FLEXIBILITY: A CONCISE GUIDE

About this book

This groundbreaking book is a definitive guide to flexibility and revises the conceptual framework of the field. In Flexibility: A Concise Guide, the authors provide a fresh perspective on flexibility, one that challenges current thinking and professional practice, from the conceptual foundations of research to the practical applications of stretching techniques in a number of domains. All major types of flexibility technique and training are covered in this comprehensive text, with an emphasis on when and how to use each method safely and effectively. Specific applications to rehabilitation, sport, fitness, and dance make this book an invaluable resource for all practitioners and professionals in the field of human movement. Combining three decades of sport and rehabilitation research with critical and creative thinking and analysis, Flexibility: A Concise Guide is a must-have resource for sports medicine physicians, orthopedic surgeons, physical therapists, athletic therapists, chiropractors, coaches, and other professionals.

Written for: Orthopedics, Sports Medicine, Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, physiatry

Keywords:

• Flexibility
• Rehabilitation
• Stretching
• Training

Contents

Recommendation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Previous Attempts to Defi ne Flexibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
One-Word Defi nitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Range-of-Motion Defi nitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Ability Defi nitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
General Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
A New Defi nition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Components, Demonstrations, and Measures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Part I Practical Considerations
Chapter 1—Stretching Techniques and Exercise Prescriptions . . . . 11
Yoga . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Slow/Static Stretching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Dynamic Stretching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Comparison of Slow/Static, Dynamic, and PNF Techniques . . . . 15
PNF Variations and Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Reversal of Antagonists (3S) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Exercise Prescription for 3S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Chapter 2—Stretching the Major Muscle Groups of the Lower Limb . . . 23
Exercise 1—Hip Extensors (3S Method) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Exercise 1—Hip Extensors (Alternative Methods) . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Exercise 2—Hip Adductors (3S Method) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Exercise 2—Hip Adductors (Alternative Methods) . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Exercise 3—Hip Flexors (3S Method) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Exercise 3—Hip Flexors (Alternative Methods) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Exercise 4—Hip Inward (Medial) Rotators (3S Method) . . . . . . 30
Exercise 4—Hip Inward (Medial) Rotators
(Alternative Methods) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Exercise 5—Hip Outward (Lateral) Rotators (3S Method) . . . . 32
Exercise 5—Hip Outward (Lateral) Rotators
(Alternative Methods) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Exercise 6—Plantar Flexors (3S Method) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Exercise 6—Plantar Flexors (Alternative Methods) . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Chapter 3—Stretching the Major Muscle Groups of the Upper Limb . . 37
Exercise 7—Shoulder Extensors (3S Method) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Exercise 7—Shoulder Extensors (Alternative Methods) . . . . . . . 39
Exercise 8—Shoulder Horizontal Adductors (3S Method) . . . . . 40
Exercise 8—Shoulder Horizontal Adductors
(Alternative Methods) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Exercise 9—Shoulder Inward (Medial) Rotators (3S Method) . . . 42
Exercise 9—Shoulder Inward Rotators
(Alternative Methods) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Exercise 10—Wrist Flexors (3S Method) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Exercise 10—Wrist Flexors (Alternative Methods) . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Chapter 4—Stretching the Major Muscle Groups of the Trunk and Neck . . . 47
Exercise 11—Trunk Extensors (3S Method) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Exercise 11—Trunk Extensors (Alternative Methods) . . . . . . . . 49
Exercise 12—Trunk Lateral Flexors (3S Method) . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Exercise 12—Trunk Lateral Flexors (Alternative Methods) . . . . 51
Exercise 13—Trunk Rotators (3S Method) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Exercise 13—Trunk Rotators (Alternative Methods) . . . . . . . . . 53
Exercise 14—Neck Quadrant (Range-of-Motion Method) . . . . . 54
Chapter 5—Advanced 3S Stretching Exercises for Figure Skaters,
Gymnasts, Divers, and Dancers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Exercise 15—Hip Adductors (Advanced) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Exercise 16—Hip Extensors (in Flexion) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Exercise 17—Split (Adductor-Extensor) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Exercise 18—Split (Adductor) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Chapter 6—Sports, Fitness, and Dance Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Part II Theoretical Considerations
Chapter 7—Flexibility and Exercise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Factors That Affect Flexibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Ways to Improve Flexibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Different Stretching Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
When and How to Stretch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
When Not to Stretch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Training Principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Chapter 8—Myths About Stretching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Review of Reviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Myth 1: Stretching Causes Injury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Myth 2: Stretching Leads to Damage and Dysfunction . . . . . . . . 86
Myth 3: Stretching Does Not Prevent Injuries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Myth 4: Stretching Does Not Improve Performance . . . . . . . . . . 90
Myth 5: Stretching Has No Therapeutic Value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Myth 6: All Forms of Stretching Have Similar Effects . . . . . . . . . 93
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Chapter 9—Clinical Concepts and Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Flexibility and Range of Motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Functional Flexibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Correcting Muscle Imbalances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Choosing a Stretching Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Flexibility and Traditional Chinese Medicine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Clinical Techniques and Modalities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Diabetes Mellitus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Contraindications and Precautions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Final Remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Chapter 10—The Mechanisms of Flexibility Enhancement . . . . . . . 113
The Muscle/Fascia/Tendon Complex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
How 3S Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
A Biomechanical Explanation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Theoretical Interpretations of Neural and
Tissue Adaptations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Our View of Adaptation Mechanisms:
The Fascia Hypothesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Appendix A: Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Appendix B: Applied Anatomy of 3S Stretches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Appendix C: Research on The FlexAbility Machines . . . . . . . . . . 133
Appendix D: Machine and Solo 3S Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Appendix E: Recommended Exercises
for Specifi c Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155