Stretch it Out!
By, Phil Denema, DPT and Triathlete at Moore
My last article touched on basic strengthening to address imbalances for triathletes and other active people. Hopefully you have tried some or all of the exercises. The next area to address is flexibility imbalances. Flexibility is your ability to freely move through a range of motion (ROM) without restriction or deviation of the joints involved. We all know that stretching is important and helps improve flexibility, but for one reason or another it gets neglected more often than not.
Two major reasons people overlook stretching are time and priority level. If you had a free hour for a work out, would you choose to A. spend 20-30 minutes of that time stretching, or B. do an abbreviated warm up for 5 minutes, spend 50-55 minutes swimming, biking or running, and a 5 minute or less cool down/stretch? Most athletes and triathletes will answer B, because of weekly mileage or time goals for each discipline. The intention of this article is not to convince you to cut back on your training, but to see the benefits and importance of flexibility and symmetry of motion in hopes that you will put stretching higher on your priority list. It is my opinion, and I think you will agree, that spending the 20-30 minutes to sufficiently stretch the correct way is worth the investment compared to missing 1 month or more of training or racing due to an injury, not to mention you will feel and perform better!
Before we get into specific stretches, it is important to go over the benefits of stretching, the types of stretching and when to perform them.
- Decrease risk of injury
- Improve flexibility
- Improves balance/coordination
- Improve joint ROM
- Improve circulation
- Improve posture/balance between muscle groups
- Improve muscle performance
Two types of stretching that will be discussed:
- Static
- Holding an end range for a period of time with the goal of muscle relaxation and increased length.
- Dynamic
- Stretching during sports specific motions to create flexibility through the motion.
When to stretch:
- Stretching should be performed prior to training/racing and post training /racing as well as off days and active recovery days.
- Static stretching is more effective when you have finished training/racing or on active recovery/rest days to lengthen and relax the muscles and to maintain necessary length and range of motion.
- Dynamic stretching should be performed prior to training/racing to get your blood flowing, warm up the muscles, get joints loosened up and moving in ways they will during swimming, biking and running, and get the muscles firing properly for optimal performance.
It is important to stretch all muscles, but they cannot all be listed with the multiple different ways of stretching them. We will focus on some of the larger muscle groups, the implications of their tightness as well as ways to stretch them that are specific to triathletes or single sport athletes. This article will focus on static stretching to improve muscle length and flexibility.
With the following static stretches, you should only go to the point of comfortable stretch and not to the point of pain. Hold a comfortable stretch without bouncing for 20-30 seconds. Repeat 5 times for each stretch, for each side of the body.
One of the most important muscles to stretch are the hip flexors. Because of their attachment to the lower part of your spine and your femur (thigh bone) they can restrict low back, pelvis and hip motion, most noticeable during running with a decreased stride length due to inability to extend your hip, swimming having difficulty keeping your lower body in line with your torso or low back pain/stiffness when on the bike.
To stretch them assume a half kneeling position, keep your stomach tight and tighten your back buttock, slowly lean your pelvis forward keeping your torso upright until you feel a stretch on the front of your back hip.
![Moore_20100923_1389-001[1]](images/clip_image002_007.jpg)
The adductors or groin muscles are often tight due to the lack of lateral motion during training and racing. Tightness during the run can result in poor alignment and placement of your foot, crossing over midline, tightness will not be as noticeable during the swim, but will be noticed when you are out of the saddle on the bike, especially if you rock the bike side to side as you climb
.
To stretch them get into a sideways lunge position, with your spine straight and upright, shift your weight to the side opposite the straight leg until a stretch is felt on the inside of the straight leg.
The hip external rotators are also important in the position and ability to load your legs during running and biking. If tight the result will be a toed out running gait, and a cycling peddle stroke with your knees outside of the line between your hip and foot, both result in sub-optimal power output.
To stretch them lye on your back bend one knee up with your foot on the ground, cross the other leg so your ankle is on the bent knee, grab behind your bent knee and pull toward your chest until you feel a stretch in the backside of your crossed hip.
![Moore_20100923_1343-002[1]](images/clip_image004_002.jpg)
Chest and front of the shoulder flexibility is most important for swimming to allow full motion during the swimming stroke and balance of upper body motion and arm swing during running.
To stretch this area, place your hands on a door frame with elbows at shoulder height and bent close to 90*. Lean slightly forward and take a step into the door with one of your feet while maintaining and upright posture.
Another muscle group more prevalent in swimming are your latissimus dorsi (large muscle that covers most of your back, that is responsible for pulling your arm down) If they are to tight they will limit your ability to extend your shoulder at the top of your stroke and alter your body positioning in the water.
To stretch them, grab a hold of a door way, and step back with that same side leg into a staggered stance, gently lean your weight to the back leg until a stretch is felt through the upper back and along your side, take your other arm and reach up underneath the arm holding the doorway.
The last area combines multiple large and small muscles and is critical to all three sports. This is spinal and pelvic rotation. Having limitation in spinal and pelvic rotation is apparent during swimming, especially when breathing, it will limit the stride length and ability to push off and load your legs during running and will be apparent with your balance and comfort during cornering and handling your bike to allow proper weight shift.
There are several ways to stretch this area. One way is to lie flat on your back, with your arms out to your sides. Raise one leg toward you keeping the knee straight, once you feel your knee want to bend stop raising it, from that point slowly drop it to the opposite side, allowing your hip to come off the ground, and while keeping your shoulders and arms on the ground as best you can.
These are just several suggestions for stretches for some of the common trouble areas I see in triathletes. They are not the only stretches or the best stretches for everyone. They are however important areas and a good starting point for stretching them. Give them a try and enjoy the benefits during training, racing and all other activities.
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