I am not flexible. I need to work on this harder than most. My spine isn’t straight, this leads to further imbalances in the muscles and tightness as the body tries to compensate. Most people like me do not like stretching but it is an essential part of an exercise plan.
The better our flexibility the better the range of motion we have. Why do we need a great range of motion? You activate more muscles which leads to more muscle stimulation and more adaptations. We need adaptation for muscle growth, muscle strength and too create lean look. Tightness creates shorter muscles.
I was doing a rotator plank today, a plank where you lift one arm up and move from 12 o’clock to 3 o’clock. My gosh, what a reminder that exercise was that I need to work harder on my shoulder flexibility. My range of movement was terrible, I couldn’t straighten my arm properly in the required position. I didn’t have the range, because of tight shoulders. This meant I wasn’t getting the most out of the exercise. Tightness restricts movements, you don’t stimulate as many muscles and you will be more prone to injury.
Squats, how many times do we see people squatting staying in the top half. Tight leg or hip muscles will prevent you getting low. But if you don’t have tight muscles and have the range, get low! The lower you go, the harder it is because you activate more muscles but isn’t this what you want? If you are going to do it, do it properly and get the most out of the exercise. The only person you are cheating is yourself. It is better to lift a lighter squat weight and do it right, rather than lifting heaving but only going down 25%.
Injuries can often be the cause of muscle imbalances and tightness. You can start to put pressure on joints as the body compensates, the wrong muscles will pick up the slack and work harder, and the ones that should be doing the work become weaker and weaker. We exercise to be healthy, you can’t be healthy if you are injured.
Reminder to myself, will use the foam roller every night and stretch consistently. Ask me this time next week if I’ve done it every day!
