Why Age?

Stretching: The first and best step

September 24, 2007 – 7:06 pm | by admin

“Our own physical body possesses a wisdom which we who inhabit the body lack”

Henry Miller 1891-1980

All of us realize the importance of exercise to the maintenance of our bodies and to the prevention of ageing.

For what is ageing but the slowing of our body’s machinery as it loses efficiency and begins to seize up?

It’s relatively easy to ignore this process given the effortless ease with which our lives are lived. But every now and then we get a painful reminder that our bodies need regular exercise and without it we cannot perform required or desired tasks with pleasure and competence.

Maybe for you it is when you run around with your kids or grandchildren and find yourself breathless and exhausted very quickly. Perhaps it is when you are confronted with a flight of stairs and dread the task of climbing them.

For me, my moment of realization in regard to the ageing inefficiency of my body is when I have to stoop to pick something up or have to get up out of a chair after writing or reading.

To look at me you would think I am beating Father Time with a stick. And I am. But years of high intensity weight training and kickboxing and a general propensity to stiffness mean that my flexibility issues are my ageing give away.

Flexibility: The first casualty of ageing

On average, people lose 20 to 30 per cent of joint mobility between the ages of 30 and 70. Most of us imagine that it is our joints and creaky bones that are the culprit but stiffness actually comes from reduced muscle mobility.

What that means is that as we age, muscles surrounding each joint lose their ability to stretch to their optimal length. Joints can usually move more than muscles can, so rehabilitating the ability of the muscles to stretch can go a long way to allow more movement into the knees, shoulders, back, neck and other problem areas.

One study of elderly participants in an exercise program showed improved flexibility in their knees by 12 per cent and their ankles by 48 per cent.

Elderly exercise participants improve fitness at rates that rival young participants so age is no impediment to exercise.

It’s important to remember that many of the body’s joints are poorly supplied by blood vessels and depend on a sac of fluid around them to supply lubrication. Working your knees back and forth, as many of us have to do on bad days before we can swing our legs out of bed and put full body weight on them, activates synovial fluid, and pumps it into the joint area.

Movement, therefore is the key to joint comfort and stretching is the movement that allows muscles to release their restrictive grip on joints and make our lives easier and less painful.

Your body knows, let it teach you

Many of us avoid stretching because it is uncomfortable. Follow along as I take you through a little bit of anatomy in order to understand the processes that go on as you stretch so that you may understand, and not fear them.

Firstly, the muscles, tendons and joints are linked to your pain centre - your brain - via an intricate and wonderful system of neuromuscular feedback.

Each muscle fibre is imbedded with muscle spindles. These sensory nerve endings send messages via the central nervous system about the degree of stretch a muscle is experiencing. If a muscle is stretched rapidly and forcefully, these spindles fire the stretch reflex to contract those muscles in order to counteract stretching and prevent damage.

Golgi tendon organs are located at the junction of muscles and their associated tendon and perform the opposite function to spindles: they relax the muscle to prevent damage from over contraction. Golgi tendon organs and muscle spindles work together in a precision balancing act to get the best flexibility performance from your muscles at the least risk of tearing damage.

Joint receptors are located in tendons, ligaments, bone, muscle, and joint capsules. They supply complex data about the joint angle, the acceleration of the joint, and amount of pressure on the joint.

Try a little tenderness

Now for your first step in improving flexibility. Lie on the floor on your back. Hug both knees to your chest and lift your head off the floor and tuck it towards your knees. Only do this last step if your neck can support the weight of your head without discomfort. Hold this position for 15 to 30 seconds then relax, spreading the arms and legs. You should feel this stretch primarily in your lower back muscles.

Next, hug knees to chest again and gently roll your knees in six small circles clockwise, then six small circles counter clockwise. Relax and spreadeagle again.

Lastly, keep your arms spread to the sides and draw your knees up, keeping ankles together, feet on the floor, knees together. Try to keep your shoulders square to the floor as you twist your knees to one side, then to the other side. Try to make contact with the floor but if your back is stiff you may not be able to for some time. Do this six times each side, a total of twelve.

Spreadeagle and relax. That’s your stretch routine for day one.

How do you feel? Relaxed, centered, and in touch with your body?

Yes?

Good.

Aim for Base Camp, the summit can wait

Do this every day. Dig into the memory vaults for some other stretches you have done and add one per week, or simply invent some yourself.

The main thing is to hold your stretches for at least 15 seconds in order for your body to overcome the inbuilt “stretch reflex.” You will find that after 15 seconds your complex system of neuromuscular receptors will let go and allow your muscles to relax.

Stretching is the first and easiest step towards regular exercise. It’s better if your muscles are warmed up first with some domestic chores, a walk, or perhaps some rhythmic movement to music.

There is a quietude you discover when lying on a carpeted area of your own home, just relaxing the body and letting tensions go. You will be surprised at how good you feel after just a few minutes spent this way.

Most of us look at the daunting task of doing some exercise as a hike to the summit of Mount Everest, are intimidated, and quickly turn away from the idea. Instead, resolve just to get to Base Camp, where repose awaits you.

Think of stretching as a relaxing of the muscles as receptors realize you are not bouncing or straining but rather letting go of tension.

Stretching your body expands the mind to encompass the possibility of further exercise.