of the time thoroughly trumps how hard we may be capable of working out (or stretching) for a small portion of our day. In relationship to flexibility, this means that if we, for example, sit in a chair with our hamstrings contracted from both ends all day long, we will gradually develop short hamstrings.

Here is an extremely pared down, Cliff’s Notes version of Bowman’s writing inMove Your DNA and also here on her blog on the role the sarcomeres play:Sarcomeres are the basic contractile units of our muscles. Muscles move because sarcomeres generate force and move. When you are often in the same position - as with our contracted-hamstrings-in-the-chair example - your sarcomeres change on the cellular level in a way that makes it easier for you to do more of what you are already doing. Yes, those naughty sarcomeres will actually cannibalize themselves and grow themselves to set your chair-shape as your new normal.

That said, the way to approach rehabilitating this would be to move with more normal hamstrings length more frequently. For example: to use a standing desk for all or part of the day, to sit on the floor with our legs outstretched in front of us (if we can accomplish that without rounding our backs, another symptom of short hamstrings), wearing neutral-heeled shoes, and to walk and to take frequent movement breaks, among other things.

The road to rehabilitation would not look like stretching the bejeezus out of your hamstrings at their absolute maximum end range for somewhere in the neighborhood of thirty and ninety seconds per day.

Bringing Mitchell’s and Bowman’s work together, this kind of rehabilitation accomplishes a few key things. First, it reminds your little sarcomeres what length you would like things to be by gradual, incremental loading of your body in healthier ranges of movement. Second, taking more opportunities for natural movement more frequently (oversimplified definition alert: natural movement = accomplishing the movements that our ancestors used to need to do to survive - like walking, or bending, or climbing - with proper alignment) develops strength and adaptability. This allows your nervous system to feel safe about testing out new ranges of motion, while simultaneously unraveling the compensatory patterns that make your nervous system put on the brakes in the first place.

A Tale of Two Feet

What might this look like in practice? Let me tell you about my feet. Last summer I still had to slap on my rigid hiking shoes in order to get out on the rocky trails here in New England. Whenever I attempted to wear a more flexible-soled shoe, I was one sore-footed girl. Determined that my feet could be more supple, I spent the year wearing only neutral-heeled, flexible-soled shoes, taking plenty of barefoot time, increasing my walking mileage, and intentionally seeking out as much diverse terrain as I could find.

Fast forward to the end of this summer and I have been hiking daily - up steep inclines, on slick shale, on rocky ground and tangled stumps - only in my Unshoes. And what’s amazing is that these hikes also manage to feel like a delicious foot massage no matter how long I’m out on the trail. I find myself intentionally stepping on the rockier areas of the trail because it feels good on my feet. What happened there?

I incrementally - over one year - loaded my feet differently, and as a result the 33 joints that live in my tootsies are now much more supple and flexible. My feet are also stronger. Flexible and strong like to show up to the party together. Go figure.

Some Stretching Movement Rules to Live By

So is stretching the devil? Nah. Frequent, intermittent stretching that is within your range and not red-lining it for your abilities helps you to explore your movement ranges and therefore helps you to (very gradually) remodel yourself at the cellular level to a more mobile version of yourself.

This is a complex issue for which much more could be said, but I have already written a short novel, so in closing here are a few bullet points that we might want to consider so that we can re-frame how to become more flexible. Perhaps we should:

• Stop with the no-pain-no-gain crap and instead accept that The Goldilocks Principle holds true for human tissue: not too much, not too little, but just right amounts of input keep us healthy and mobile.
• Stop with the “stretch tight bits to make them looser” and “we are inanimate lumps of clay” models. We are alive. Our nervous systems are in charge. We need to have a long-term dialogue with it, not pretend we can boss the CNS around.
• Stop pretending we can put movement into a bento box of “exercising” and “non-exercising” time when what we are doing all the time - movement not exercising -is what is determining our shape and mobility.
• Stop stretching at extreme maximum capacity at rare intervals and instead take kinder intermittent stretch breaks.
• And while we’re at it, let’s altogether drop the idea that being bendy is somehow better. Functional length is better; hypermobile is trouble.