Injury Prevention: Stretching and Rolling
Stretching and rolling are great additions to your weekly training plan because they reduce injury risk, improve functional movement and ultimately increase performance.
It's no secret that yoga classes have become part of athletes weekly routines. Many stand by that it helps to stay injury free. In professional cycling teams, physiotherapists have taken this a step further to monitor a riders flexibility as they ride in a set position. They use biomechanical data to work with the athlete and maintain flexibility throughout the season so the rider can maintain the most aerodynamic position possible without risking injury. Since we don’t all have a specialist to do this for us, we have to take our injury prevention into our own hands.
So what is Injury prevention? I’m going to focus on stretching and rolling. You are at an increased risk of picking up an injury when a muscle or group of muscles become inflexible. In the process of them becoming inflexible, other muscles can be recruited when moving and this leads to inefficient biomechanical movements. You are also more likely to experience issues with muscle tightness post-session or even during a session. Poor flexibly eventually catches you up with you, so if you are not very flexible you may want to dedicate a session a week to work on it. We all naturally have different levels of flexibility so don't be deterred if you know someone who can put their feet behind their head.
It is recommended to do some form of warm up before jumping into your stretches or rolling. You have a few different options. The first is to do very light streching or even dynamic stretches. I typically go for a run at a recovery pace or sit on the turbo and spin at a low intensity. You don't need to spend very long, just long enough to increase blood flow to muscles and increase their flexibility before doing maximal stretching. It also decreases the risk of straining a muscle when you do start to complete progressive stretches.
Rolling
Rolling is another method to warm up muscles for stretching. This allows tight spots known as haphazards to be identified and for you to work on them. These points are build ups of scar tissue and can reduce flexibility. Some muscles require a harder object like a tennis ball or even a hockey ball. Other areas just require a foam roller. Rolling hurts when you find a tight spot and done correctly since you are replicating a sports massage to break down scar tissue. When you find a tight spot pulse back and forwards on it for 5-10 seconds. It’s normal to suddenly start sweating, I know right, rolling is horrid. If it’s too painful roll a few centimetres from the sore spot. Over the next few weeks you’ll gradually be able to cover those sore spots. Remember to never roll over a joint or a bone point like the head of the femur (thigh bone). It makes little sense to roll on your patella (knee bone) if you were targeting your quadriceps. The last piece of advice is not to overdo it. Don't go from doing a few minutes of rolling to 30 minutes. Keep it progressive and target different muscles throughout the week.
Progressive Stretching
If you apply a stretch and then completely reset and repeat you are not developing a muscles flexibility as effectively as you could be. Stretches should be progressively developed with each successive hold. When you reach the point of a stretch were your muscle begins to shake you haven't actually reached the maximum length the muscle can stretch to. This shaking is the the neuromuscular system being challenged. Hold each stretch around this ‘shaking’ point, but so you can still control the stretch. Each stretch should last 30-45 seconds. At the end of this period you should ever so slightly release the stretch just enough to stop the shaking or reduce resistance, but not far enough that you are no longer stretching the muscle. Then stretch the muscle slightly past the point you reached previously. Repeat for a minimum of three times. When I’m really working on my flexibility I’ll spend 3 minutes stretching a muscle/muscle group. After the first 60 seconds I’ll progressively stretch the muscle further every 20-30 seconds to really develop flexibility.
Conclusion
I think one of the main reasons why people don’t enjoy stretching is because they focus on too many muscle groups in the same session. Divide them up and focus on a smaller number each session. This way you are stretching different muscles and not rushing through them all. It will also mean you can re-stretch muscles that are a persistent issue such as hamstrings as an example. It's also hard to see progress in the form of a large increase in flexibility so don't be deterred, small increases done regularly amount to a significant increase in flexibility.
