Topic 4 - Introduction to exercise Technique

Felxibility Training

Flexibility: ability of a joint to move freely through a full normal range of motion

• Types:

  • Static Stretching: Movement slowly into a stretched (or lengthened) position of the target muscle holding it for approximately 30-90 seconds.

    • Static stretching imprves sympathetic tone and calms us down. thsi allows for a time to a reduction in total cortisol

    • Static strteching increases oxygen delivery and circulation

    • Recommendations: (Understand why tehse are the recrommendations)

      • Preceded by a warm-up of 5 to 15 minutes, until a light sweat appears

        • Viscosisty: teh resitance to flow

          • Higher viscosisty = mor eresitance to flow

        • When we warm up our viscossity decreases. We decrease teh visscossity of our tissues and are able to moven more easily

      • Emphasize slow, smooth movements anmd coordinate deep breathing

      • To reduce the chance of activating the stretch reflex, discourage bouncing

        • The atretch reflex is refering specifically to what muscle spindles do

      • Large muscle groups first

      • At least 3 times/week

  • Dysnamic Stretching: Actively moving a limb through a full range of motion using functionally based movements or to the specific demands of the sport or activities the client takes part in.

    • Recrommendations for dynamic stretching:

      • Moderation and common sense are important. Flexibility is just one component of fitness and should not be overemphasized

      • The stretch should never be forced. If the stretch hurts, it should be discontinued.

      • Flexibility training should be combined with resistance training.

      • Flexibility should be joint specific based on the needs of the client and the requirements of the activity.

      • Ballistic stretching should be avoided.

      • Stretching movemnents that position tegh body in the most functional stance possible, relative to the involved joints and musculature to be stretched and teh activity requirments iof the client, should be emphasized.

      • It is importaint to make use of gravity, body weight, and ground reaction forces when stretching. Further, changes in planes and proprioceptive demand should be considered to further enhance imporvments in flexibility.

      • The dynamic flexibility training program should be specific to the demands of the sport or activities the client takes part in. The individual felxibility requirments of the client are also an important consideration

      • Improvements in flexibility can occur from day to day. Additionally, once increases in ROM have occurred, it is easy to maintain from ROM. Maintaining flexibility requires less work than improving it does.

      • Clients should stretch the large muscle groups first and repeat teh same routine every training day. A areas that are less flexibility become apparent, a greater emphasis can be placed on performing additional stretches for those muscle groups and joints.

      • Train for dynamic flexibility at least three times per week or along with each exercise session. to track performance improvements, clients should be consistent with teh time of day they perform dynamic flexibility training, remembering tehy are least flkexiblein the morning.

      • Stretching should take place after the core temperature has been elevated.

  • Ballistic Stretching: Performance of continuous, rapid bouncing movements at the end ROM where the muscle is a maximal length

    • We don’t want this, this will cause an injury

    • Three disadvantages

      1. Increased danger of exceeding the extensibility limits

      2. Greater energy requirments

      3. Activation of the stretch reflex

         • Stretch Reflex: During a rapid strteching movement, the sensory neuron form teh muscle spindle excited a motor neuron causing contraction of the previously streched muscle fibers

         • Using muscles spindles, explain why teh stretch reflex is not what we want in stretchiong? Because muscle spondles are activated as part of teh stretch reflex and so with the stretch reflex we are going to have increase tension in the muscle and when we are trying to safely lengthen teh muscles we don’t want high force to be produced in the muscle we stretch at teh same time

    • What does sracomere length have to do with recrommendation of Balastic strteching? Our recromendation is no because you don’t want to ask lengthened sarcomerees to create force rapidly.

  • Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation: Alternating lengthening teh muscle contraction (concentric and/or isometric) to activate teh Golgi tendon organs.

    • Gnererally, these are trying to affect extensibility, elesticity, and contractibility

    • Three types:

      • Hold-relax Stretch

        • PNF stretching steps (Autogenic):

          1. Take patient into gentle stretch and ask patient to let you know when they feel the stretch

          2. Place leg against chest and ask pateint to press against you with a good amount of force (tendon will change length and activate GTOs to tell muscle to relax)

      • Contract-Relax Stretch

        • Contract-relax stretch steps (Autogenic):

          1. Take patient into gentle stretch and ask patient to let you know when they feel teh stretch

          2. Allow leg to come down in a controlled fashion and then back into stretch

      • Hold-Relax with Agonsit Contraction (autogeniic and Recipicol)

        1. Take patient into gentle stretch and ask patient to let you know when tehy feelteh stretch

        2. Place leg against chest and ask pateint to press agaisnt you with a good about of force (Tendosn will change length and activate GTOs to telkl muscles to relax)

        3. Push forward and pull toes towards you (thsi will activate tissue on teh oposite side you are trying to stretch) When you fire teh miuscle on the otehr side, the muscles on the opposite side relaxes a bit.

    • Autogenic: using muscles on the same side toe nehance range of motion (Auto = same side)

    • Recipical: means other side

• Injury prevention

  • Felxability training is inclenclusive specifically tio injury preventionbecause multiple variables can go into an injury

  • It si unclear if flexibilty training prevents muscle imbalances

• Moevment patters

  • Felxibility CAN imporve teh quality of moevment due to less strain on joint and muscles. Whin in turn ciuld decrease injury risk

• Factors affecting felxibility

  • Physiological - Joint structure, age , sex, muscle and connective tissue elasticity, core temperature

    • Females have higher estrogen levels. this is associated with reduce tendon stiffness.

    • Flexibility decreases with age, as we age we get drier, as we age we have a breakdown of elastic fibers in our muscle (elastin is elastic).

    • If we lose our stretchy motion in the muscles taht makes it harder to move. We have an increase in covalent crosslionks. These crosslinks are found in the tendons. Tehse are one of the things that gives it a high resccistance to tensile force

  • Lifestyle - Activity level, resistance training level

    • Consistant resistance tarining is associated with improved range of motion.

    • One of the possible mechanisms for improvingh range of motions is changed to the neural network (GTO). We increase of range of motion not ecause we permanently lengthen the tissues it is teaching teh neural system to allow the tissue to lengthen

    • Is it possible to increase teh length and capacity of tissue? Inconclusive

    • Could the length of tissue contribute to range of motion? Inconclusive

• Strength Curves

  • Ascending

    • Hardest at the start of the concentric phase and easiest at teh end

    • Muscle tesnion / force requirment decreases from start to end of concentric phase / MA (mechanical advantage) increases. We need more muscle tension at teh beinging of teh concentric because it is teh hardest

    • Easier as you reach full extension

    • Bench press, push ups, squats and deadlifts (Ascending if start at parallel, Bell is start deeper - why?)

    • As joint angle increases, force increases as well

    • Mechanical advatage increases as we reacg teh end of the concentric phase

    • Use muscle tension, force requirment, and mechanical advantage to explain why the _____ exercise has an _____ (ascending, descending, or bell shaped) strength curve.

  • Descending

    • Easiest at the start of the concentric phase and hardest at the ends

    • Muscle tension / force requirement increases from the start to the end of the concentric phase / decreased MA. We need more muscle tension at the end of teh concentric phase bcause this is where it is teh hardest (the moment arm is the longest)

    • Harder as you reach full flexion

    • Pull ups, rows

    • When we say tehat we need more muscle tnesion we are saying that we need more tension or tensile force created in our miscles to produce more force. We need more myocin to grab onto actin and pull to create tension / tensile force.

  • Bell Shaped

    • The force requirement increases and then decreases with the middlle of the ROM being the hardest

    • Easiest at begining and end / muscle tension incrwases then decreases / MA decreases then increases

    • Single joint exetcises: biceps curl, triceps extension

    • Exaplain why a deep squat has a bell curve verses a parallel squat