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Tree of Fitness Article: | |
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The Slow Stretch Wins the "Flexibility Race"
Without even taking a sur vey, I can usually tell early on who in my workshops is a complete newcomer to yoga. Contrary to what you might assume, it's not necessarily their level of ability that gives it away. Instead, I look for signs based on what I call the "fidget factor." Through no fault of theirs--more a product of our rush, rush, rush society, some newcomers arrive at the workshop knowing they need to relax, only to feel a certain shock at just how slowly we actually maneuver through the various postures. While some people take to this rhythm immediately ("Ah, yes! THIS is just what I need!"), there are those whose personalities need a bit more time to become accustomed to the change of pace ("Well, I am enjoying this, but when are we moving on to the next pose already?"). I see this in their body language. While everybody will obviously look at me
periodically--for input on how to do the pose, what it should look like, etc., these hurried individuals glance at me with the same look of anticipation they might demonstrate when anxiously peeking at the clock during an interesting, if a bit long, business presentation. This is typically my cue to explain why we hold the poses at such a snail's pace. And this is my cue to do the same for this article:
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Holding a stretch for at least 30 seconds--and at the same time, breathing smoothly and attempting to relax--is the most effective approach to increase a muscle's flexibility. Merely striking a pose, holding it for five seconds, and moving onto the next one, does little to affect flexibility. This is due to the fact that a stretched muscle's first reaction is to tense up; this is for good reason, as this is the body's built-in protection mechanism against injury. The muscle sense the need to contract "away" from the stretch, much the way you jerk your hand back if you touch a hot object. There are specialized nervous system receptors that detect the muscle's stretch, and this information is fed back to the central nervous system, which is then responded to by a signal to contract the muscle and protect it from too much stretch in order to avoid injury. This is obviously an extremely important bodily adaptation, but it works almost too
well, as it initially prevents a muscle from relaxing when in the stretched position, which diminishes its ability to respond to the stretch by increasing its flexibility, or "range of motion."
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Of course, if the position you're in causes any pain or discomfort, indeed, listen to your body's protective response and stop the stretch immediately! On the other hand, if the muscle simply feels that it's being gently stretched, but the position is otherwise comfortable, then in order to benefit from the stretch and increase your flexibility, your body can combat its initial response contract via a second response, one that overrides that first one. The key to inducing this second response is time passage; the muscle needs to be held in a particular stretch for at least 20-30 seconds in order for it to kick in. Once it does, the muscle begins to loosen and relax, and thus will start to adapt to the stretch. Done consistently, over time the muscle will continue to adapt by lengthening its range of motion, which amounts to an increase in flexibility. We apply this principle in yoga by holding our stretched positions--remember, only those that
feel comfortable--for a long enough period of time to facilitate a gentle and gradual increase in flexibility to the targeted muscles.
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Beyond the muscle-related benefits, what I love about this fact of physiology is that it gives us a concrete reason to slow down! We're so tightly conditioned against the great art of taking a break, that doing so often is a challenging, guilt-ridden process. As far as I'm concerned, the body's need to slow down for the purpose of benefiting from a stretch is one of its mechanisms to force us to slow down. So now we have no excuse! For the sake of keeping good health and optimal mobility, we must, for our bodies' sake, take physical and mental time-outs. And to those of you for whom this is particularly difficult, feel assured: if you stick with it, you will eventually go from restless to rested. You will look forward to the session of slow motion the same way one anticipates a weekly massage, a morning cup of coffee, that first refreshing plunge in the pool on a scorching summer afternoon, and the relief when your head first hits the pillow at the end of an exhausting
day. So hang in there! You'll learn to slow down soon enough! k
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