How to increase your flexibility without agressive stretching
I have to admit, I am not great at doing my own movement practice. I always find excuses and usually skip it. This month I am taking Liberated Body with Monika Volkmer. I’ve committed to doing a daily practice of movements that focus on improving joint mobility which in turn promotes muscle length. We’ve started with the spine, moved to the feet and this week we’re focused on hips. We are moving in the three planes of movement: sagittal, frontal and transverse. More on these in a minute. The fun part is, each week builds on the last so that we are really getting whole body movement. My feet, hips, and back feel so much better after I do this. I teach people these movements every day and although I have been demonstrating and instructing them, the experience of being coached, and actually practicing movement regularly is making a huge difference. What was I waiting for? 😊 (You can find out more about Monika here)
As a reminder, each joint in our body moves in 3 planes of movement. Sagittal is front to back, or flexion and extension. Frontal is side to side, called abduction and adduction. The transverse plane is rotation. With each step we take, our feet, hips, knees, spine, shoulder, shoulder blade and skull are meant to move in each of these planes. While there is limited lateral movement in the knee and ankle, but every other joint should move freely. Even more amazing our body does this with the time it takes one foot to go thru one full step-heel strike to heel strike-in .6 to .8 seconds. How incredible is that?
There are times in life that some of those movements get stuck or have difficulty accessing them in a particular phase. This can lead to stiff joints and muscles and at times to pain. The traditional way to get movement ‘unstuck’ is to spend time stretching our muscles, but this doesn’t actually promote the joint motion. We push and push into the ranges that we want, and things just don’t improve. When we focus only on static stretching, we’re missing a big part of improving our mobility. This is getting the joints to also move efficiently and creating active movement in the direction we are working to improve.
This is what I love about using gait movements to create better joint mobility, strength, and flexibility. When we work into a motion, to allow joints to move either together or apart, while being mindful of where our center of mass moves, and what it feels like in the process, we can create a more centered resting posture and our body will thank us for that. On top of that, because the load that is created in our muscles while going thru these motions is one from a lengthening movement (also known as an eccentric contraction), we will build stability with few repetitions. It may take time for corrections to hold. There may be sticky points that change along the way. If we can make a daily movement practice and commit to exploring movement vs forcing motion, we will have a means for learning how to move better overall.
I haven’t fully given up on stretching these days. Sometimes it feels really sweet to find that hamstring or quad stretch after a hard workout. What I will do after an isolated stretch is create some active movement in the opposing muscle after the stretch and then stand up to move through some weight bearing motions such as with the gait movements. This helps integrate the new movement and teaches our body that it is safe to move in that range of motion. When the body feels safe, it doesn’t tighten up and our flexibility naturally improves.
An excellent starting point to improve flexibility is creating better motion in the pelvis and spine. Since our center of mass is just above the pubic symphysis of the pelvis, teaching our body to move around this is really helpful. In the sagittal plane, the pelvis moves anterior and posteriorly. When the foot is in contact with the ground, it only moves anteriorly once, when the foot is flat. Therefore, training it to move anteriorly enough, but not too much, and to do the same with a posterior tilt is important. When the pelvis anteriorly tilts, the lumbar and thoracic spine extend, the ribs posterior tilt and the skull anterior tilts. In an anterior tilt we will create length thru the abdomen, and a shortening in the back extensors. In a posterior tilt we do the opposite: length in the extensors and shortening of the front of the core. The easiest way to start creating movement in the pelvis and spine, is what Gary Ward of Anatomy in Motion calls “Cogs”.
To do this, lie on your back with your knees bent. First check in and note where your pressures are. Can you feel your skull, the shoulder blades and you pelvis on the floor. Is the pressure equal? Now find the bones in the front of the hip, called the ASIS. Slowly, allow the ASIS to move toward your feet. Next, lift the xiphoid process of the sternum toward the ceiling. This may feel like you are stretching the abs. After you’ve reached YOUR end point, allow the ASIS to roll back toward your belly button, and then bring the xiphoid process toward the pubic symphysis. You may feel a stretch in your lower back and a tightening in your abdominals. Slowly move from anterior to posterior exploring what each motion feels likes, and if it feels good, go a bit further. Always move toward what feels good and safe. If it feels like too much movement in one area, can you lessen that and work toward moving more in another. Relax your legs, and work toward allowing the pelvis and spine to move on their own. See the video below to see cogs in action.
This cog exercise is a key movement in getting the hips to move easier. In standing, our hip flexes with an anterior tilt when our foot is flat, and with a posterior tilt at heel strike. The hip only extends with a posterior tilt.
I frequently hear people complain about having tight hamstrings and although they consistently stretch by pulling their leg up while lying on their back (or any other hamstring stretch), they never see a change. If this sounds like you, I’d encourage you to try the cogs exercise first, to train your pelvis to move in a better way, so that the movement of your upper leg in relation to your pelvis also can move efficiently. When the hip flexes, the pelvis should posterior tilt. If you can’t properly tilt, how will you gain more flexion at the hip?
The important take away from the article, if you are always doing something, and you’re not seeing changes, consider trying a different way. As with everything, practice. Movement doesn’t improve if we don’t move. This has been a wonderful learning experience for me and one I plan to continue.