SARATOGA
TODAY
Week of September 21 - September 27, 2012
25
How well do you move? Now, starting with your arms straight over your head, hinge at the waist and reach forward to touch your toes. Actively squeezing that towel activates your hip adductors (inner thigh) which can help relax your hamstrings and allow them to stretch. Reach towards your toes, until you feel resistance (not pain), hold for 2-3 seconds, and return to an upright position. Accomplish 10 repetitions. If you feel pain in your low back, stop. Now, doing the same exercise again, elevate your toes by placing the ball of your foot on a 2x4 or foam roll, and complete 10 more repetitions. Be prepared to feel some tension behind your knees (in your calves) on this stretch.
by Michael Lapolla Saratoga TODAY Ok, so you’re considering joining a gym and you’ve got some ideas about an exercise program and some specific objectives to work on, right? At Saratoga Health and Wellness, we assess each new client and discuss goals, objectives and expectations about an exercise plan. A significant part of our assessment deals with addressing the fundamental components of fitness, including body composition, muscular endurance, muscular flexibility, muscular strength and cardiovascular endurance. Additionally, we’ll look at movement patterns such as squatting down, putting your arms overhead, touching your toes and rotating your torso. In essence, we try to answer the question, how well do you move? The results of these tests enable us to create an appropriate and progressive exercise prescription. As we get older, our joints become less mobile and our muscles tighter and weaker. This means that our simple, fundamental movement patterns break down, and our inability to freely go through an adequate range of motion makes us compensate in possible injury-producing ways. Let’s take a look at one simple pattern. Remember when you were just a kid and you could bend over and touch your toes? Well, things may have changed and that movement just isn’t so easy anymore. One of the movements we’re interested in when we work with our clients at Saratoga Health & Wellness is the ability to touch their toes while keeping their legs straight. It’s a functional movement that seems pretty straightforward, but in reality is somewhat complex. We’re interested in the movement pattern, which includes the hip and knee joint, the lumbar and thoracic spine, your pelvic stability and even your shoulder joint. You’re probably wondering why we care if you can touch your toes. Here’s why: In life, reaching forward to pick something up or lifting something heavy from the ground is often required. If you have impaired movement capabilities, it means that somewhere along the line, something has to compen-
sate. In our world, compensation is often equivalent to “someone or something’s gonna get hurt!” Try this simple test: With your legs straight, bend over, hinging at the waist and try to reach your toes. If you can’t do this it’s conceivable that your hamstrings or your low back muscles are too tight. But there’s more to it. Why are they tight? It could just be that you haven’t stretched them much and they are simply tight. But it could be indicative of another condition. There’s something called the lower crossed syndrome that we, as human beings, are often predisposed to because of the postures that we assume. These poor postures are exacerbated by excessive sitting and lack of physical activity. Over time you hunch forward, your neck falls forward, your hip flexors get short, your hamstrings have increased tension and your glutes and abdominals become weakened. Furthermore, your pelvis may tilt forward or more appropriately, may be pulled forward, causing excessive curvature of your low back (known as hyperlordosis) This forward tilting places your back in a compromised position, increasing the potential for low back pain and chronic problems. Additionally this condition may chronically stimulate your hamstrings to be ‘turned on’ or stuck in a state of excessive tension. Boy, there’s a
lot going on here. We’ve got to figure out a way to mobilize this movement and loosen up the hip and low back. So what can you do to fix this up? Try this series of strengthening and stretching exercises in the order below. The concept is simple: If you strengthen your glutes, you can take some of the tension off of your hamstrings. This glute strengthening exercise actually inhibits (relaxes) your hamstrings by placing a stretch in your quadriceps (front of the thigh), while simultaneously strengthening your glutes. Aim for 10 repetitions. If you feel this exercise in your hamstrings, or if they cramp, lower yourself down, place your heels a bit closer to your butt and try again. Once you are able to complete 20 repetitions easily, you may increase the hold-time in the ‘up’ position up to 20 seconds.
Complete the next exercise with your feet 2-3 inches apart. Place a rolled up towel (or 6-inch squishy ball) between your legs and squeeze your legs together and straighten your legs. It should be a challenge to straighten your legs with the towel between your legs.
Lastly, doing the same exercise again, elevate your heels by placing them on a 2x4 and complete 10 more repetitions. You’ll find with
this stretch that to remain balanced, you’ll be required to force your butt backward.
Work on these exercises for a few weeks and see if this helps. Stay tuned for round two of this topic where I’ll address abdominal strengthening and low back stretching. If you have any questions at all, please contact us.
Michael Lapolla is a Certified American College of Sports Medicine Exercise Specialist and owner of Saratoga Health & Wellness (Locals choice award winner, Best fitness facility, 2012). Michael and his college degreed staff design custom exercise programs for a wide range of clients. You may contact the team at SH&W at (518) 306-6987 or on the web at www.saratogahealthandwellness.com