With only so many hours in the day, fitness routines have become more condensed than ever. Athletes are increasingly stingy with their sweat equity, saving every bit of energy and attention for performance, maintenance, aesthetics, or some combination of the three. All of the maintenance work — the tedious but necessary tasks that promote durability and longevity — too frequently ends up falling by the wayside. Tops on the list of expendable habits is stretching, which increases flexibility, enhances performance, and makes you more resistant to injury.
PowerBar
® Team Elite™ athlete Sage Rountree, PhD, is something of an authority on the subject. An accomplished runner and triathlete with coaching certifications from USA Triathlon, USA Cycling, and the Road Runners Club of America, Sage is a yoga professional who teaches at workshops for athletes across the United States. She knows well the value of flexibility for all types of athletes.
"As a yoga teacher, I like to give a broader definition,” she says. “Flexibility is being able to bend — but not break — both physically and mentally. It enables you to adapt to changing situations and keep your sense of balance. More flexibility means that your body can be better balanced, which is a noble goal for any athlete. Most of us, especially endurance athletes, accrue some serious muscle imbalances that can be corrected by focusing on flexibility."
Sage adds that strength and flexibility go hand in hand, which is why she feels that yoga is such a good practice for athletes.
"A gentle yoga class is a good start for athletes," she says. "You'll get the benefits of stretching but also learn how your breath can help you feel steady and calm. Yoga is great because of its attention to whole-body strength."
Flexibility training has started to garner greater attention from sports academics, prompting a slew of new research on the subject. One paradigm shift that's come as a result of the spotlight on flexibility has been stretching protocols. It used to be that your P.E. teacher would advocate a few minutes of static — or held — stretches prior to activity. But now, active — or dynamic — warm-ups are the preferred pre-workout activity, with the static stretching now relegated to post-workout.
"Muscles do better stretching when they are warm, which is to say it's best done after activity," Sage says. She goes on to say, "Studies are showing that dynamic warm-ups are useful before workout, and that static stretching before a workout can decrease force production."
If staying out of the urgent care is at the top of your priority list, then flexibility should be a big — or bigger — part of your program. One study in the
American Journal of Sports Medicine from the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine showed that professional soccer players with greater tightness in their hamstring and quadriceps muscles had a greater incidence of injury than their more flexible counterparts.
Stretching cold muscles is also a surefire ticket to injury when done improperly or excessively.
But it's not just serious athletes who can benefit from a yoga class or a few minutes of dedicated, post-workout stretching.
In Sage's opinion, "Most folks who sit in chairs for much of the day need especially to improve the flexibility in their hip flexors. That will let them hold their pelvis in balance — reducing the incidence of several other ailments — and prevent many overuse injuries."
There are important factors to consider before making stretching a priority in your program.
"To a degree, flexibility can prevent injury; but, of course, too much of it leads to hypermobility and less stability," Sage cautions. "Overdoing it and taking the stretch out of the belly of the muscle and into the tendons is dangerous. You can't be competitive as you stretch! Instead, you need to practice tuning in to your body and your breath. Remember that the goal is to bring your body into balance, not to grow hypermobile. Keep it within reason."
Sage recommends starting off with a light stretch, done post-workout, for people whose bodies are unaccustomed to stretching. "Generally, you want to gently stretch the muscles you've been using, and hold each stretch for 30 seconds, or around five slow breaths. Just warm up properly and stay hydrated," she says.
Nutrition and Flexibility
What is the role that nutrition plays in flexibility? A few experts weighed in with their opinions on how one can increase flexibility through food.
"One way that you increase flexibility is by literally making the muscles longer — not just stretching them but actually adding sarcomeres (the basic unit in a muscle fiber) lengthwise in the muscles. Since most of those components are proteins, protein is a critical factor."
— Jim Stoppani, PhD, is the senior science editor for Muscle & Fitness, Flex, and Muscle & Fitness Hers magazines; author of Encyclopedia of Strength (Human Kinetics, 2006); and co-author of LL Cool J’s Platinum Workout (Rodale, 2007) and LL Cool J’s 360 Diet and Lifestyle (Rodale, 2010).
>> PowerBar® advice: Make sure to consume 15–25 grams of protein within 1 hour following your workout.
"Proper hydration and fluid balance are critical elements of increased flexibility. Dehydration is a leading cause of muscle fatigue, soreness, and cramping, which can all negatively impact flexibility."
— Dana Angelo White, MS, RD, ATC, is a registered dietitian, certified athletic trainer, featured nutrition blogger for the Food Network, and owner of Dana White Nutrition, Inc., which specializes in culinary and sports nutrition.
>> PowerBar advice: Drink about 2–3 cups of water or sports drink for every hour of exercise you perform, or just take a few gulps every 15 minutes or so.
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