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Stretch — but not until the end of your workout

JoeMiller — Wed, 16 May 2012 13:34:26 +0000

I wrote the following article for the Charlotte Observer and The News & Observer in Raleigh; it appeared in both papers on May 15. It appears here in expanded form, with links.

OK, time for your daily workout. Put on the sweats, lace up the sneakers and now to get limbered up with some long, deep stretches … .

Not so fast there, Jane Fonda.

It wasn’t long ago that most people began their workouts – be it an aerobics class at the gym or a 5-mile run – with a series of stretches. Toe touches, lacing your fingers behind your head to stretch your upper back muscles, and other so-called “static stretches” were once considered the proper way to prepare your body for a workout.

Now, growing evidence suggests the opposite may be true, that stressing muscles before they’ve warmed up not only doesn’t help prevent injury, it can cause them.

“That puts a lot of stress on body,” says Laurie Pace, group exercise coordinator for the Morrison Family YMCA in Charlotte who began teaching 17 years ago. “You’re asking it to make immediate changes, to go from cold to hot over a few seconds.”

Pace says that thinking began to change 10 years ago when the American College of Sports Medicine advised their 45,000 certified instructors to change the way they ease into exercise programs.

Today, the experts advise, warm up first, work out and then stretch at the end.

“Now,” says Steven Wheelock, a wellness instructor with Rex Wellness Center in Knightdale, “we try to simulate what it is you’ll be doing in a workout. With the warm-up, we want to elevate your heart rate, your breathing and sweating in preparation for” rigor to come.

The new warm-up

Ten years ago before a 5K race it was common to see runners employing all sorts of glute, hamstring and calf stretches right before the gun went off. A recent study of about 3,000 runners conducted by USA Track & Field found that prerace stretching did not reduce the risk of injury.

A better approach to warming up before a run, says Pace, is to “walk in an exaggerated motion, swinging arms, bringing your knees toward your chest. This will prepare the body – your glutes, your hamstrings – for forward movement. It’s an unnatural position for running, but it starts movement process.”

In the Total Strength class Pace teaches, she says they spend the first 3 to 5 minutes simulating the exercises they’ll be doing, minus the weights. “We’ll start with a smaller range of motion, gradually building up.”

That 3- to 5-minute warm-up window, notes Wheelock, is what it takes to get your heart rate properly elevated.

Stretching still has its place as part of a workout, only at the end. After cooling down – in much the same way you warm up, by replicating the motions of your workout but with decreased exertion. And Pace says stretching help keeps your blood from pooling and creating a buildup of lactic acid.

That’s significant, she says, because it will lessen the soreness you might feel later on.

Taking the time

Getting the word out about the proper way to get into a workout is one thing. Getting people to stand still long enough to do it is another.

Shelly Tkach teaches beginner 5K and 8K running programs for Fleet Feet in Raleigh. The programs take new runners and train them to run a 5K or an 8K within 12 weeks. Before every 25- to 30-minute run she devotes 5 minutes to dynamic stretches, such as walking while bringing the knees up to the chest.

Are the newcomers embracing this aspect of the workout?

Tkach smiles. “They do it because they’re told to. Usually, they’re so hyper they just want to get out and start running.”

* * *

Guidelines for stretching

Stretching to improve flexibility is good, but not necessarily right before a workout. Here are some stretching guidelines from the American College of Sports Medicine:

Do flexibility exercises at least two or three days a week to improve range of motion.
Hold each stretch for 10-30 seconds, “to the point of tightness or slight discomfort.”
Repeat each stretch two to four times. You want to total 60 seconds of stretching.
Static, dynamic, ballistic and PNF — proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation — stretches are all effective.
Stretching exercises are most effective when the muscle is warm, following light aerobic activity, for example, or a hot bath.

* * *

Warming up for key activities

Golf

Katherine Roberts, certified golf performance coach and author of “Swing Flaws and Fitness Fixes,” recommends six dynamic moves, each held for two to five deep breaths, prior to going 18.

1. Standing pelvic tilts
2. Speed trunk rotation
3. Standing hip stretch
4. Shoulder stretch with club behind back
5. Neck stretch
6. Standing rhomboid, upper back and neck stretch

Specifics on how to do each activity here.

Basketball

From the Web site Growtall.com:

1. Low intensity aerobic activity such as jogging a few laps around the court or even jump rope. The key is low intensity.
2. Leg swings/pendulum swings.

3. Agility exercises, such as skipping, crossovers, shuffling, backpedaling.

Walking and hiking

From Prevention Minnesota:

1. Ankle circles
2, Leg swings
3. Pelvic loops
4. Arm circles

5. Hula hoop jumps.

Running

From Runner’s World magazine:

1. Walk for two minutes, then jog at a conversational pace for 15 to 20 minutes to raise your heart rate.
2. Loosen and activate your muscles with five to 10 minutes of dynamic stretches and form drills such as lunges, skipping, and high-knees running.

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Yoga: Miracle drug (without the drug part)?

JoeMiller — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 11:14:17 +0000

“There is a style of yoga that will meet any physical needs you have. It doesn’t matter what age you are; It takes you where you are, and improves you from there.”

That’s not according to the Yoga Chamber of Commerce. That’s according to 61-year-old Nancy Wren of Matthews, who first relied on yoga to help her through pregnancy — and labor — in the 1970s, and more recently used it to cope with the physical demands and stress of helping her ill husband, and then to help her through the grieving process when he died. Wren is something of a poster child for the several-thousand-year-old practice of yoga, which the Mayo Clinic defines as “an alternative medicine practice [that] brings together physical and mental disciplines to achieve peacefulness of body and mind, helping you relax and manage stress and anxiety.”

That “miracle drug” nature of yoga is the topic of my story today in the Charlotte Observer and The News & Observer. Read the story (or return to this space tomorrow for an expanded version with links), then return here for direction on where you can learn more.

Learn more …

Overall health benefits of Yoga
So what are those benefits? The Mayo Clinic gives a good overview in the online article, “Yoga: Tap into the many health benefits.”

Yoga, from Ashtanga to Vinyasa
There are many different variations of yoga on the market. Some, as Chapel Hill-based yoga instructor and writer Carol Krucoff writes for the Huffington Post in “Are You Practicing Yoga or Yoga-Flavored Exercise?” adhere more to basic tenants of yoga. For a good overview of the different types of yoga, check out the About.com Yoga Style Guide.

Yoga and … golf?
Bill Glasheen credits yoga with enabling him to keep his Sunday morning tee-time for the past decade. Diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease 13 years ago, Glasheen, who is 73 and lives in Monroe, turned to yoga to help control the shaking and difficulty walking associated with the disease. “It’s something anyone can do,” he says of the Kripalu yoga class he takes Saturday mornings. “Even if you’re crippled.” Learn more about yoga for golfers at YogaforGolfers.com.

My achin’ neck
Back pain is one of the most common maladies in America, affecting nearly everyone at one point or another. It affected Carol Krucoff, a yoga practitioner and health writer for the Washington Post in the 1980s. Using what she’d learned from yoga, she began tweaking her practice to address her chronic neck and shoulder issues and before long, no more neck and back issues. She shares her approach in her book, “Healing Yoga for Neck & Shoulder Pain” (2010, New Harbinger Publications).

Yoga and depression
Nancy Nicholson uses yoga in her social work practice — or does she use social work in her yoga practice? The Charlotte instructor uses her background in both — she’s a licensed clinical social worker in North Carolina and is certified in various forms of yoga, including her LifeForce Yoga Certification — to help patients suffering from addictions, anxiety, abuse, depression and grief. “We use different breathing techniques to create more energy and to help you calm down. … The movements can be very grounding.” Learn more about yoga and its applications for dealing with mental health issues at YogaforDepression.com.

Yoga and weight loss?
You don’t burn a lot of calories with most forms of yoga, but some practitioners say it can have a more profound effect on your weight by helping to strengthen the mind-body connection. See what WebMD has to say on the subject.

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Spring into stretching

JoeMiller — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 17:07:11 +0000

Saturday morning I woke up and immediately realized two things: One, I’d slept really well, since it was more than an hour later than I’m used to waking up on the weekend. And, two, I was intensely sore, all, as Maud Frickert used to say, over my body. Not a flu sore. Rather, an I’ve-done-something-my body’s-not accustomed-to-doing sore. In this case, diving for softballs. Fortunately, I had a cure.

In my youth — this would cover my first half century — I rarely stretched or warmed up. I’d show up for a bike ride with a minute to spare, hop on the bike and be off. I’d stand around kibitzing before a run while others stretched, then go from 0 to an 8-minute pace. Pickup basketball, tennis, whatever: Who had time to stretch? A young body and luck helped me pull it off.

Today, at 54, I stretch a lot. I have to.

I converted to stretching when I realized two things: It could, as I’d heard over the years, reduce my chances of getting injured. And investing as little as five minutes before a workout and 10 minutes after did improve my performance. On the latter count, stretching has proved invaluable in waking/warming/loosening up joints and muscles that become increasingly slow to come to life as the years pass. Stretching, as I discovered Saturday morning, also is invaluable in the recovery process. Let’s see, back’s stiff: a little downward-facing dog and warrior pose (classic yoga stretches) should clear that up. Calf and quad stretches helped counteract all the quick starts after fly balls. Shoulder stretches allowed me to simply move my arms after a day of believing I could still throw a runner out at the plate from right field. Twenty minutes or so of stretching and I wasn’t good as new, but I was able to function for the rest of the day.

Taking time to stretch is especially important as spring approaches, Daylight Savings Time knocks (it starts this Sunday, March 13), the days warm and your urge to emerge from winter hibernation kicks in. As I found Saturday, the stretches that helped me recover from playing softball with my daughter were different from the ones that help me prepare and wind down from a run or a ride. Knowing the right stretches for your activity of choice makes them all-the-more effective.

Here’s a look at activities you may be engaging in as the days warm, and Web sites where you can find appropriate stretches:

Basic stretching A jack-of-all-pursuits? The Mayo Clinic offers 10 basic stretches to cover a range of activities.

Cycling It’s not just the pedaling, it’s the time in the saddle and the toll it takes on your neck, your shoulders, your back. Deal with it here.

Gardening Laugh if you will at the prospect of warming up to weed — then spend the first 70-degree day of spring in the yard and see if you’re still in such a jolly mood the next morning. These 12 exercises from “Stretching,” by Bob and Jean Anderson should help your chances for working in the yard Saturday AND Sunday.

Golf Talk about a sport that can mess up an unprepared body quick! The Mayo Clinic offers a variety of stretches to prepare your body for the potentially torq-turous backlash of a 300-yard drive.

Paddling A good paddle stroke may be about technique over power, but it can still take its toll. Minimize the impact while maximizing your time on the water with these stretches from The Stretching Institute.

Softball This routine includes 20 stretches and takes 11 minutes, a reasonable investment in return for making it to work the next morning.

Swimming Even if you aren’t swimming competitively, it’s good to be limber before hitting the water.

Tennis The Stretching Institute offers three exercises to “ improve your performance and do away with tennis injuries for good.

Walking Starting a walking program? This pamphlet of appropriate stretches from the American Heart Association should help.

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