Stretching can be a great part of any athletes workouts. Just like anything else, however, there's a right and wrong way to do it. A lot of new research has come out talking about the effectiveness of stretching for athletes. We won't spend a lot of time analyzing all of it here but it is worth looking into.
Some basic rules and guidelines that can help you use stretching to its fullest potential follow.
1. Stretching is great! Alwyn Cosgrove said, "How can something that makes you feel better be bad for you?" I agree.
2. Static stretching should be done after a workout and not before. Static stretching is the kind where you hold a position that is uncomfortable for a period of time. Research has shown that stretching before a workout tends to relax the muscles at a time when they need to be rigid and explosive. One study actually showed that stretching can undo the good that comes from a warmup.
3. Stretching shouldn't hurt. Static or Dynamic stretching shouldn't be painful. Most of the stretching I've seen is performed incorrectly. You'd think the people doing it are going through torture! Pain is an indication that there's something going wrong. It may be that you need to learn more about how to do it. Don't continue through pain. Talk to your coach or a physician.
4. When a muscle is flexed it can't stretch. It seems like this would be a common sense idea but I've personally seen people stretching that try to force flexibility. Remember, flexibility comes because a muscle is relaxed. Strength comes because it is tense. Both have their place. When you try to do both at the same time pain or injury is usually the outcome. Don't have other people push on you when you stretch until you've learned how to relax your muscles. Even then, be careful with partner stretches.
5. Stretching isn't a very effective warm up. I'm not saying it's evil. There's just more effective ways to get ready to work. Dynamic warm ups are much more effective. Move the joints. If there's tightness keep moving them until the tightness goes away. That means the muscle is warm. Progress from slow movements that make the muscles mobile to explosive movements where you are functioning at 100%.
Stretching should be a part of every athletes improvement plan. However, doing it right and at the right time makes it effective.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Monday, December 15, 2008
WE SET OUR OWN LIMITS
One thing I've learned about people is that they like results. Whether it's kids or adults, we want to see improvement in things we think should improve. We also place limits on how far those improvements should go. Most of the time we do it without knowing it but we all do it in one form or another.
I like to remind myself of this fact every now and then just to shake things up. Having high expectations and pushing those expectations is a great way to improve our situations.
Have you ever heard about the guy that broke the 4 minute mile. Probably not. His name was Roger Bannister. In his day every "expert" had proved that running a sub 4 minute mile was impossible. Everyone thought running a sub 4 minute mile would kill you. Nobody had tested the body to the extent that would make running that hard possible. On May 6, 1954 Bannister recorded the first sub 4 minute mile with a time of 3:59.4. 46 days later John Landy ran a 3:57.9. 3 years later 16 runners had logged a sub 4 minute mile. The current world record is 15 seconds faster.
I relate this back to the subject of limits. We believe change takes time, so it does. Think about the limits you see around you. Keep in mind, some limits are set for our safety, while other limits do nothing but hold us down and keep us from reaching our potential. Can you tell the difference between the two? Do you have the courage to reach past your current limits?
I like to remind myself of this fact every now and then just to shake things up. Having high expectations and pushing those expectations is a great way to improve our situations.
Have you ever heard about the guy that broke the 4 minute mile. Probably not. His name was Roger Bannister. In his day every "expert" had proved that running a sub 4 minute mile was impossible. Everyone thought running a sub 4 minute mile would kill you. Nobody had tested the body to the extent that would make running that hard possible. On May 6, 1954 Bannister recorded the first sub 4 minute mile with a time of 3:59.4. 46 days later John Landy ran a 3:57.9. 3 years later 16 runners had logged a sub 4 minute mile. The current world record is 15 seconds faster.
I relate this back to the subject of limits. We believe change takes time, so it does. Think about the limits you see around you. Keep in mind, some limits are set for our safety, while other limits do nothing but hold us down and keep us from reaching our potential. Can you tell the difference between the two? Do you have the courage to reach past your current limits?
Thursday, December 11, 2008
CHECK THIS OUT!
This kid is serious about improving. He's d0ing it for wrestling but the principles of hard work apply. He does a lot of the exercises that we've introduced.
Check it out here. http://www.alwyncosgrove.blogspot.com/
Check it out here. http://www.alwyncosgrove.blogspot.com/
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
ACTIVITY VS. ACCOMPLISHMENT
One of my favorite quotes is from John Wooden. "Don't mistake activity for accomplishment."
The world is full of activities. I think it's safe to say that we are probably the most active people in history. We're constantly finding the new thing to do or read or listen to.
Kids are especially active. They go to practice, then to class, then lift weights, then play in the band, then they go to their churches, and then they find they have an extra hour or two and fill it with something else to stay busy. They do exactly what they're told because they are told to do it. At the end of their high school career they have been an active participant in their schools, church, and community and accomplished nothing!
If you'd like to argue that being active is an accomplishment, I'd say, you're right! That's the problem. A lot of people believe being active is a substitute for accomplishing something. I learned the difference very early in life, thanks to my parents and their determination to teach me how to work.
My mom and dad used to make me pull weeds in the back yard. My back yard was an acre of dirt and woodchips. Weeds grew everywhere. The first time I went out to work in the yard I was grumpy that I had to do it. I pulled weeds until I had spent the time I was supposed to and then I went off to do something fun.
The next Saturday my dad asked me to help him pull the weeds in the back yard again. This time he gave me a specific area to work on. It took me about half an hour to finish because I knew that the faster I worked the less time I'd have to spend. I was happy to get the task over because I had other things I wanted to do.
Working in the yard became a tradition I dreaded. However, one Saturday, I did something I hadn't done before. I looked back on the area I had weeded and noticed how much better it looked than the area I hadn't done. As I looked over the yard something happened in me that hadn't happened before. I imagined how a clean back yard would look and how hard it would be and I challenged myself. I decided I wanted to weed the entire back yard. I wanted the entire thing to look good.
I must have spent 5 hours pulling weeds. I remember the discomfort in my arms and back but that was just a sacrifice to accomplish my goal. I imagined how the field would look when it was done and I pushed harder. I worked through lunch. I got sunburned. I still remember the acid taste in my mouth from the weeds.
As I reached the last few feet of weeds I was exhausted. I kept telling myself that I was almost done. Just one more. When I pulled the last weed, I stood up and looked back over the yard and I knew I had accomplished something. The feeling of setting a challenge and doing it was awesome. After that experience I couldn't see a weed come up in the yard without feeling like my work was being undone.
The sign that a person has challenged himself is ownership and responsibility. He doesn't need to be told what to do. He'll do whatever he thinks will help him reach his goal. When my football players decide to accomplish the task of playing in a State Championship game they will make the sacrifices that need to be made because they are working on a goal, not because I'm making them do it.
The world is full of activities. I think it's safe to say that we are probably the most active people in history. We're constantly finding the new thing to do or read or listen to.
Kids are especially active. They go to practice, then to class, then lift weights, then play in the band, then they go to their churches, and then they find they have an extra hour or two and fill it with something else to stay busy. They do exactly what they're told because they are told to do it. At the end of their high school career they have been an active participant in their schools, church, and community and accomplished nothing!
If you'd like to argue that being active is an accomplishment, I'd say, you're right! That's the problem. A lot of people believe being active is a substitute for accomplishing something. I learned the difference very early in life, thanks to my parents and their determination to teach me how to work.
My mom and dad used to make me pull weeds in the back yard. My back yard was an acre of dirt and woodchips. Weeds grew everywhere. The first time I went out to work in the yard I was grumpy that I had to do it. I pulled weeds until I had spent the time I was supposed to and then I went off to do something fun.
The next Saturday my dad asked me to help him pull the weeds in the back yard again. This time he gave me a specific area to work on. It took me about half an hour to finish because I knew that the faster I worked the less time I'd have to spend. I was happy to get the task over because I had other things I wanted to do.
Working in the yard became a tradition I dreaded. However, one Saturday, I did something I hadn't done before. I looked back on the area I had weeded and noticed how much better it looked than the area I hadn't done. As I looked over the yard something happened in me that hadn't happened before. I imagined how a clean back yard would look and how hard it would be and I challenged myself. I decided I wanted to weed the entire back yard. I wanted the entire thing to look good.
I must have spent 5 hours pulling weeds. I remember the discomfort in my arms and back but that was just a sacrifice to accomplish my goal. I imagined how the field would look when it was done and I pushed harder. I worked through lunch. I got sunburned. I still remember the acid taste in my mouth from the weeds.
As I reached the last few feet of weeds I was exhausted. I kept telling myself that I was almost done. Just one more. When I pulled the last weed, I stood up and looked back over the yard and I knew I had accomplished something. The feeling of setting a challenge and doing it was awesome. After that experience I couldn't see a weed come up in the yard without feeling like my work was being undone.
The sign that a person has challenged himself is ownership and responsibility. He doesn't need to be told what to do. He'll do whatever he thinks will help him reach his goal. When my football players decide to accomplish the task of playing in a State Championship game they will make the sacrifices that need to be made because they are working on a goal, not because I'm making them do it.
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