Another vitally important component of fitness is stretching, because among other things it creates body awareness. Yogic stretches are especially good for that. Since you are not focused on moving any weights or your own body weight as much, you get to relax more and focus on your body’s movements and limitations. It causes you to become mindful of your joint range of motion and what might be missing in this area. A person may not become aware of this in strength or aerobic training. It is typically in stretching where limitations of joint mobility become apparent.

Increasing range of motion by lengthening the muscles also creates greater ease in one’s activities of daily living, because more flexible muscles are generally more relaxed. This means that a person will be able to handle the physical (and emotional) stresses of daily life better. A great example is the hamstrings, which for many people are the most stubborn muscles to stretch. Increasing hamstring flexibility of clients has caused them to walk much easier and some have even reported enjoying walking whereas before it was just something they needed to do to get from point A to point B. A new found joy was experienced in something they do every single day, but were previously unconscious of how it was not enjoyed due to muscle tightness. It may have not bothered them much, but it was still a chore-like activity.

This translates also into sports performance. Long distance runners typically have incredibly tight hamstrings. This is a common sports muscular imbalance where the hamstrings are tight and the quadriceps are weak, because running largely recruits the muscles in the back of the leg and the gluts. Improving hamstring flexibility increases their stride, which allows them to cover greater distances with greater ease. Sprinters can most certainly appreciate this, because it assists with their development of speed. Long distance runners use a shorter stride so as to conserve energy for the long haul.

In dealing with chronic low pain, stretching the hamstrings may actually reduce or eliminate the pain. Tight hamstrings are the second most common cause of chronic low back pain. When they are tight, they tug on the pelvic girdle and lower back, which causes strain. (The number one cause of chronic low back pain is actually weak abdominals, which is typically handled very well in functional strength training programs, like the current one presented on the “A Client’s Story” page.)

The hamstrings are a great example for sports, daily living, and the clinical setting, because they are so commonly tight in the general population. They can be a bit stubborn at first, but when they do loosen up, you feel a marked change in your movement patterns and in the ability of your trunk to relax. Yoga practitioners certainly experience this.

Cooling down at the end of a workout by stretching also helps to remove lactic acid build up in the muscles from strength training. It is lactic acid that causes soreness. Having someone leave a session with relaxed muscles before re-entering the world works a lot better than having someone leave with the “shakes” from neural and muscle fatigue. A sense of rejuvenation can do wonders for how a person responds to the rest of the day.

For a further discussion on stretching and yoga, visit the “Yoga & Flexibility” page in the “Exercise Lab”.