Flexibility - What is it?
Lao Tzu: “All things, including the grass and trees, are soft and pliable in life; dry and brittle in death. Stiffness is thus a companion of death; flexibility a companion of life. ... A tree that cannot bend will crack in the wind. The hard and stiff will be broken; the soft and supple will prevail”
This write-up based on our flexibility is adapted from notes taken while attending a recent webinar on the topic with Dr. Romanov.
As we all age, we gradually lose strength, but we can slow that loss by continuing to train our strength, which is one of our 10 General Physical Skills.
We also gradually lose flexibility (also a physical skill in our 10 General Physical Skills) in our joints. We can maintain and slow the loss of our flexibility in our joints by training it, as well.
What is flexibility, exactly?
It is the capacity of joints to be moved around a central point, and to have freedom of movement. It is also the ability for our tendons and ligaments to be elastic. Our muscles should also have the ability to relax, and to allow for joints to move.
What does it mean to improve flexibility?
We improve flexibility by developing the capacity to move our joints with the necessary ranges of motion.
We do not stretch.
The misconception that we need to “stretch” to improve our flexibility came out of World War II when soldiers had wounds that required to be healed by keeping their joints flexed. As part of the recovery, then medical staff had to extend their joints by “stretching” them. This concept took off after the war, and has been part of our consciousness ever since.
We think we need to “stretch” our muscles, e.g. stretching hamstrings.
Really, when we “stretch” our muscles, we are trying to elongate or lengthen them. Our muscles have a certain mass to them, and they will only stretch so much. We start creating stiff muscles and causing discomfort and pain. This limits range of motion of our joints.
To create more range of motion of a joint, the point is to relax the muscles around the joint to allow for the movement we want.
How much flexibility do we need?
We need just the right amount of flexibility for what the specific activity we are engaging in calls for.
A large part of, or in addition to our physical flexibility is our mind, or our mental flexibility.
Consider this in your mind: when we say to ourselves, “I am not flexible,” then we are.
Our self-limiting beliefs in our minds truly manifest in our physical world.
One element that contributes to our self-limiting beliefs is fear.
Consider how an old person becomes decrepit and unable to move freely, and might need assistance to get around. This old person is prone to falls and is scared of falling, so they are stiff, and do not want to move.
This old person has not only lost their flexibility physically, but their flexibility mentally.
This old person has let fear rule their life.
If this old person had kept up with their fitness and health, and as a part of that, fearlessly trained to improve and maintain their physical flexibility, then he or she would not get to the point of needing assistance to get down, wipe themselves, and up off the toilet, for example.
The overall message is that we can all maintain our flexibility from birth to death. It is and should be available to us our whole life, and at any instant when it is called for.
To be fearless is to say to ourselves and to identify ourselves as being flexible.
How do we go about maintaining and/or improving our flexibility?
Again, we physically train to improve it. So when we approach our training sessions, we can train it every time. Our warm-ups should include moving around our joints in all of their ranges of motion, to prepare them fully for movement. Our goal in moving around our joints is to keep our muscles relaxed and loose, to allow the greatest movement possible. Once we hit the point where the muscles tense up and restrict the range of motion around a joint, then do not go further; do not force range of motion. We need to learn over time how to relax our muscles around those joints.
By focusing on taking an action or executing a task, instead of focusing on a specific set of muscles to “stretch,” then we allow for the joints move and necessary muscles to respond in accordance to what and how much is needed.
We should start to see gradual improvements in our joints’ flexibility over time when we are consistently training it.
Does being inflexible cause injury?
No. Misusing muscles and preventing the necessary range of motion of joints resulting from poorly executing technique by deviating from the standard, does.
Being fearful of movement, causing stiff muscles, causing joints to not move freely, both causing and being an effect of not executing proper technique when tired, or being ignorant to proper technique, converge, resulting in injury.
Train to improve your flexibility over time on your own and with us, and enjoy the rest of your fearless life with good moments without pain and injury.
Try what Dr. Romanov does below, and what do in class here, too.