On stretching your legs

I believe I said I would write a post on stretching, and thus I will do! This might become a wall of text... be warned. Now, I have heard so many contradictory things on stretching, that it is quite ridiculous. I will once again revert to my favourite saying of "to each their own", but to me, that is a "yes please". Some feel nothing, some (like me) can immediately tell the difference the day after between having stretched properly, and not having done so. I am not a scientist, I am not a researcher in this matter, but these will be my personal reflections and recommendations. Regarding the main point of this blog, which is to keep me running and exercising because I know people know if I do or not, this brings with it several things. Stretching is one of them. I tend to say I am about as dextrous and limber as a refridgerator, which I am not alone in saying about myself. Remember the three important things I spoke about earlier? Strength, stamina and dexterity. The last is the trickiest, and the one most often overlooked, and the most important. Being limber helps prevent oh so many injuries, and that, at least, is something I have never heard disagreement of. Even weight lifters and boxers need to be limber and dextrous, whatever one may think. Stretching is something that needn't be done after training. It can be done before, during, or without relation to at all. The different kinds of yoga have different ideas about this, too - some say it should be done in a hot environment to keep the body soft and limber, others say it ought to be done with no warmup, so as to get better effect. But stretching after training have, with the majority of people I know, a beneficial effect, in that not only does it limber you up, it also helps the muscles so that they do not go all contracted from earlier exertion. I will here mainly focus on stretching the legs - that is the most important part for me, and there are really so many ways of stretching it is quite astounding. I recently saw a book which I liked, but could not afford at that moment, regarding "new ways" of stretching. They took a bit of a look at some exercises and told of how to change them, so as not to, with the new knowledge we have of the human body, risk injury or strain it involuntarily. There are many books on the matter, but the best also contain some anatomical guidance, so that you can see things from a more holistic point of view, and with a better understanding of how every little thing affects another. "Prescriptive Stretching" by Kristian Berg is one that might be good, as I am always a fan of going past the "everyday things" into the realm of recovery, medical aid and so on. After all, why should I do "everyday things" instead of things that are designed to be extra gentle and extra good and extra helpful in rebuilding a body, or keeping it in good condition? "The anatomy of stretching" by Brad Walker might also be of use, although I have not read it myself. The more technical and less popular-science-y a book, the more I am inclined to look at it... Your mileage may vary, however. An important part to stretching is this: we want to stretch our muscles, usually, first and foremost, and the tendons carefully and second. We do not want to bend our bones out of the way, nor make odd little bits of the body pop out of their sockets or strain to keep up. The standard starter point is a good posture. Oh, have you heard this until your ears fell off! But it is still valid. Stand straight, your knees ever so slightly bent, and clench your stomach muscles, straightening up. Then you can let go of that, but the important part is: do not rest on your back. Do not get a duck-butt. It is not good for your spine. Push your jaw in a bit. In fact, try to stretch out your spine, holding two fingers above your breast area and sliding them upwards, trying to follow with your entire body. Roll your shoulders back. Hold your head proud but not nose in the air! Roll a bit on your feet, perhaps, back and forth, but keep your weight perhaps 55%/45% onto the front part of the foot. And so on, and so forth. No one can learn this but you yourselves. When stretching, do not allow yourself to get all duck-butt-ed. Your spine was not made to hold you up on its own, that's the job of the muscles around it to help out with. Basic thing: Take it slow. Breathe. I try to count to between twelve and twenty breaths for every exercise, sometimes aloud, as you need air in order to speak, and you need to breathe in order to better relax your muscles! Stretching the front of the thighs is perhaps one of the most common sights to see. You can stand up, for which I recommend having something to hold on to - you want to relax while stretching, not have to constantly tighten the muscles in order to keep your balance. Or you can lie down, your bent knee on a thin pillow, and hold it up to your rump. That is a very effective way for me, by the way. You can also stand on the ground with one knee at about ninety degrees, leg forward, and hold the other (and do keep something soft underneath that knee!) up to your butt. Ideally, you should be able to stand and do this against a wall, but start out allowing yourself to bend forwards, if necessary. Straighten that back, friends, and your hips as well! This is not the time to allow them to sag, although for some, pushing them forward may help. To stretch a slightly different part of the thigh (and actually a part of some muscles in the lower back, or so I heard), one can stand on the floor, again one leg forward and knee at about ninety degrees, and the other backwards, letting it lie down (and that includes the foot and toes) and sort of allowing the hip to fall forwards. If you need extra leverage on this, twist your torso gently over to the side of the upstanding leg, and even raise the hand that is on the same side as the "resting" leg, to create quite a nice shape with your body, and help stretch it even better. From there one can easily go on to the hamstrings. Just put the toes of your back foot up instead, hold your hands behind your back (straight! no duck-butt or slouching!), keep the front foot on its heel and the knee slightly bent (oh yes, bent, I said), and lean forwards slwoly, relaxing the muscles all the while. And then, one can pull the front leg back, sitting with one leg and foot underneath one's butt (much like a one-sided Japanese seiza posture), and bend the front leg, almost hugging it, keeping the foot by the thigh of the leg one is sitting on, and trying to get the heel to touch the ground. This may take a bit of mucking about, and it might not work for everybody, and believe me, it is a dashed tricky one to describe, but you look a bit as if you're crouching down, hugging or leaning on your knee, and the lower thigh muscle is what is supposed to be stretched. While we're at that, stand up and put your front foot up against a wall. As steeply bent as you can! Straight back again, relax, breathe, and lean forwards. I find that I need to do this either by a low wall which I can bend over, or by a corner to bend around... It's not very effective for me. Then, you can use to your advantage a variant of what I know as the iai-goshi position. That is, one leg forward, the other backwards, try to keep the back heel to the ground and lean forwards, bending the forward knee. Easy, but takes a bit of knowledge of your own body to do effectively and not simply put strain on various important bits. The hips are part of the key here - and the back. And the stomach. Having core and stomach muscles help a lot in performing it better. There's the ever-popular standing up, straight legs and trying to reach the ground. I am now proud to say I have only about a finger's length left until I can do that again (I could when I was a child, before I broke my leg at least), when I started trying again about ten years ago, I could reach only down to just below my knees. Refridgerator, didn't I tell you? This is a good one. Sit on the floor, reading, with something against your back. Feel the back of your knees stretch, yummy! Or, when standing up, cross your legs, and reach down. Then switch foot. Good variation on the classic theme. Or, sitting down again, bend one leg to have the foot as far in towards your crotch and other thigh as possible, aaand bend. To the toes of the outstretched leg. Some people are able to do this sitting with their legs in a V, switching foot and holding them with both hands, putting their forehead against their own knee. I am not. But I am working on it, doggedly. Some people hoist one leg up over the other, hugging the knee to the chest and turning to the side of the bent leg. Some bend the then straight leg in under them. Do the Youtube on this, to get a proper idea of how it should look... Text works only so far, and I am not going to go the Photoshop way. I have a personal favourite which seems to require bare feet (no problem for me as I always seem to prefer bare feet). Stand on all fours, pushing your butt as high as you can. But still, no duck-butting! Your back should be straight, and your body ought ideally to make an upturned V. Push your shoulders away from your ears (try it, and you'll understand) and experiment a little with the position of your hands and feet. Sometimes keeping them closer together is better, sometimes pushing them further and longer apart. This is supposed to stretch the back of your legs, and some people prefer taking one leg at a time. The important part is to try, to keep your back as straight as you can, and to keep your shoulders back. This may feel like an exercise for strength, and in a way it is, but mostly, it is to stretch your legs. Don't keep that position for too long, though. No need to overdo it. Some people use four or six breaths, I tend to go at least to ten or twelve. Do the superhero thing, too - stand with legs wide apart, and lean towards one side. Some stop when their knee is a bit bent, others go down to stand on the front foot with knee bent, yet others go all the way to sit on leg and flat foot. The common denominator is to stretch the inside of the other leg. Some point that leg's toes straight up, I tend to keep them forward. It should not hurt except in a "good" way. A little pain, all right. Much pain, not good. Relax, take a quick pause, do again, and find out what works and what doesn't. Strive, but don't be stupid. You can then lie down on your back, put your one foot over your other thigh right by the knee or wherever it feels comfortable, and hold your hands around said thigh near the knee (usually), pressing it towards you. Straightening that leg is also a good idea, it usually feels as if I get more out of the bent and being-stretched leg then. There are many, many more ways, and Google is excellent help on the matter, but oh, do look at what you find with a critical eye! Stretching is for muscles, not for joints. They ought to be strengthened and helped along by said muscles, not torn apart or put to stress. I focus here on leg stretching, as without it, my knees would still be giving me much too much trouble. The muscles around my knees are what helps me go through some days almost without any pain at all, and I have in the past cried in happiness and joy and thankfulness and relief, that my iaido, which is so strenuous for the legs, have built up so much strength of the right kind, that recovery-type and medical exercises never did. I can walk, and now - I can run. The sense of joy and freedom and completeness is indescribable. But when the pain comes a-knocking, stretching can give quick relief, and it can help after training, and it certainly helps in an overall manner. Easy exercises help too, but oftentimes, stretching is more accessible, for example when one is oot and aboot on town. And remember, no duck-butt. Use the muscles in your back and your stomach. Do you have a favourite stretching exercise for the legs? Would you explain any of the above in a different and better way?

Having a treat

As you have seen, this week meant four evenings of quite intensive training, and I felt it would be good to let the body rest and rebuild the muscles on Friday. I did feel some tiredness in many muscles, but on Saturday I could not keep myself from strapping on my sandals and have a run. I haven't had one for so long! It was a rather glorious weather, a bit cool but sunny, and the autumn colours make running a joy. I started out going on the asphalt down to the bus stop and up the long and sloping uphill part of the road - one of those uphill stretches which are the perfect mix of long and ascending, meaning that almost anyone feels a little less energetic when arriving at the summit. I have a bit of a problem with pacing, I know that, because I enjoy the feeling of running so much I set out too quickly in the beginning, and only slow down if something big comes along, like said upwards struggle. I then jumped into the bushes and up and down in the rocky quarry, and felt again that even though my muscles certainly cooperate, my breathing and stamina isn't up to par yet. No surprise, perhaps, but annoying all the same. There had been a little change in the forest, a tree had fallen up on the bare rock, but otherwise it was as pleasant a part of the run as always. Coming down onto the gravel road near the farm again, I felt I had more to give, and kept running past the small pathway that would take me back to the apartment. I found a random path, and decided to explore it. It wound alongside fields and took me past places I didn't know was there, sandwiched as the area is between the tiny town(ish) and the motorway, but it felt like being out in the countryside. Parts of the path were rather muddy, but easily traversed, and I had a fun time dodging thistles and head-high grass. Eventually I wound up on the back side of a school, and decided to wing it, taking a path that led off into a small cluster of trees. And voila, I had found the gravel road, quite close to the runic stone, again! Out in a field someone was flying a tiny model airplane, I met two riders on horses and then, for the last stretch before turning up through the forest, I gave the road what I had, running like the wind and grinning like a maniac at the joy of it. That did take quite a lot out of me, and I am happy to say that I felt almost exhausted, but I still jogged on until I got home and by then I had recovered and would have been able to try it again. To finish, I did some stretching exercises and took a cold shower, which today rewards me with far less muscle soreness than I otherwise would have had. All in all the run took a little over half an hour, and I am astounded at how quickly I traverse random stretches of countryside. I'm going to have to find that supposed pathway underneath the motorway and start running longer, if this keeps up! (Yay!) I did also do some easier exercises with the red rubber band, for my shoulder, but I refrained from doing anything else. It felt more like treating myself to something nice, like chocolate, than forcing myself to go out and exercise. In fact, it most often does. And that is what is so marvellous to me. I liked running for its own sake, I just found it dead boring to do so on roads or in school, and I couldn't do it very well because if I did, I would invariably have to use crutches or other walking aid the day after. If I could walk at all. It felt so heavy, instead of light and easy. It was a chore, no matter how much I knew that good stamina is important. And then, I read "Born to run" and especially chapter 28 (I think, could be 26 - I've mentioned it earlier though!) and put one and one together with how I do iaido, and, tadaa. Suddenly I find the joy of running. No pain, no chore, just pure joy. Grinning like an idiot, like I said before, is standard facial expression from when I get out the door to when I get in the shower. I also had my first comment a few days ago, hurrah! From a fellow "barefoot runner", which, I think, shall be the name I use for it in the future. "Barefoot running", even though we use shoes. Now, this has been a fairly standard post about my own training, but tomorrow a post shall go up which deals with stretching, the ever so important part of training. I know it is said that there is no scientific evidence that it does either good or bad, but for the majority of people I have met, and certainly for myself, stretching helps build flexibility and dexterity, helps alleviate muscle soreness and that is a fact. I feel at once the difference when I wake up the morning after a heavy training session and have not done any stretching, as opposed to when I have. And after that, I shall touch upon a subject which my first commenter has pointed out - how they, when young, probably ran "barefoot style" but was told (like I remember being told!) to put heels down first and roll the feet forward. I also have a friend who runs (and even at times walk) on their forefeet, "barefoot style", and explained many years ago that it feels a lot better. And they have never had a day of trouble with their feet, no matter how worn their shoes have been, or how much they have been out and about, running in that supposedly "wrong" way. I was going to write about motivation, but that too shall have to be for a future post! And that I look forward to, because it is such a diverse subject, and rather dear to me. Is there something special you readers would like me to write about? And, do you like the unchanging nature of wherever and whatever you practice, or do you prefer changeability and seeing how things evolve/devolve over time?