(no subject)
lately i've been thinking i need to stretch, like daily if not more as i am getting tighter and tighter and it will just get worse. Tonight, I read this:
Fitness competitor Libby Streeter was looking for a way to counter her history of pulled muscles: "Many, many muscles - too many to count," she says.
Her colleague Brandy Maddron felt she needed to take advantage of every opportunity to give her fitness routine a boost, since she lacks a gymnastics or dance background. College coach Andrea Hudy, MA, CSCS, believes an athlete can perform better by increasing her range of motion.
The common thread for each of these women is flexibility, or the ability of a joint to move in its full range of motion. Although each uses a different method, all three advocate stretching to achieve the ends they desire.
The trio's support of stretching is welcome news to Michael Alter, a former gymnast, coach and physical-education teacher who has parlayed an interest in the subject into two influential books, Science of Flexibility (Human Kinetics, 1996) and Sport Stretch (Human Kinetics, 1998). He believes stretching has multiple benefits for the fitness-minded, and not just physical ones.
"First, it's spiritual, in terms of the union of the body, mind and spirit," Alter explains. "There can be a relaxation of stress and tension that can be both physical - in the muscle - and psychological."
Libby, a self-described Type A personality who won her IFBB pro card at the '99 NPC Nationals, agrees. "The more I stretch, the more I find inner peace," she says. "But you have to work at it; you have to relax and let your muscles relax. It starts from your head and goes through your body."
Alter also believes stretching on a regular basis can help develop discipline, since you have to plan it into each day. It helps to improve fitness, posture and symmetry as well, which tend to deteriorate with age, often resulting in a hunched-over "dowager" appearance.
So essentially if I don't start stretching I am going to shrivel up and die, possible literally. Can't have that. I guess discipline is key, since my main problem is my inability to remember to stretch everyday. Well that, and my general carelessness for my body. For someone who thinks physigue is so important, you'd think I'd find my mobility just as important. Oh well, now it's time to start.
Fitness competitor Libby Streeter was looking for a way to counter her history of pulled muscles: "Many, many muscles - too many to count," she says.
Her colleague Brandy Maddron felt she needed to take advantage of every opportunity to give her fitness routine a boost, since she lacks a gymnastics or dance background. College coach Andrea Hudy, MA, CSCS, believes an athlete can perform better by increasing her range of motion.
The common thread for each of these women is flexibility, or the ability of a joint to move in its full range of motion. Although each uses a different method, all three advocate stretching to achieve the ends they desire.
The trio's support of stretching is welcome news to Michael Alter, a former gymnast, coach and physical-education teacher who has parlayed an interest in the subject into two influential books, Science of Flexibility (Human Kinetics, 1996) and Sport Stretch (Human Kinetics, 1998). He believes stretching has multiple benefits for the fitness-minded, and not just physical ones.
"First, it's spiritual, in terms of the union of the body, mind and spirit," Alter explains. "There can be a relaxation of stress and tension that can be both physical - in the muscle - and psychological."
Libby, a self-described Type A personality who won her IFBB pro card at the '99 NPC Nationals, agrees. "The more I stretch, the more I find inner peace," she says. "But you have to work at it; you have to relax and let your muscles relax. It starts from your head and goes through your body."
Alter also believes stretching on a regular basis can help develop discipline, since you have to plan it into each day. It helps to improve fitness, posture and symmetry as well, which tend to deteriorate with age, often resulting in a hunched-over "dowager" appearance.
So essentially if I don't start stretching I am going to shrivel up and die, possible literally. Can't have that. I guess discipline is key, since my main problem is my inability to remember to stretch everyday. Well that, and my general carelessness for my body. For someone who thinks physigue is so important, you'd think I'd find my mobility just as important. Oh well, now it's time to start.