You
Can Prevent Your Next Possible Injury With Yoga.
By
Steven Earth
Metz of
www.earthspoweryoga.com
One
of the key elements of being flexible is to stretch warm. Never try to
stretch cold. Though the body is always trying to maintain 98.6 degrees.
98.6 degrees is the bodies core temperature. Outer muscles and extremities
are often much colder. That is why the doctor puts the thermometer inside
your mouth. Well hopefully in your mouth only... ;-) Muscle,
just like steel or glass,
or any matter expands easier with heat.
In
relation to endurance training, flexibility is important, so that if you
fall off of your mountain bike at high speed your body can go into very
flexible positions. If you are flexible, instead of tearing ligaments,
muscle, or fascia your body will flex first. Does that mean you will never
injure yourself? No, however you can decrease your chances dramatically by
stretching. When we stretch it is important to understand that our main
focus of stretch is not on ligament or tendon. The stretch’s focus is
on the
muscle and fascia. Fascia is the connective tissue that surrounds muscles
and allows them to move freely over each other. Muscle and fascia can
stretch up to 150 percent of its volume. Tendon only stretches about 4
percent of its volume.
Tendon
attaches muscle to bone. Ligament is a bone-to-bone attachment and should
not be stretched extensively. Ligament tissue is supposed to be strong. Like
the wooden bar in a ballet class, which dancers use to stretch on. Would one
try to make that stabilizer bar extremely flexible? No, it would not be
able to support the weight of a dancer stretching on it. The bar should be a
little flexible but not too much.
There is
strength in yielding, as the Taoists would say. We know this all too well
here in California, the earthquake capital of the world. Here buildings are
built to flex and that prevents damage.
I
recommend a 15-minute warm up, then stretching. In Yoga we warm up with
about 7 sun salutations, then begin some mild stretching.
One of the
key ways to know if you are stretching the wrong area is that your body will
give a trigger pain. Typically this feels like a sharp electrical sensation.
Steven
Earth Metz
www.earthspoweryoga.com
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