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Can stretcing actually hinder flexibility????
Okay so this is actually going to piggyback off of a previous thread about Stacey Nemour’s splits and flexibility dvd…
Here is my situation…over the past 6 mths or so I have really been concentrating on regaining my lost flexibility from my skating/gymnastics days. So my progress was going really well…only about 3 inches to go in my straddle…until I started doing Stacey’s stretches! For some reason the following is happening:
1. can no longer get as low in my straddle https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_evil.gif
2. hurts now to do my "gravity" stretch where I would sit w/ bum against wall and then allow gravity to pull my legs into straddle position https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_cry.gif
3. butterfly stretches have gone into reverse…can’t get knees as low…can’t bend over as much… https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_mad.gifSo, I guess my question is…can certain stretches hinder my flexibility progress? Is taking two steps back a normal progression in flexibility training??
HELP!!! https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_scratch.gif
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6 Replies
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There is a lot of debate about passive stretching and whether it can hinder increasing flexibility. I think the thought is that if a stretch is pushed too far that the body an go into overdrive and try to repair itself by laying down calcium in the stretched tissue. Also I guess if you stretch too far and cause microtrauma to your muscle tissue, scar tissue could be laid down to repair it and scar tissue is inflexible. You should be ok so long as you take it slowly and don’t try to push too far. A stretch may cause a bit of discomfort but it shouldn’t be painful.
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Honestly, if you had the flexibillity before than obviously what you were doing before worked. I would just keep doing what you were doing before. In the past when I’ve tried to push my felaxabillity to fast I’ve just ended up pulling muscles.
PS. thumbs up to the person before me.
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I don’t know what Stacey is having your do in the dvd or what ever it is. But there are many theories on stretching. As Azzwoo mentioned… if over stretched, the body tries to protected its self, that is one possibility. I think a lot of people over do it and become sore and tight, now that’s not what you want! Also our bodies will be more flexible some days than others, my guess would be hormones might play apart in that, but I"m not sure? Also we tend to be the least flexible in the morning. https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_sunny.gif If the stretches are not performed with proper body alignment that could cause problems too. One other thing, if the stretches are done with out the body being really, really, nice and warm, you wont see the benefits and it could cause the micro trauma to your muscle tissue, that Azzwoo was talking about. Tension is good pain is bad. I would be curious to know what techniques Stacey is using. If what you were doing before was working I would go back to that. https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_thumright.gif
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I went back to doing what I was doing…but threw in a few of her stretches…and my straddle was back to normal https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif and it didn’t hurt like hell!! So lesson learned…if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it!! https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_lol.gif
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I went back to doing what I was doing…but threw in a few of her stretches…and my straddle was back to normal https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif and it didn’t hurt like hell!! So lesson learned…if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it!! https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_lol.gif
That’s odd that your straddle just went back to normal when you stopped LOL. I’m glad to hear it though.
So uh….whatcha gonna do with those DVD’s now…. https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_rolleyes.gif
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I recently learned about a new stretching method called active isolated flexibility/stretching. You can google it to learn about it, search it on youtube, or if you are in Netflix, they have a DVD rental. It’s pretty interesting, and the thinking is that if you do lengthy stretching (over 2 seconds) you cause the muscles to tighten. The technique was developed by physical therapists and is used by premier ballet dancers and athletes. Essentially you stretch the muscle 2 seconds while exhaling, and release the muscle quickly so it goes in the other direction. It’s hard to describe so here’s just one of many vids you can see on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWwu5x8jeKg
I know I get tight after stretching but if I use this method I feel pretty limber.
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