Stretching & Back Strengthening page The Fitness Habit Website 

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Get Stretched

One of the easiest ways for a person to gain a more youthful image is to increase their flexibility. The sight of easy fluid movement conveys youth and health even when the person doing it otherwise appears older. Conversely, a youngster moving about in a constricted awkward way gives them self an aura of having one foot on a banana peel and the other in the grave. And they might too - literally. It makes you accident prone not to be able to move quickly and with agility.

There are natural processes in our bodies that tend to make muscles and connective tissue shorter and less flexible with time. A common way that people injure themselves is to play some sport, perhaps even just a game with their kids, after years of progressively lost flexibility. They then strain some muscles or ligaments that have become weak and stiff from disuse, and may experience pain and dysfunction for weeks, months and perhaps even years. Maintaining or regaining flexibility, particularly in the lower back area, is a very sensible investment of your time and effort.

The correct way to execute a stretching exercise is to focus on the muscles being stretched and push yourself to test the outer limit of movement.  Bouncing is not stretching, and creating pain is not necessary and should be avoided.  You should breathe as normally as possible during the stretch -- do not hold your breath.

In American culture there's commonly an attitude that stretching is more a woman's type of exercise than a man's. That's a dumb point of view. Without ease of use, what good is strength?  The best athletes are almost always people who stand out as having the kind of quickness and agility that requires a flexible musculature.

Moderate efforts applied consistently over time can achieve good results in flexibility. To do any good you will have to push yourself into a mild amount of discomfort, but nothing really painful. Bouncing motions are useful to get yourself extended into a stretching exercise but don’t constitute actual stretching. Once you’re extended and feel some mild discomfort, hold in that position for a 20 count.

These stretches should be done 5 or 6 days a week. The whole thing takes about 3 minutes. In a few months you should be noticeably more limber, depending upon how tight you are to begin with. If you want to increase your flexibility at a higher rate, simply increase the length and frequency of the exercises. Be aware that extremes in stretching can cause injuries so take it one moderate step at a time. You should pursue goals of greatly increased flexibility in a time frame of 3 to 6 months. These stretches could very well preserve your quality of life in the years ahead.

1) Standing Back and Hamstring Stretch

 Find a stable platform about hip high. A stairway, a railing or a table might serve the purpose. Put one foot up on it and lock your knee. Grasp the ankle of the locked leg with both hands. Now try to touch your forehead to your locked knee and hold. Do it with both legs. Most of the bending should be from the lower back, not the upper.

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2) Groin and Back Stretch

Sit on the floor. Put the soles of your feet together and bring the heels of both feet to within about 10 inches of your rear. Grab your feet with both hands and try to touch your forehead to your toes and hold. Most of the bending should be from the lower back, not the upper.

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3) Sitting Back and Hamstring Stretch

From a sitting position extend one leg straight out. Put the sole of the other foot against your straightened leg’s thigh, or on top of the knee. On top of the knee, it forces the knee to stay straightened. Grab the ankle of the straightened leg with both hands. Try to touch your forehead to your locked knee and hold. Do it with both legs. Most of the bending should be from the lower back, not the upper.

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 4) Upper Body Twist

 From a sitting position on the floor, raise your hands and elbows so that they’re about shoulder high. Turn your body and head as far to the right as possible and hold. Then do the same to the left.

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 5) Lower Back Stretch

 This is a fairly forceful stretch, so ease into it carefully. Lie on the floor on your back. Place your hands at your side palms down. Raise your legs up as though you were going to touch your toes to the floor behind your head and hold. You can experiment with different degrees of spreading your knees and bending or locking your knees. You will find this stretches your lower back muscles very effectively.

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Hand-eye Coordination

 This doesn’t come under any of the usual headings for fitness activities, but good hand-eye coordination is certainly a worthwhile objective. Here’s a good way of keeping and developing it.

Use a racquetball or a tennis ball for this exercise. You need a hard vertical surface to bounce it off. A painted interior house wall is not a good choice since it may get damaged. Perhaps the side of a refrigerator is available. Stand back 4 or 5 feet and underhand toss the ball lightly against the surface and catch it with the other hand. Then use that hand to toss it and catch with the other, and so forth. This sounds easier than it is. It’s a good convenient method for working on hand-eye coordination and quickness. Do it for a couple minutes several times a week and you’ll notice good improvements. Remember: use it or lose it applies not just to muscle strength and flexibility, but also to coordination.

Don't Take Your Back For Granted

Tom liked frolicking with his kids. When he got home from work he would greet each one by lifting him off the ground to above his head at full arms length. The problem was that as time passed the kids were getting bigger and heavier while Tom, through lack of exercise, was developing an ever weaker and less flexible back. One day these two opposing factors collided.

As Tom was lifting up his older son he felt a dull sensation in his lower back. Within an hour he was in pain. He spent a sleepless night and the next day was worse. He went to a physician and learned he had what's referred to as a “nonspecific backache”. This is the most common category of back problem. It's generally caused by back muscle strain, and/or damage to the ligaments of the backbone. 

This type of problem has no easy cures and usual short-term treatment involves pain killers and rest. Happily for Tom, his back pain faded after a few days. He was careful to avoid lifting anything heavy (including his kids), became careful to maintain good posture, and did some light exercises that were recommended to him by his physician. 

After a month without symptoms, he carefully embarked on an exercise program. Everyday he did a series of stretching exercises aimed at his lower back, leg hamstring and upper torso muscle assemblages. He took it one careful step at a time, sensitive to any negative reactions from his back. After a couple of months he gained the confidence to add muscle strengthening exercises to his program of back repair. He did balanced paired muscle strengthening exercises aimed at the back muscles and the opposing abdominals.

He never had a reappearance of his back problem. As his kids grew and got into sports he was able to participate in their activities as a father should.

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