Stretching: general discussion

In flexibility training do you really apply yourself? Are you prepared to work hard to be flexible? If you honestly answer yourself with a "no" to both questions then you either have to seriously rethink your goals or leave training until you can answer yes. Be honest with yourself. Never cheat yourself. You will have a miserable life if you do.

The human body is quite capable of adaptation, but requires a considerable amount of stress to cause change. Muscles do not grow without the correct type of weight training program and neither will they get longer without stretching them.

However, caution must be used when stretching. Normal use of a limb involves a comfortable movement inside the extreme range: the middle range. This does not involve increasing the range or even the strength components. At the extreme of joint function improper stretching can seriously affect the function of the joint and even damage it. You would not try to bend the elbow more than the joint can allow. The elbow joint is a type which cannot be moved beyond a certain angle. The knees, however, by their design do not have this restriction and is caused by bone shape and interlocking of bones and all restrained by ligaments. These are strong cord like structures and have a slight elastic quality. They can be stretched, but only a little. If you attempt to lengthen them beyond the safe limit (only a few percent) the ligament is irreparably damaged, the joint is destabilised and the whole joint exposed to injury.

Consider the side split movement using the body weight or seated with a partner pressing against your LOWER leg to widen the leg angle. The contact point of the foot to the floor in the former or pushing at the ankle in the latter means enormous pressure is placed upon the medial (inner) ligament of the knee. The lower leg is actually moved out of alignment with the upper leg and the functioning of the leg is completely changed. A minor modification will avoid this problem. The side split may be done by sitting across two chairs with the legs turned out to the side and the underside of the upper legs in contact with the chair seat. Lowering the body to increase the stretch involves the groin area only without any weight at all on the knee joint with your feet off the floor or very lightly touching.

The partnered stretch is done simply by pushing at or slightly above the knee and the knee must be supported at all times if it is implicated in any type of stretch. In both cases the hamstrings can be stretched independently and separately.

When stretching, what you are really doing is allowing the brain to relearn a new muscle length. Normally, the muscle reaches its usual length and creates the expected amount of tension for that length. The muscle tone. This is what the brain allows. It is the information that the brain has. Resetting this length and tension information allows a modified movement. If the brain is not allowed to learn new positions, lengths and tension data then you will never be able to alter your body. Muscle and connective tissue is somewhat elastic. If pulled to an extreme length then the muscle will simply return to its original length without any adaptation. However, holding the muscle in this extended position for 20-30 seconds will have an effect. Repeated exercise like this will eventually reset the brain's length and tension information. There are various methods of stretching and each has its use for either quicker results or perhaps a different and less violent stretch to recover the use of an injured limb.

Can you honestly say to yourself that you execute all techniques exceptionally well, perfectly. I doubt if you can answer this one with a definite "yes". We can all improve our techniques but if the range of a limb is not modified then again you will never be able to perform them correctly although knowing that with adaptation you could. Learning how to do something requires that your body is capable of doing it. Otherwise no end of effort will allow you ever to do anything well. It is quite probable that you limit your techniques to the ones you feel you do best. Some techniques will not be used at all or only occasionally and then not very well because you find them difficult to do. They are not practised and even if they were a limb range restriction will not allow it. When you are a novice learning new techniques you are not capable of determining the reason for a poor execution of a technique. It may simply be practice. But if the limb range is limited then practising a new technique poorly will always result in a poor technique. Even if stretching later allows the necessary range the technique has been already established in the memory. That complex series of muscle movements that causes the desired action. Limb movement over the required range should ideally be improved before ever attempting new and complex techniques. Obviously your potential is very restricted. Selective stretching is not sensible. The same as selective muscle strengthening makes no sense. To improve arm power, for example, the lower arm movement should be hand turned inwards and downwards (pronated) or outwards and upwards (supinated) to stress all the muscles of the arm/forearm. Many muscles are involved in even the simplest action so all muscles must be trained at different angles to make real and safe improvements or else strength can only be enhanced in the one trained direction.

Stretching is no different. The implication on many other muscles caused by the altered function of only a few will have its consequences. Movement may be improved in one limb action but many others will also be altered and need correction by stretching these many others. Basically, every limb should be pushed in all conceivable directions (and those you don't know!) to ensure the overall body action is not made worse rather than better. Continual practise of all activity is essential to relearn new movements because that is what they are. As muscles alter their characteristics by stress adaptation the movements and co-ordination of complex movements have also to be continually relearnt. They are always changing.

This highlights another problem children may have if training is interrupted for any period while growth continues. The complications of puberty. The growth spurt in children has a real impact on technical learnt movements of earlier times. A well practised series of complex movements in a young child is drastically altered as muscles get more powerful (probably more likely in males) and bones get longer. Not everything grows at the same rate. Continual imbalance of all the related tissues means a difficult time for the child. Continued training through this period more than likely avoids any major problem but after a layoff for any reason then continuance of training later will mean everything learned earlier has completely changed. This can cause all sorts of psychological problems as the child can become very frustrated because things don't seem to work anymore. If the child could be made to understand that this is quite an expected difficulty then I believe things wouldn't be so bad. The brain remembers the actions of a child and doesn't know how these movements should be performed as the young adult. They all, or some, may need to be relearnt.

Capable fighters or just capable students work hard at their stretching to allow themselves to do all these techniques. With the application of technique learning and all it takes - the performance is greatly improved. They become the target of envy. The "I wish I could do that" attitude. The "wannabe" type. This never allows anyone to ever reach their own potential. Disenchantment sets in and eventually cessation of training results. Try something else a little less taxing. Don't be disheartened though as you must appreciate that stretching and learning Taekwon-Do is difficult. If you find it hard then be aware that you are not alone. It takes application and dedication. Some find it a little easier than others for a number of reasons, a lot of them genetic.

An imbalance of muscle power and length will alter the operation of a limb. Bones are the levers and the muscles the cables that make the levers work. The prime mover or agonist muscle is the one which contracts and pulls on the lever. The movement is made from the joint in the intended direction but controlled by the antagonist muscle which acts to return the muscle to its original position - the reverse direction. When the agonist muscle contracts a mechanism known by the term reciprocal inhibition occurs and the antagonist muscle relaxes to allow the bone to move. If this didn't happen limbs just would not move.

Tension (Golgi organs) and length gauges (muscle spindles) are present in the bone/tendon/muscle connection and the muscle itself and act as protecting mechanisms from over strain. If the agonist muscle is tight or just short caused by incorrect stretching of only one muscle then the antagonist muscle will be weakened. This is because the reciprocal inhibition of the antagonist muscle occurs. It is relaxed a little, the extent depending on the imbalance of tension. Alternatively if the antagonist muscle is stretched then the agonist muscle will be shortened to restore the lost tension. At worst this can dangerously distort the operation of the limb or joint and cause severe long term postural problems. As nuisance value it can interfere with the co-ordination of limb function. Generally, any movement of a limb involves several muscles. The angle of motion of the limb will also use a modified sequence as this angle changes. The required pull of any one or several of the muscles will also vary again depending on the action to be performed and where. For example, consider the difference between lifting a light object up to the mouth, like a cup or glass in drinking or a spoon in feeding, and passing something heavy over to someone. Both actions use the arm but they are very different.