I don't believe in Flexibility. Well not as you know it anyway. Many people believe flexibility is holding isolated static stretches (like toe touches) or flexibility is defined as the range of motion around a joint. However, human motion never works in isolation (muscles are never lonely). Meaning many of the static stretches we learned growing up can actually decrease performance. Visualize a quad stretch, a toe touch, or a butterfly stretch. Part of the reason these positions are uncomfortable is that our bodies aren't necessarily designed to go into these postures. When was the last time the activities of your daily life mimicked those poses? Muscles are never lonely because the body works together 3 dimensionally from head to toe. That old child hood song the hip bone is conccected to your thigh bone is 100% true. Everything is connected to every thing through lines of muscle, fascia (connective tissue), ligaments, and tendons. So the definition of flexibility, the range of motion around a joint, isn't so far off, but i like to simplify it even more.
(The reason yoga poses are more effective, is they work lines of muscle from head to toe. Your body is forced to contract, lengthen, maintain posture, and stabilize 3 planes of motion from head to toe. None of her muscles are lonely they are firing in harmony and her central nervous system is working hard as well just as in motion)
So more simply you can say flexibility is the freedom to move. I like this definition better because the key to improving performance in Paddling, surfing, or any activity of life is moving more efficiently. Gary Gray a functional training guru describes efficient movement as, “The ability to functionally take advantage of just the right amount of motion at just the right joint in just the right plane in just the right direction at just the right time.” So simple yet mind blowing. The only way you can improve performance via Gray's definition is to improve your movement patterns through perfect form in different directions at different speeds. Wow, so is movement really about flexibility? Or is training movements the gateway to range of motion? Can strength training or even SUPing improve flexibility? Didn't Gray mention speed as well in his definition of function? Wow, all that can get a little overwhelming so lets go back to the KISS method (Keep it Simple Stupid). All the questions I raised are true. But the key to performance or efficient movements is by gaining mobility and stability at the proper joints and through the right lines of muscles.
Mobility + Stability = Most-ability (efficient movement)
Isn't that the purpose of training to give you the most ability?
(Laird can ride giants because his training philosophy mimics what Gray says above. He recruits the right amount of motion at the right joint at the right time due to his Rocky style work ethic. If he didn't that wave could kill him. He cross trains all the time to increase his performance through mobility, stability, endurance, and functional strength training. If you have never seen his book check it out http://www.amazon.com/Force-Nature-Mind-Course-Surfing/dp/1594869421)
Here's the way i describe most-abiility to my staff.
Your body is aligned in major intersections of joints with alternating responsibilites. What is unique about this most-ability chart is that sites of injury are almost always caused by the joint above or below the actual injury site. For example if your back hurts from a 3 mile paddle guess what you over used your back. That might be common sense, but the reason you over used your back is due to hip tightness or thoracic spine (t-spine) tightness. Meaning that since your hips or t-spine are tight they don't efficently load. They are ristricted in their range of motion so that range of motion has to come from somewhere else. That somewhere else is your lumbar spine which is supposed to be stable. Pretty Cool Huh?
Most-Ability chart
Ankle -> Mobile
Knee -> Stable
Hip complex-> Mobile
Lumbar Spine -> Stable
Thoracic Spince -> Mobile
Shoulders -> Mostability (there are technically 2 shoulder joints they need to be mobile and stable.
In my next training blog I will give recommended ankle mobility exercises. In the meantime to apply the most-ability chart, analyze your current training. What re you doing to add mobility to your ankle, hips and shoulders (yoga and functional training does this)? What are you doing to doing to stabilize your knee and lumbar spine? (yoga, functional training, and core work do this) Thinking like this can decrease your chance of injury and improve your performance in and out of the water. Before you know it you will be doing crazy stuff like Kim from Paddle Board Orlando down below. http://www.paddleboardorlando.com/
Works Cited
Allot of my functional training philosophy has come from Gary Gray through articles, videos, and conferences. To learn a little more about Gary check out http://www.grayinstitute.com/about.aspx.
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