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STRETCHING

FOR SPORTING
SUCCESS
STRETCHING FOR SUCCESS IN SPORT 12
Standing Thoracic Extension Test
Stand with your head and back against a wall and your feet
about 6 inches/15 centimetres from the base.
With straight arms, raise your arms forwards and then up
above your head, attempting to touch the wall behind you.
You should be able to place your arms fat on the wall
without extending your lower back.
Failure to reach the wall without extending your lower
back indicates lack of thoracic spine extension and will also
confrm the results of test number fve.
Freestanding Squat
Tis fnal test assesses many of the muscles in your lower body and is one of the most
efective ways to establish lower body functional fexibility as the squat is such a common
movement pattern.
Remove your shoes and stand facing your partner or a well-placed mirror.
Place your feet shoulder-width apart with your hands clasped under your chin and
your toes turned out to a fve to one position.
Inhale, lif your chest, push your hips back and squat down as deeply as you can.
You should be able to squat down onto your haunches and stay there for a moment.
If your heels lif, this suggests tight calves.
If your knees fall inwards, this suggests tight adductors.
If your knees fall outwards, this suggests tight abductors.
If your lower back becomes rounded, this suggests tight hamstrings and/or hip fexors.
If your weight shifs onto your lef or right foot, this suggests you are tighter on the
side to which you lean.
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Test
Result
Left Right
1 Hamstrings
2 Adductors
3 Gastrocnemius
4 Soleus
5a Pecs
5b Lats
6 Quadriceps
7 Standing thoracic extension
8 Freestanding squat
T = tight
N = normal Use developmental stretches to treat tight muscles and maintenance stretches for normal muscles
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6. Types of stretching
Te reason that stretching and fexibility are confusing subjects is partly because
there are so many diferent types of stretches and exercisers are simply at a loss as to
what type of stretches to do and when. With this in mind, this chapter is dedicated
to setting the record straight so you know what form of stretching is best for your
personal circumstances.
Dont feel you have to do them all thats defnitely not what is intended. Rather, read
the descriptions and then apply the methods that are specifc to your training and
exercise goals. Use the right type of stretching at the right time and you are much more
likely to see benefts from your fexibility training.
Static Stretches active versus passive
Static stretches are the most recognisable form of fexibility training and what most
people think of when you mention stretching. For many years, static stretching was how
we all stretched before, during and afer exercise.
Tere are two main types of static stretches passive and active. A passive stretch uses
an external object or force to take you into a stretch, for example using a door frame or
partner to stretch your pecs. In an active stretch, you use your muscles to move you into
a stretched position, e.g. clasping your hands behind your back and pushing your elbows
to the rear to stretch your chest.
It really doesnt matter too much whether you perform active or passive static stretches
as the outcome is the same. It is worth noting, however, that if you are going to hold a
stretch for an extended period of time, passive stretches are ofen more comfortable.
Using the above examples, holding a doorway chest stretch for 60 seconds or more will
be much easier and more comfortable than holding the hands clasped behind the back in
a chest stretch for the same period.
i Static maintenance
If your fexibility is already good and you simply want to ensure you dont lose it, for
example afer a workout to ofset adaptive shortening, maintenance stretching is for you.
A maintenance stretch is not meant to improve your fexibility and, as such, is not held
for very long.
Maintenance stretches are normally held for between 10 and 15 seconds with no attempt
to move deeper than is initially comfortable.
Commonly used as part of a cool down, static stretches help reduce muscle tension
and return your muscles to their pre-exercise length. On the downside, static stretches
tend to cause your heart rate to drop and reduce muscle contractility which may lead
to a reduction in force generation potential. In other words, static stretching can make
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you temporally weaker. For these reasons, static stretches are normally omitted from
warm ups.
ii Static developmental
If you want to improve your fexibility, developmental static stretching is a good choice.
Developmental stretches are held for between 30 to 60 seconds or more and, as the name
implies, you should try to increase the depth of the stretch over time.
When you stretch a muscle, you reach the natural end point of your muscles elasticity
called the point of bind, or POB for short. If you stay at the POB for 15 seconds or
so, you will feel your muscles relax slightly and you should then be able to move into a
deeper stretch. Tis happens more readily if you a) relax and b) do not hold your breath.
Continue extending the POB as many times as you can until you reach your true end of
range. Once you are there, hold for a further 15 to 30 seconds to really maximize your
fexibility training.
To recap:
Move into POB and hold for 10-15 seconds
As you feel your muscles relax, move a little deeper to new POB
Keep your body relaxed and breath steadily
Repeat steps one to three a couple more times until you reach your true fexibility limit
Hold this fnal position for 15 to 30 seconds
Slowly ease out of the stretch
As you can see, developmental static stretching can be quite time consuming so is best
reserved for muscles that are really tight. Developmental stretching is best used as part of
your cool down or, if you are serious about improving your fexibility, during dedicated
stretching sessions afer a light warm-up.
As with all types of stretching, do not force either type of static stretch. If you feel any
burning or shaking immediately back of and use a less extreme POB.
An exception to the rule...
While static stretches are normally reserved for cool downs, strategic use of a select
number of static stretches can be used in a warm-up under special circumstances.
For example, if you have tight chest muscles you may fnd it very difcult to pull a
barbell into your sternum when performing barbell bent over rows. In this instance,
stretching the pecs before performing an upper/mid-back exercise may be benefcial.
Another example: if you have tight hip fexors, you may fnd that, when squatting, you
have a tendency to lean too far forwards which can place an inordinate amount of stress
on your lower back. Statically stretching your hip fexors may help eliminate this problem.
Finally, and again using the squat as an example, if you fnd your heels lif of the foor

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