WHETHER YOU’RE AN ATHLETE OR OFFICE WORKER, GOOD FLEXIBILITY AND POSTURE ARE IMPORTANT. STRETCHING, WHEN DONE CORRECTLY, CAN HELP ACHIEVE BOTH AIMS

As the years roll by, our faces will probably age and one thing that can have a detrimental effect on our appearance is gravity.

Compression on our bodies during our 16-hour days really takes its toll. So whether you are a serious athlete or a couch potato, everybody can benefit from stretching.

The problem exists not only with gravity but that people tend to do what they are good at. If you are flexible you won’t mind stretching, but if you aren’t you won’t want to expose your weakness.

Poor flexibility and posture can increase your likelihood of injuries and back pain. In addition, people who do stretch usually do so ineffectively, performing the same exercises that several generations of coaches and athletes have used.

These normally involve holding the familiar positions to stretch the groin, hips and the hamstrings on the back of the leg, at the same intensity and duration regardless of what sport or activity you have been doing.

Many people spend most of their day sitting — on the job, in the car, at the dinner table — only to spend their evening watching TV. Sitting for extended periods, day in and day out, without adequate stretching and movement, will lead to decreased flexibility and muscle imbalances.

BAD POSTURE

Day-to-day activities such as TV watching lead to terrible posture, where certain muscles on the front on the body become short while the muscles on the back of the body become overstretched. These imbalances will place abnormal weight on joints, stressing muscles and tendons, often leading to pain.

To better understand how muscle imbalances affect your body, think of a bicycle wheel. If a bicycle wheel is out of balance or buckled, chances are the bicycle won’t handle well. The stress of riding on a crooked wheel could cause the wheel to fall apart. The solution is to shorten/tighten the loose spokes and lengthen/loosen the tight ones. If we loosen already loose spokes, the bike becomes more unstable.

In order to determine which muscles are tight it is advised to get a personalised flexibility assessment from a qualified fitness professional or a body-work therapist.

IMPROVE FLEXIBILITY

Research shows that an overhead squat is an excellent resource for determining overall flexibility and your future likelihood of injuries.

Once we know the tight muscles to be stretched, we must then choose the kind of stretching. There are two main kinds: PNF (contract/ relax; also called proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation) and ballistic stretching, popularised by gymnasts.

I have practised many different types of stretching and have found that in order to improve your flexibility, it takes six hours a week for about 12 weeks to have a long-lasting effect. Warm-up stretching can maintain flexibility but it won’t increase it.