Lately, the fitness world has been swept up in the latest “terminology” trend, which is functional fitness. Just a few years ago, it was the term “core” that had everyone rushing to learn side plank and other new(not) exercises that work on stability. The latest trend again co-opts from Pilates the idea that practiced movement should be related to how we naturally move everyday. Joseph Pilates studied moving images of how animals and humans moved and incorporated this into his philosophy of Contrology. All Pilates movements involve awareness of alignment and moving from your center. Yogilates adds to this the awareness of using the breath to release unnecessary tension before, during, and after movements. The result is not just functional exercise, but a functional mindset; one that transcends regular exercise and ingrains into our minds and bodies an efficiency and accuracy the leads to longevity in everyday living. This integrative adaptation to training only comes from a process that begins first with learning how to relax the mind and body into an optimal state for training. The relaxation response (The Relaxation Response, by Herbert Benson, Miriam Z. Klipper) is easy to attain in a Yogilates class through focus on the breath and clearing the mind of distractions. From there, one begins isolated articulations to learn to move body parts individually and sense gravity’s effect on the body in supine position. The next steps are stabilization through oppositional force and controlled momentum. This involves learning how various muscles work in concert to maintain the integrity of optimal alignment in the spine and joints of the body. Progressing onward, one gets to performing movements focused on the quality of the movement and whole body integration, meaning being aware of all of the body and controlling the speed, the range, the stabilizing forces, and the breath all at the same time. The lesson then returns back to simple isolations, but now with the body in new positions (supine, quadraped, sitting, standing, etc.), and repeats the progressive learning steps.
Here is where we see the big mistake of the functional promoters who start right away teaching multi-planar movements because they are more functional than other exercises. Doing multi-planar movements, such as torso twists with one-leg lunges, should be done to help range of motion and coordination, but only with great attention to control and alignment considerations, which can only be maintained if the mind/body is prepared for it. The movement itself doesn’t necessarily imbue awareness to the practitioner. The mind of the practitioner needs to know what it is supposed to be feeling, and that doesn’t happen automatically. As Joseph said about breathing correctly, “-this all important function requires individual instruction, not only by precept, but by example.” That can be said for all elements of functional fitness. Sadly to say, most instructors just don’t have sufficient background in teaching awareness based movement to know how to begin teaching by example.
Becoming truly functional in movement has to include this progression of learning, as it is the mind that must achieve awareness before the body is directed. Just putting the body into a position without first educating the person on how to maintain ideal alignment with optimal balance is pointless. So really, there are no such things as functional exercises without a functional learning process that precedes the movement. Another way of looking at it is that any movement can be made functional if one taps into the deep awareness of whole body integration when doing it. In Yogilates training, it is all about developing awareness and learning to use your senses to teach yourself beyond the examples of movement done in class and apply the process to everyday living. Take a moment each day to circle your arms, your shoulders, your hands, feet, hips. Feel reaching around in space and also the space inside your body, your joints and torso. Breathe deeply and notice how the ribs expand and release. Stand or sit tall and feel flexible in the spine and naturally supported from your core. This is all functional fitness, and it should feel right in your body and mind.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Intuitive vs Reactive - A New Learning Paradigm
One thing that I think most people in this field will agree on is that you can continue to learn completely new ways of seeing, feeling, and moving no matter what age or experience you are. Lately, I have discovered in myself a newfound sense of equilibrium that oddly enough came from beginning rigorous strength training. Like many people, I had hit a plateau in my training and was feeling frustrated. In addition, I was experiencing pain and aches in my joints which I first attributed to aging, but my gut intuition was telling me I needed to change my routine. Stretching and core strength was great, but I needed to get stronger in an athletic way. When I do resistance training, I still bring all my awareness of correct alignment and centering to the workout. I listen to my body and constantly adapt the positioning and motion of exercises to maintain optimal form and control. Nevertheless, it gets pretty intense and I have had to push myself harder than I thought. Long story short, it may seem inconsistent for a Pilates and yoga instructor to use strength training to solve a training issue, but it actually made physiological sense. The ligaments and cartilage in my joints had been getting overstretched from years of doing my practice, and I needed the muscles to get stronger to support the joints. I'm sure that there are many people who have similar experiences, but it is not always easy to know when you are listening to your gut in an intuitive way, and when you are just reacting in reflexive manner.
By the time we reach adulthood, most of us have developed core beliefs about ourselves and our bodies and these ideas affect the way we move and hold ourselves daily. Often, we have ideas or beliefs about our bodies that influence our neuromuscular patterns, which are the way we unconsciously initiate movement and react to instructions. These ingrained reflexes can block the mind/body from connecting and may create inefficient movement and eventually lead to imbalanced development. This is almost impossible to recognize on your own and, even with the help of a trained professional, it can take months to relearn how to initiate movement in a different way. Even then, the changes won’t stick unless you can begin to let go of old beliefs and start to see yourself differently. In my years of training clients, I have often found that the people who have chronic back or joint problems are also the people who have the most ingrained negative movement patterns and have the most difficulty following basic functional awareness exercises. This observation has been proven in scientific experiments where they took two groups of people: one with a history of common back ailments, and the other without, and they gave each of them simple instructions on how to lift objects safely. The group without a history of back pain was able to follow the instructions correctly, where as the problem group totally failed to follow instructions. The conclusion of the study was that people with chronic back pain need training in basic motor skills (mind/body awareness) before therapeutic treatment. In my own teaching practice, I have found that some people have no connection to some parts of their bodies and have exactly the wrong instincts when it comes to moving efficiently. They push the abdominals out, they bend when they are asked to straighten, they hunch their shoulders, they hold their breath, etc. Again, these are the same people that have chronic lower back pain, neck pain, shoulder pain, etc. So, we can't say that it is always wise to follow your instincts when it comes to training as, for some, it could mean following negative patterning coming from a deep lack of awareness.
Intuitive learning actually means to be open for different ways of feeling things and seeing things and at the same time reflecting on what your body is telling you and what you have learned from past experiences. It means letting go of pre-conceived notions or expectations and taking your time to experience something new. That being said, the first time you try something, you need to also listen to your intuition with regards to what someone is telling you to do. Try to take into account the whole setting of where you are and whether you feel the instructor is acting on automatic or is connecting to you and the rest of the class. Many times I have seen instructors who think they are there to challenge the class to meet them on their terms. That can be ok if you are aware of this negative energy and stay within yourself. You might not have expected it, but sometimes staying within yourself can be the intuitive way to go. I highly recommend that everyone practice on their own. Not only does this develop independence, it allows you to fully connect with your intuitive guide. The more experienced you are, the greater the benefits from these solo workouts. During these times you can practice doing a different warm-up, one where you fine-tune into your body. You can do similar exercises you have done before but change qualitative focus, such as performing some things a lot slower or leaving the arms relaxed in standing poses. You will be certain to discover something new about your body and this could take you in a direction you might never have thought about before.
Next time, I'll talk about the reality that how you move determines the shape of your body.
By the time we reach adulthood, most of us have developed core beliefs about ourselves and our bodies and these ideas affect the way we move and hold ourselves daily. Often, we have ideas or beliefs about our bodies that influence our neuromuscular patterns, which are the way we unconsciously initiate movement and react to instructions. These ingrained reflexes can block the mind/body from connecting and may create inefficient movement and eventually lead to imbalanced development. This is almost impossible to recognize on your own and, even with the help of a trained professional, it can take months to relearn how to initiate movement in a different way. Even then, the changes won’t stick unless you can begin to let go of old beliefs and start to see yourself differently. In my years of training clients, I have often found that the people who have chronic back or joint problems are also the people who have the most ingrained negative movement patterns and have the most difficulty following basic functional awareness exercises. This observation has been proven in scientific experiments where they took two groups of people: one with a history of common back ailments, and the other without, and they gave each of them simple instructions on how to lift objects safely. The group without a history of back pain was able to follow the instructions correctly, where as the problem group totally failed to follow instructions. The conclusion of the study was that people with chronic back pain need training in basic motor skills (mind/body awareness) before therapeutic treatment. In my own teaching practice, I have found that some people have no connection to some parts of their bodies and have exactly the wrong instincts when it comes to moving efficiently. They push the abdominals out, they bend when they are asked to straighten, they hunch their shoulders, they hold their breath, etc. Again, these are the same people that have chronic lower back pain, neck pain, shoulder pain, etc. So, we can't say that it is always wise to follow your instincts when it comes to training as, for some, it could mean following negative patterning coming from a deep lack of awareness.
Intuitive learning actually means to be open for different ways of feeling things and seeing things and at the same time reflecting on what your body is telling you and what you have learned from past experiences. It means letting go of pre-conceived notions or expectations and taking your time to experience something new. That being said, the first time you try something, you need to also listen to your intuition with regards to what someone is telling you to do. Try to take into account the whole setting of where you are and whether you feel the instructor is acting on automatic or is connecting to you and the rest of the class. Many times I have seen instructors who think they are there to challenge the class to meet them on their terms. That can be ok if you are aware of this negative energy and stay within yourself. You might not have expected it, but sometimes staying within yourself can be the intuitive way to go. I highly recommend that everyone practice on their own. Not only does this develop independence, it allows you to fully connect with your intuitive guide. The more experienced you are, the greater the benefits from these solo workouts. During these times you can practice doing a different warm-up, one where you fine-tune into your body. You can do similar exercises you have done before but change qualitative focus, such as performing some things a lot slower or leaving the arms relaxed in standing poses. You will be certain to discover something new about your body and this could take you in a direction you might never have thought about before.
Next time, I'll talk about the reality that how you move determines the shape of your body.
Friday, January 29, 2010
The Most Often Asked Question in Fitness
The Most Often Asked Question in Fitness
What is the best way to get a flat stomach?
Boy, if I had a quarter for every time I've been asked that question. The real answer to the above question is a three part solution: 1) Although you don't have to be super lean to achieve a flat belly, it certainly helps. So, the best way to lose fat around the stomach area, and the rest of your body, is by doing regular aerobic exercise. Contrary to what alot of trainers and infomercials for ab machines tell you, there is no such thing as a spot reducing exercise. So, to burn fat in one area, you got to burn fat in the whole body. And the best way to do that is with aerobic exercise. This is a fact that has to be accepted. Now, to get yourself leaner you will need to do cardiovascular exercise at least 4-5 times a week, with at least one of those workouts being for over 45 minutes at moderate intensity (65-70% of maximum THR) (heart rate calculator) to initiate greater fat burning as a percentage of total calories burned. See, studies have shown that up to that duration, the body's metabolism will still use carbohydrates in the bloodstream for the majority of the energy needed. After 45 minutes, the metabolism starts to shift to fat molecules for energy for the majority of energy needed. It is never 100% from fat, more like changing from 75/25% carbs to fat, to 30/70%. The difference is significant. The more often you do longer periods of aerobic exercise, the quicker the body will adapt to fat as it's preferred energy source for exercise. Highly trained marathoners can start to burn fat as their primary source of energy within 5 minutes of running.
The next part in planning your aerobic workouts is to make one of the other workouts include "intervals", which are several higher intensity periods of at least 1 minute in duration, at or near 85-90% Maximum THR* (see above). To do this, first warm up at moderate speed for 5 minutes. Then, increase the speed, incline, or resistance to a level where you can maintain it for 1 minute. After the interval, give yourself 2 minutes at slower speed to recover. Repeat three times. After a few weeks, try adding another interval. Then, after another few weeks, try increasing the duration of the interval 15-30 seconds. It doesn't matter what form of aerobic exercise you do although for fastest results, I recommend running if you are able to since it tends to burn the most calories per minute next to Cross-Country skiing. 2) Do Pilates exercises under the supervision of an experienced instructor. There is actually a technique of letting the abdominal sink in without force that will teach you to reflexively (unconsciously) draw the stomach in for natural support. All other forms of abdominal exercises are not taught this way and, while they may make your stomach area stronger and harder, they can actually make the area protrude out. You can check out the Yogilates video programs and New York Style Pilates programs for instructions on this technique. 3) You don't need to diet, just eat and drink moderately and sensibly. Two things that you need to watch out for are carbonated beverages, even diet ones, as they tend to bloat the stomach and put outward pressure in the intestines. The other is salt an salty foods. Salt makes the cells in your body retain water, increasing their size. Avoid packaged snack foods, especially chips, pretzels, crackers, and watch out for any canned or jarred sauces such as pasta sauces.
So there you have it. These three steps are the only sure way to get a flat stomach area.
Lastly, if you would like a more complete and personalized fitness and lifestyle program, feel free to contact me directly.
What is the best way to get a flat stomach?
Boy, if I had a quarter for every time I've been asked that question. The real answer to the above question is a three part solution: 1) Although you don't have to be super lean to achieve a flat belly, it certainly helps. So, the best way to lose fat around the stomach area, and the rest of your body, is by doing regular aerobic exercise. Contrary to what alot of trainers and infomercials for ab machines tell you, there is no such thing as a spot reducing exercise. So, to burn fat in one area, you got to burn fat in the whole body. And the best way to do that is with aerobic exercise. This is a fact that has to be accepted. Now, to get yourself leaner you will need to do cardiovascular exercise at least 4-5 times a week, with at least one of those workouts being for over 45 minutes at moderate intensity (65-70% of maximum THR) (heart rate calculator) to initiate greater fat burning as a percentage of total calories burned. See, studies have shown that up to that duration, the body's metabolism will still use carbohydrates in the bloodstream for the majority of the energy needed. After 45 minutes, the metabolism starts to shift to fat molecules for energy for the majority of energy needed. It is never 100% from fat, more like changing from 75/25% carbs to fat, to 30/70%. The difference is significant. The more often you do longer periods of aerobic exercise, the quicker the body will adapt to fat as it's preferred energy source for exercise. Highly trained marathoners can start to burn fat as their primary source of energy within 5 minutes of running.
The next part in planning your aerobic workouts is to make one of the other workouts include "intervals", which are several higher intensity periods of at least 1 minute in duration, at or near 85-90% Maximum THR* (see above). To do this, first warm up at moderate speed for 5 minutes. Then, increase the speed, incline, or resistance to a level where you can maintain it for 1 minute. After the interval, give yourself 2 minutes at slower speed to recover. Repeat three times. After a few weeks, try adding another interval. Then, after another few weeks, try increasing the duration of the interval 15-30 seconds. It doesn't matter what form of aerobic exercise you do although for fastest results, I recommend running if you are able to since it tends to burn the most calories per minute next to Cross-Country skiing. 2) Do Pilates exercises under the supervision of an experienced instructor. There is actually a technique of letting the abdominal sink in without force that will teach you to reflexively (unconsciously) draw the stomach in for natural support. All other forms of abdominal exercises are not taught this way and, while they may make your stomach area stronger and harder, they can actually make the area protrude out. You can check out the Yogilates video programs and New York Style Pilates programs for instructions on this technique. 3) You don't need to diet, just eat and drink moderately and sensibly. Two things that you need to watch out for are carbonated beverages, even diet ones, as they tend to bloat the stomach and put outward pressure in the intestines. The other is salt an salty foods. Salt makes the cells in your body retain water, increasing their size. Avoid packaged snack foods, especially chips, pretzels, crackers, and watch out for any canned or jarred sauces such as pasta sauces.
So there you have it. These three steps are the only sure way to get a flat stomach area.
Lastly, if you would like a more complete and personalized fitness and lifestyle program, feel free to contact me directly.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
NEW New Years Resolutions: Diet vs Lifestyle
The new decade is here, and I am amazed at how little things have changed. We are still at war, the economy still lags, cars are still running on gas, etc. In terms of health and fitness, never before have I seen so much attention being paid to losing weight. And I mean paid!! All the television talk shows have segments on it, and of course there is the hit TV show The Biggest Loser, and it's offshoots. In addition to this, there are the diet program wars, with millions spent on advertisements for each. Despite all this, here is the depressing fact: of all the people who will start diets this year, only about 2% will succeed at keeping the weight off. The reality is diets don't work and you will just be wasting your money if you buy into a program that puts you on one without looking at your life first and assessing the factors beyond calories consumed. These "lifestyle" issues are the real reason people have gained weight, and they have to be addressed systematically, individually, and objectively for any change to stick.
As a certified Lifestyle & Weight Management Coach, I have seen many clients with different weight issues and situations. Over the years, I have come up with a questionnaire that goes beyond the standard Health History form to ascertain critical information for evaluating a person's lifestyle and identifying practical, non-subjective, causes for poor weight management. This lifestyle questionnaire is key and shows individual parameters that guide the coach to offering solutions that will work for that person. Nutrition and diet books, programs and experts only provide basic information, but they can't, and shouldn't, presume their advice will work for all people because everyone is different. One of the main contributors to poor nutritional habits is stress. We know that excess stress, which can be either physical, mental, or emotional, can not only cause you to make bad decisions when it comes to what, when, and how you eat, but it also elevates the hormone cortisol, which has been scientifically shown to promote weight gain. What this means, is that even for people who are relatively only slightly overweight, it would help to look at things going on in their lives other than just how much they are eating and exercising. Sometimes, it is just a matter of being conscious of what is causing stress in your life, and then learning to be mindful of the way it makes you feel. Mindfulness is a skill one can learn to control your reactions to stress by basically not reflexively sabotaging yourself and instead allowing the feeling to subside and deciding to take a positive step instead. Common sense and mindfulness are the cornerstones of my integrative approach to lifestyle coaching and have the added benefit of leading to permanent changes in behavior and attitude.
So, with all that being said, I still would like to give everyone some general nutrition advice just so you can feel empowered to make healthy changes sooner, rather than later. Here are five common sense nutritional principles anyone can adopt:
1. To reduce water weight, where the cells of the body bloat with excess water, you should reduce your salt/sodium intake. The best ways to do this are to eliminate crackers, chips, pretzels, and any other packaged cereal products which are usually loaded with sodium. In addition, avoid canned, bagged, or jarred pasta sauces which are also loaded with sodium. Same for all frozen prepared foods. Yes, you may want to start making your own sauces, and instead of chips, eat cut up carrots and other vegetables that give you a similar "crunch".
2. To keep your metabolism on an even keep, try to eat your breakfast within 2 hours of getting up. I know a lot of busy professionals who eat late dinners and then skip breakfast. What they probably don't realize is that they are sabotaging their metabolism. Your metabolism is the rate at which your body burns calories at rest. In the morning, if you don't eat something within two hours of waking, your metabolism will set lower, meaning you will burn less calories and store more in your fat cells. Remember, you don't have to eat right after waking up, and it doesn't need to be a farmer's breakfast (meaning eggs, bacon, toast, etc). It just needs to be within 2 hours and should be something healthy like an egg white sandwich on whole wheat toast, or a yogurt and an orange.
3. Substitute organic low-fat cheese and yogurt for milk and hard cheeses to lessen fat and cholesterol in your diet. Dairy products offer you the easiest and most readily available source of the vital nutrient calcium. However, whole milk products are not recommended for most adults because they contain high amounts of saturated fat and cholesterol. Other than a few teaspoons in your coffee, you never need to drink milk. I personally haven't had milk as a drink for years. Adults can get all the calcium they need from organic low-fat yogurt or cheese and green vegetables.
4. Eating moderately is one of my "seven lifestyle eating principles", and to help you control the amount of food you consume, I recommend using small to medium plates to serve your food. Nine inches across is ideal and all of your meal should fit on that plate. Oh, and for people who may try to stack up the food, your height restriction is 3 inches and the weight should be no more than 12oz. Eating smaller portions is critical to successful weight management. Your stomach is not unlike a balloon. It can get stretched when you overeat. Then, after you have digested, your stomach won't feel quite full again unless it gets expanded the same amount. Here is where you have to train your stomach to be smaller again. Start by tricking your stomach by eating a large salad of basically calorie free lettuce and other salad vegetables (low-fat dressing). This volume will satisfy your stomach's size memory without adding to your fat storage. Then, over the next few days, gradually eat smaller portions at all your meals, while adding some low-fat snacks, like an apple or yogurt, in between meals so you don't feel real hungry. Eventually, your stomach will get accustomed to the less stretched size and will feel full on less.
5. Eat slowly. This is an exercise in mindfulness and research has shown that people who eat faster tend to eat more than people who eat slower. What eating slower does is it allows you time to be conscious of what you have eaten, the time you are eating, and how much you have eaten. Knowing how full you are is different from feeling like your taste buds want more stimulation. Practice eating six bites or spoonfuls (about 1 and 1/2 ozs) of whatever food your eating and chewing each mouthful completely. Then pause. Take a sip of water and try to gauge how full you feel. You may feel full already, or need only a couple of bites more to be satiated. Even if eating slower doesn't lead to eating much less, it is still a good exercise in mindfulness and can give you a greater appreciation of food and the time we spend nourishing our bodies.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Stretching For Your Brain (How stretching makes you smarter)
Most everyone who knows me knows that I am big believer in stretching intelligently and regularly. Stretching is one of the key components in any balanced program for optimal performance. However, in addition to helping flexibility, agility, muscular balance, speed, stamina, and strength, did you know that stretching properly can also make you smarter? Just listen.
It used to be a common misperception that we only used 10% of our brain during daily living. It is now known that we in fact use all (100%) of our brain, meaning that there is activity in all the brain areas. Even when we sleep the organ does not shut off. What is important to note, however, is that we cannot consciously use all of our brain. See, every second the brain is responsible for controlling all the activities and tasks that your body has to do just to function. This includes things like digesting food, filtering the blood, releasing hormones and other chemicals, it also includes adjusting your vision from close range to far, or habitual actions like breathing. Using electrical signals, the brain controls all the other organs in the body, and also all the muscles of your body through the central nervous system. Thankfully, most of that activity happens automatically so we don’t have to consciously tell our bodies to do the millions of things it has to do so we function properly. As we grow from an infant to adult, the brain also learns how to accomplish many day to day movements in an automatic way. These learned motor functions include standing, walking, sitting or rising from sitting, speaking, writing, throwing, driving, etc. These are complex movements that involve coordinating or synchronizing multiple muscle groups together and they take time to practice. Once learned however, we start to perform them unconsciously and can fairly quickly “walk and chew gum” at the same time. Again, the brain is still controlling these movements, but on an unconscious level so we can consciously think about other things – multi-task if you will.
So, we know the brain is being used fully all the time, but how will stretching help me be smarter? The brain functions like an electric circuit. The signals it receives and sends are little electric charges that travel from the brain to the area of the body via the nervous system. Your body’s muscular system is basically a system of pulleys and levers that work together with gravity or against it to position itself and move. One side of your body has to evenly oppose the other side of the body for you to be in ideal alignment. In anatomical terms, we have muscles that function as either agonists or antagonists for different movements. If you have a tight muscle on one side of your body, it will pull on the opposing muscles and create an imbalance in your muscular system. Your brain senses the tight muscle and receives signals from the nerves that attach to that muscle. It then sends signals to the opposing muscle to resist the force so you don’t lose your functional balance. The circuitry of the brain is working overtime for this, and if you are feeling the tightness, it’s not just affecting your unconscious brain, it is also occupying your conscious as well. If you accept the notion that your brain is being used 100% all the time, than that means that there isn’t room to optimally perform tasks at 100% efficiency, while also regulating imbalances in your muscular system. So, having an excessively tight area in your body will prevent your body and your brain from operating at their best. The mind and the body are integrally connected.
Here’s another way to look at it. When we are performing whole body coordinated movement either continuously as in running or swimming, or in a series of connected movements like playing tennis or basketball, we have to rely on our unconscious brain to handle most of the activity in the body that allows this high degree of function. Reflexes and muscle memory take over so we can think instead of concepts like pace, rhythm, or competitive strategies. When we are in our zone, we can even let go of directing our limbs and just feel the moment and let our mind think of completely unrelated thoughts. In the book Spark by John J. Ratey, MD, he points to many studies that show a clear link between exercise (aerobic) and brain functionality. Basically, by exercising, we help keep the brain centers active and growing. When we stretch our muscles, we are taking time to listen to our body, to notice how it feels and moves. This enhances the mind/body connection which makes your smarter.
One last perspective on the subject: In our lifetime we will expend a great deal of energy both physically and mentally just by living. Just like in society with regards to our environment, we want to expend our energy wisely and efficiently. If we have tightness that goes unaddressed in the body, it will require us to use more energy in both the body and the brain to function. The first time I started to stretch, I couldn’t believe how much effort it took. After just a few minutes stretching, I was sweating like I’d been running in the desert. It exhausted me. The next time however, it was still hard, but I wasn’t exhausted afterward anymore. Instead I started to feel more energy. I didn’t understand why, but I felt as if I had taken an energy drink. Now, it all makes sense to me. My body was wasting a lot of energy on the tight muscles in my legs and back. Once I loosened those areas up by stretching, all that energy was now available to me for other activities. It is a good thing I started dancing professionally so I had an outlet for all that energy, otherwise …. I might have started jumping off of roofs or something. If you have never really stretched to change your flexibility, you won’t understand what I’m talking about. But, if you decide to start you will quickly see what I mean.
It used to be a common misperception that we only used 10% of our brain during daily living. It is now known that we in fact use all (100%) of our brain, meaning that there is activity in all the brain areas. Even when we sleep the organ does not shut off. What is important to note, however, is that we cannot consciously use all of our brain. See, every second the brain is responsible for controlling all the activities and tasks that your body has to do just to function. This includes things like digesting food, filtering the blood, releasing hormones and other chemicals, it also includes adjusting your vision from close range to far, or habitual actions like breathing. Using electrical signals, the brain controls all the other organs in the body, and also all the muscles of your body through the central nervous system. Thankfully, most of that activity happens automatically so we don’t have to consciously tell our bodies to do the millions of things it has to do so we function properly. As we grow from an infant to adult, the brain also learns how to accomplish many day to day movements in an automatic way. These learned motor functions include standing, walking, sitting or rising from sitting, speaking, writing, throwing, driving, etc. These are complex movements that involve coordinating or synchronizing multiple muscle groups together and they take time to practice. Once learned however, we start to perform them unconsciously and can fairly quickly “walk and chew gum” at the same time. Again, the brain is still controlling these movements, but on an unconscious level so we can consciously think about other things – multi-task if you will.
So, we know the brain is being used fully all the time, but how will stretching help me be smarter? The brain functions like an electric circuit. The signals it receives and sends are little electric charges that travel from the brain to the area of the body via the nervous system. Your body’s muscular system is basically a system of pulleys and levers that work together with gravity or against it to position itself and move. One side of your body has to evenly oppose the other side of the body for you to be in ideal alignment. In anatomical terms, we have muscles that function as either agonists or antagonists for different movements. If you have a tight muscle on one side of your body, it will pull on the opposing muscles and create an imbalance in your muscular system. Your brain senses the tight muscle and receives signals from the nerves that attach to that muscle. It then sends signals to the opposing muscle to resist the force so you don’t lose your functional balance. The circuitry of the brain is working overtime for this, and if you are feeling the tightness, it’s not just affecting your unconscious brain, it is also occupying your conscious as well. If you accept the notion that your brain is being used 100% all the time, than that means that there isn’t room to optimally perform tasks at 100% efficiency, while also regulating imbalances in your muscular system. So, having an excessively tight area in your body will prevent your body and your brain from operating at their best. The mind and the body are integrally connected.
Here’s another way to look at it. When we are performing whole body coordinated movement either continuously as in running or swimming, or in a series of connected movements like playing tennis or basketball, we have to rely on our unconscious brain to handle most of the activity in the body that allows this high degree of function. Reflexes and muscle memory take over so we can think instead of concepts like pace, rhythm, or competitive strategies. When we are in our zone, we can even let go of directing our limbs and just feel the moment and let our mind think of completely unrelated thoughts. In the book Spark by John J. Ratey, MD, he points to many studies that show a clear link between exercise (aerobic) and brain functionality. Basically, by exercising, we help keep the brain centers active and growing. When we stretch our muscles, we are taking time to listen to our body, to notice how it feels and moves. This enhances the mind/body connection which makes your smarter.
One last perspective on the subject: In our lifetime we will expend a great deal of energy both physically and mentally just by living. Just like in society with regards to our environment, we want to expend our energy wisely and efficiently. If we have tightness that goes unaddressed in the body, it will require us to use more energy in both the body and the brain to function. The first time I started to stretch, I couldn’t believe how much effort it took. After just a few minutes stretching, I was sweating like I’d been running in the desert. It exhausted me. The next time however, it was still hard, but I wasn’t exhausted afterward anymore. Instead I started to feel more energy. I didn’t understand why, but I felt as if I had taken an energy drink. Now, it all makes sense to me. My body was wasting a lot of energy on the tight muscles in my legs and back. Once I loosened those areas up by stretching, all that energy was now available to me for other activities. It is a good thing I started dancing professionally so I had an outlet for all that energy, otherwise …. I might have started jumping off of roofs or something. If you have never really stretched to change your flexibility, you won’t understand what I’m talking about. But, if you decide to start you will quickly see what I mean.
Let the Stretching Controversy End!
It seems like almost every month I see another article written about the benefits, or lack thereof, from stretching. Most recently an article in the NYTimes Play magazine(Oct. 31, 2008) related the “new” science behind dynamic stretching, which is just a new term for calisthenics without the toe touching, and includes marching and something they called the “scorpion”. This kind of warm-up stretching is of course better for athletes than just starting with static stretching, at least when it comes to the legs and arms of runners and pitchers. Because of the “golgi reflex” or neuromuscular inhibitory response to static stretching, there is a reduction in a muscle’s ability to contract for up to 20 minutes afterwards. The article also related the results of another large study that found that static stretching before exercise does not reduce the risk of injury.
I’ve always said that the best time to really stretch your muscles is after you are fully warmed-up, such as after your cardiovascular exercise. That’s when you can really take your time and feel your muscles lengthening. By concentrating on long bouts of passive stretching after my training, I personally completely changed by flexibility from not even being able to touch my knees to being able to place my head comfortably on my shins while hugging my feet in about one year of effort. That being said, I always do pre-training stretching, which includes some dynamic stretching and some short bouts of static stretching for specific areas. Contrary to the premise that is so often cited in all the articles about stretching, the reason I, and I believe most professional athletes and dancers, stretch before training is to improve performance. The effect of stretching for performance has been studied and results show it does have a positive effect. There are more studies going on, believe me, but if you ask athletes for whom flexibility is required to execute their sport effectively, they will unanimously tell you that stretching is an important part of their training. But again, the reason isn’t to prevent injury, it is to improve performance. Why don’t any of these scientists who want to study stretching ever ask actual athletes or professional dancers whose careers require flexibility, why they stretch. Instead, it is like they heard some old coach in a gym class say you should stretch so you won’t get injured and they assumed that is the only reason why. It is just a dumb premise and I wish they would look at the other, more obvious benefits of stretching and at the other things athletes can do to prevent injury.
Now, the question I think that is very interesting is just how does stretching improve performance. On a simple functional level, more range of motion and flexibility will allow someone with good coordination to exhibit greater agility and mobility. These skills usually translate to improved performance in most sports. It has also been shown that if a muscle is tight, it will have less strength, or be able to produce less force, than if it was normal. Furthermore, one excessively tight muscle can prevent the optimal functioning of a group of muscles, thus reducing performance in activities that require activation of several muscle groups at once. This is where I would argue for a little static stretching before training if you have a particular muscle that is tight to begin with, either from lack of use or from overuse. A muscle that is tight is already pre-exhausted. In addition, it’s opposite muscle, or antagonist, is working a little in the opposite direction to bring the body in balance. This creates an inefficient system and wastes valuable energy that could otherwise be used in performance. Therefore, if my calves are really tight because of hill training a couple of days ago, I’m going to spend a little more time stretching them before my training just to get them to feel loose. Granted, I hold a static stretch before training for no longer than 10 to 20 seconds, whereas after training I might hold the stretch for up to a minute or more. Nevertheless, it isn’t high kicks or jumping jacks that will help this area get loose. The pre-training stretch routine you do should be relevant to what your body needs, not what some scientist says is best. Who knows what they were calling stretching in the first place – did they use good form, did they breathe, did they listen to their bodies? I doubt it. The fact is, there isn’t just one way to do things. I remember one study that took a group of Olympic weight lifters and had half add a basic pole stretch for their chests to their pre-lift warm-up, while the other group just kept training as usual. After 5 weeks, the group that trained as usual saw no improvement in the amount of weight they were lifting, whereas the stretching group improved their maximum weight lifted by 5-10kg, which is pretty significant at their level. So, contrary to the recent study that showed reduced strength (force) in a muscle from static stretching, this study showed increased strength. I would speculate that the weight lifters probably had excessively tight pectoral muscles from steady training which was impeding their performance. Bringing a little more flexibility to the muscles before training allowed for greater circulation both in the vascular and nervous systems. It also allowed antagonist muscles to be more relaxed and for their muscular system to be more efficient and balanced. This would allow for more energy to be directed at executing the movements required for their sport, thus improving performance. I don’t know for how long the participants held the pole stretch, maybe they only held it for a few seconds at a time, like the way I do, and maybe they didn’t push really hard in the stretch as common sense would tell them not to do, so it didn’t create much of the neuromuscular inhibitory response. In any case, they didn’t do the dynamic stretches codified now by so many experts, yet they improved performance.
I’ve always said that the best time to really stretch your muscles is after you are fully warmed-up, such as after your cardiovascular exercise. That’s when you can really take your time and feel your muscles lengthening. By concentrating on long bouts of passive stretching after my training, I personally completely changed by flexibility from not even being able to touch my knees to being able to place my head comfortably on my shins while hugging my feet in about one year of effort. That being said, I always do pre-training stretching, which includes some dynamic stretching and some short bouts of static stretching for specific areas. Contrary to the premise that is so often cited in all the articles about stretching, the reason I, and I believe most professional athletes and dancers, stretch before training is to improve performance. The effect of stretching for performance has been studied and results show it does have a positive effect. There are more studies going on, believe me, but if you ask athletes for whom flexibility is required to execute their sport effectively, they will unanimously tell you that stretching is an important part of their training. But again, the reason isn’t to prevent injury, it is to improve performance. Why don’t any of these scientists who want to study stretching ever ask actual athletes or professional dancers whose careers require flexibility, why they stretch. Instead, it is like they heard some old coach in a gym class say you should stretch so you won’t get injured and they assumed that is the only reason why. It is just a dumb premise and I wish they would look at the other, more obvious benefits of stretching and at the other things athletes can do to prevent injury.
Now, the question I think that is very interesting is just how does stretching improve performance. On a simple functional level, more range of motion and flexibility will allow someone with good coordination to exhibit greater agility and mobility. These skills usually translate to improved performance in most sports. It has also been shown that if a muscle is tight, it will have less strength, or be able to produce less force, than if it was normal. Furthermore, one excessively tight muscle can prevent the optimal functioning of a group of muscles, thus reducing performance in activities that require activation of several muscle groups at once. This is where I would argue for a little static stretching before training if you have a particular muscle that is tight to begin with, either from lack of use or from overuse. A muscle that is tight is already pre-exhausted. In addition, it’s opposite muscle, or antagonist, is working a little in the opposite direction to bring the body in balance. This creates an inefficient system and wastes valuable energy that could otherwise be used in performance. Therefore, if my calves are really tight because of hill training a couple of days ago, I’m going to spend a little more time stretching them before my training just to get them to feel loose. Granted, I hold a static stretch before training for no longer than 10 to 20 seconds, whereas after training I might hold the stretch for up to a minute or more. Nevertheless, it isn’t high kicks or jumping jacks that will help this area get loose. The pre-training stretch routine you do should be relevant to what your body needs, not what some scientist says is best. Who knows what they were calling stretching in the first place – did they use good form, did they breathe, did they listen to their bodies? I doubt it. The fact is, there isn’t just one way to do things. I remember one study that took a group of Olympic weight lifters and had half add a basic pole stretch for their chests to their pre-lift warm-up, while the other group just kept training as usual. After 5 weeks, the group that trained as usual saw no improvement in the amount of weight they were lifting, whereas the stretching group improved their maximum weight lifted by 5-10kg, which is pretty significant at their level. So, contrary to the recent study that showed reduced strength (force) in a muscle from static stretching, this study showed increased strength. I would speculate that the weight lifters probably had excessively tight pectoral muscles from steady training which was impeding their performance. Bringing a little more flexibility to the muscles before training allowed for greater circulation both in the vascular and nervous systems. It also allowed antagonist muscles to be more relaxed and for their muscular system to be more efficient and balanced. This would allow for more energy to be directed at executing the movements required for their sport, thus improving performance. I don’t know for how long the participants held the pole stretch, maybe they only held it for a few seconds at a time, like the way I do, and maybe they didn’t push really hard in the stretch as common sense would tell them not to do, so it didn’t create much of the neuromuscular inhibitory response. In any case, they didn’t do the dynamic stretches codified now by so many experts, yet they improved performance.
Friday, February 13, 2009
MANA AROGYAM: SO YOU WANT TO FIT…
MANA AROGYAM: SO YOU WANT TO FIT…
Wonderful article. Thank you for your unbiased report on Yogilates. For those who would like more information, please visit www.yogilates.com.
Wonderful article. Thank you for your unbiased report on Yogilates. For those who would like more information, please visit www.yogilates.com.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
