We show you how to track down tight muscles and great stretches for each. Tight muscle pull into their neighboring muscles, creating tight regions in your body. You have to isolate each tight muscle seperately and stretch it by itself. Once you know each muscle in that region is fairly loose, then you can stretch them together in the poses like you see in Yoga.
A perfect example is the ‘Pigeon Pose,’ which is a highly complex and intricate stretch. If any of the following muscles are tight, this pose will not be comfortable or productive for you: psoas, piriformis, glutes, adductors, and QL’s. Achieving equal looseness in these muscles is essential for Yoga poses to be beneficial.
‘The Stretching Habit’ helps you understand the interconnectedness of all your muscles throughout your body. This is crucial before engaging in any flexibility training. That is why this article is called “Stretching is Stretching”. Stretching is just that, it is not Yoga or Pilates, basic stretching is more foundational to movement and the body. Stretching is about one tight muscle at a time.
Each muscle is linked to and influences others, so stretching one can affect the tightness and discomfort of others. This is why we guide you through stretching routines that target all the muscles in complex regions of your body. We show you simplified stretches within these intricate poses so you can truly connect with and address the tight muscles and areas in your body, pinpointing the real problem areas.
Stretching can be likened to peeling back layers of an onion, as you must address multiple tight muscles before finding the root cause of the problem. Ninety five percent of your brain’s activity is conducting the daily operations of your body and some of that is the subconscious healing and regeneration of the body.
For example, you get a cut, the body heals it over time. You watch it scab up and can barely resist picking at the scab before it is ready to come off. This is happening inside the body itself all the time. You will get a minor strain in your hip, neck or low back. Your body will often mask the pain (if it is low grade) and begin the process of healing. Part of that process is to have nearby muscles tense and carry the weight of the injured muscle. A limp is a perfect example.
The problem is that fixing the injured muscle can take time of days to weeks or even months. In the meantime the muscles that have been tasked with protecting the injured muscle have now been working overtime and out of proper positioning and now they can get injured or send pain signals that they need a rest or to be fixed.
So that is what it means when we say it can be like peeling back layers of an onion because as you fix one muscle group, you often find another, more problematic muscle that needs more help.
‘The Stretching Habit’ helps you unravel the complex layers of your body’s muscles, through simple stretching. Once you know there are no major tight issues, then you are ready for the more intricate positions in various flexibility training programs.
Take the ‘Standing Pigeon’ pose as an example. Most people struggle with the floor version because of the required looseness of the hip, low back, and glutes and QL’s. We show you a much more simple version called the Standing Pigeon stretch.
A perfect example is Standing Pigeon. We show you how anyone can do a Standing Pigeon stretch with their foot on a couch, chair or maybe even a counter top around a house but most people can’t do Pigeon Pose on the floor. It’s only because Pigeon Pose requires that all of your hip, low back and glute muscles are equally loose. That is not the norm for the average person who has not gotten them all to that level. Therefor this pose can just be too much and counter productive. People often strain their tight muscle just getting in and out of the pose.
Our “Edge of the bed” standing low back, hip, and leg routine guides you through each muscle that is involved in the traditional floor Pigeon Pose. Once you have isolated and separately stretched all of the required muscles to the same level of looseness, this enables you to perform the Pigeon Pose and actually enjoy it!
‘The Stretching Habit’ shows you a series of Child’s Pose, Sphinx Pose, and Pigeon Pose on a bed, creating a truly relaxing experience. Try it! Now!
Flexibility Training
Every flexibility training style is good for you because they all teach you how to relax and synchronize your mind and body so that you can control your thoughts, movements and moods.
Pilates, yoga, Gyrotonics, martial arts and modern dance use controlled movement, stretching and breathing techniques to perfect your postural alignment and optimize your functional mobility.
Flexibility is so important to the aging and athletic body that everyone must make the time to add at least one of these training styles into your weekly routine!
Forms of Flexibility Training
Pilates
Pilates is one of the best training styles because it is a complete system that focuses on the proper postural alignment and functional mobility of your entire musculoskeletal structure.
Pilates teaches that all movement initiates from the core or “powerhouse” of the body and that this area must be controlled during dynamic movement in order to stabilize and protect your spinal health.
The focus on form and control makes it perfect for improving the health and vitality of the aging body (Health Fitness) and is essential for almost any athlete (Athletic Fitness).
Gyrotonics
The Gyrotonics system focuses on training the musculature of the body while mobilizing and articulating the joints to simultaneously stretch and strengthen the body with minimal pressure.
This system increases joint range of motion, develops muscular coordination and improves proper postural alignment and functional mobility primarily with an amazingly intricate pulley-system tower.
The Gyrotonics system focuses on training the musculature of the body while mobilizing and articulating the joints to simultaneously stretch and strengthen the body with minimal pressure.
This system increases joint range of motion, develops muscular coordination and improves proper postural alignment and functional mobility primarily with an amazingly intricate pulley-system tower.
This style of training is great for both Health Fitness and Athletic Fitness because is focuses so much on muscular development with an emphasis on joint health and safety.
Yoga
Yoga is an art form as much as it is a form of exercise. It integrates the mind, body and spirit to achieve a state of enlightenment or oneness with the universe.
Yoga imitates life and must be done in stages just as you experience life in stages. It has a starting point from which to grow as you learn more about your body until you reach a state of maturity.
Yoga can be extremely beneficial for both Athletic Fitness and Health Fitness unless you try to accomplish a position your body is not ready to handle which can cause immediate and lasting injury.
Stretching On Demand
Our On Demand Video Library has hundreds of stretches for every part of your body. There are 5, 10 and 15 minute stretches, full body routines, sport specific and injury focused stretches. Our Stretch Education section teaches you about your body and the benefits stretching has to fight stress and anxiety.