The human body is an amazing piece of art! And understanding it can take a long, long time but you can only appreciate its beauty if you do understand it! There is a defined logic behind each and every occurrence in the body, and hence we can devise ways to keep it fit.
Last week we saw how important it is to cool down your body after a bout of exercise, and one of the most popular ways to do that is by stretching the active muscles.
Stretches are again of 2-3 types –
Active – when you perform the stretch on your own, till your comfortable range of motion
Passive – when someone else assists you to stretch
Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF) stretching – when someone helps you to stretch using a slightly different procedure. This is usually used in a lot of rehab situations.
Stretching mainly targets the connective tissue, that is- the tendons that attach muscles to bones, and then the interconnected muscles, in that order. The flexibility of the connective tissue is a major factor deciding the range of motion around any joint.
I am sure all of us at some point of time, may have fallen asleep while being seated – at office, in a bus or anywhere..
The head usually falls to one side and, if it goes beyond a safe limit, the neck automatically jerks you up, and you try to keep your head upright!! The same is the case when you twist your ankle – you twist and suddenly jerk up to the original position.
This is called as the stretch reflex and is body’s natural mechanism to avoid injury due to over stretching. There are receptors in the connective tissue and the interconnected muscles that define the comfort level of your stretch…
However, while stretching in case of muscles which are shortened over a period of time, it is important to hold your
stretch comfortably for more than 20 - 25 seconds in order to re-align the muscles to their original lengths and avoid unnecessary activations of the different receptors.
Never perform any stretch when the muscle is cold. Always use a mild warm up and then perform the stretches.
Showing posts with label range of motion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label range of motion. Show all posts
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Facts Unlimited…
Lets explore some more facts which are essential for a safe, useful and result – oriented exercise program –
§ Weight training workout designing is a very interesting and detailed procedure, ideally, but of course usually not taken seriously by our lesser trained programmers.
What I mean to say is that, its not just any muscle, any time for how many ever repetitions. There is a logic, order, method and technique to be used. For example, functionally speaking, the muscles of the leg and lower back are “endurance” muscles – that means they help to keep your body erect the whole day (if needed) without much fatigue.
§ As such, your training program must focus on increasing the muscle endurance of these muscles.
A simple technique would be to work the lower back muscles with lesser weight and more repetitions, thereby increasing the time the targeted muscle is under stress. It is pretty obvious that if the weight is very high, then you cannot sustain it for a longer duration.
§ Similarly, all repetitions must be performed in the complete Range of motion – which is the movable range available at any of your joint. Any motion which does not use the naturally available range gives rise to shortened muscles and a distorted appearance, and may be postural problems as well.
§ Also, please try to control the urge to show –off your strength or crane your neck to your side to look at the beautiful people arriving at the gym, when you are working out to avoid injury to the neck. Always look straight ahead and keep your body upright and relaxed. The world can wait!
§ Always use the help of a trainer (Spotting) when you are lifting heavy weights over your head or when you are lying down and lifting heavy weights to avoid shoulder injury or fatal accidents. Follow the right techniques and form while lifting weights.
§ Weight training workout designing is a very interesting and detailed procedure, ideally, but of course usually not taken seriously by our lesser trained programmers.
What I mean to say is that, its not just any muscle, any time for how many ever repetitions. There is a logic, order, method and technique to be used. For example, functionally speaking, the muscles of the leg and lower back are “endurance” muscles – that means they help to keep your body erect the whole day (if needed) without much fatigue.
§ As such, your training program must focus on increasing the muscle endurance of these muscles.
A simple technique would be to work the lower back muscles with lesser weight and more repetitions, thereby increasing the time the targeted muscle is under stress. It is pretty obvious that if the weight is very high, then you cannot sustain it for a longer duration.
§ Similarly, all repetitions must be performed in the complete Range of motion – which is the movable range available at any of your joint. Any motion which does not use the naturally available range gives rise to shortened muscles and a distorted appearance, and may be postural problems as well.
§ Also, please try to control the urge to show –off your strength or crane your neck to your side to look at the beautiful people arriving at the gym, when you are working out to avoid injury to the neck. Always look straight ahead and keep your body upright and relaxed. The world can wait!
§ Always use the help of a trainer (Spotting) when you are lifting heavy weights over your head or when you are lying down and lifting heavy weights to avoid shoulder injury or fatal accidents. Follow the right techniques and form while lifting weights.
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