Stretching is critical to maintaining limber tissues. One of the things that happens “naturally” as we age (especially if we become less active) is that the elasticity of our soft tissues decreases.

A lot of this has to do simply with lack of use. Getting good exercise that involves full ranges of motion in your joints is critical to keeping things lubricated and flowing. Using resistance of some sort helps to increase bone density. Doing ballistic (throwing) or “plyometric” (rebounding) type exercises helps to maintain the ability to produce power (the main strength quality that fades as we grow older). Keeping in good cardiovascular shape can be done by exercising a couple of times a week near or at your VO2-max.

But flexibility drills themselves have a lot to offer, especially if done the way I’ll discuss below.

Here is a video of the lower-body portion of the stretching routine I do every night:

Below I’ll tell you about how I’m doing these stretches and why I’m doing them that way! But first…a word from the BRAIN.

Mindset
As you can see, I’ve developed a good level of flexibility.

If you’ve read my other blog posts, or worked with me personally, you know I stress mindset as one of the key factors to success.

So be careful to catch yourself if your internal voice is saying “Well, I’m just not flexible…” and/or “I’ve never been flexible…and I never will be!”

Such an inflexible mindset leads to a self-fulfilling prophecy! How many years have you told yourself you aren’t and/or can’t be flexible? How many years have you tried to become more flexible? I’ve been working at it for roughly 20 years off and on. So don’t think it happens automatically!

Post-Isometric Relaxation
By pulling with my hamstrings I’m creating an isometric (same-length) contraction in my hamstrings, where the muscle temporarily contracts but cannot shorten (the ground prevents my foot from moving).

When you do an isometric contraction of about 5-10 seconds (or shorter, if you’ve trained this ability for a while), the contracted muscle automatically relaxes more deeply post-contraction. You can contract the muscle anywhere from 20-90% and see this result. Once you’ve relaxed, try to go right up to the end-range of motion and hold for a few (maybe 30) seconds.

I also use the Post-Isometric Relaxation principle when I flex my quads against the ground in that “stripper stretch” position.

Reciprocal Inhibition
The other main principle I’m using is “reciprocal inhibition.” That basically says that for any muscle you are using, the opposite muscle will automatically relax (to allow the working muscle to contract completely and move the bones through the complete range of motion).

When I get into the “relaxed” position in the hamstring stretch (for example) after the isometric contraction, I’ll contract my quads on the front of my leg. This sends a signal to my hamstrings saying “relax.” Normally, I’ll contract the quads for up to 5 seconds, and then see if I’ve gained any further range of motion in the hamstrings.

Moving the Joints
There are a host of joint receptors that tell your body where you are in space, how fast your joints/limbs are moving, and what amount of tension is happening within them.

By moving my legs as if I’m “walking,” I’m feeding these joint receptors information about the position of my body. This helps my body to feel “safe” in a somewhat abnormal position, and tells the body it can relax into the stretch.

Breathing to Relax
There are plenty of ways to breathe to create different physiological effects in the body. During stretching, I’m using breathing to help me. Here’s how:

When I am leaning forward into a stretch, especially one where my abdomen is compressed, I’m exhaling as I lean forward. This allows my abdomen to compress further, increasing my potential range of motion.

When the spine has to bend backward (in the “stripper stretch” for example), it is often helpful to breathe in before/during the stretch, rather than out. Why? The air helps to stiffen the abdomen (when the diaphragm pushes down on the abdominal contents), which again makes the body feel “safe” to bend the upper part of the spine backward.

I also tend to use “sighs” as I stretch. The sigh (“aaaaah”) gives a deep exhale from the mouth. Breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth lowers blood pressure. The sigh itself is a relaxation-inducing, so try it out.

Meaningful Movement
As I mentioned at the beginning of the post, movement is the best medicine for flexibility. There are two “types” of flexibility – static and dynamic. Many people exhibit vastly different levels of dynamic flexibility from what they exhibit in static positions. Most of it has to do with what I described above. Remember – dynamic movement automatically uses the principles of reciprocal inhibition and post-isometric relaxation.

Static stretching (where you get into the stretch and just sit there at the end range of motion) tends to have complications for most people. If you’re using a static-stretching program, rather than something like the more dynamic program shown here, be sure that you’re feeling the stretch in the body of the muscle and not at the ends near the joints. Feeling the stretch near the joints can mean that you’re stretching tendons (and possibly ligaments), which can become dysfunctional if their length changes too much.

Also, I only do any sort of stretching routine right before a weightlifting workout or other exercise when I know I have some sort of length/tension imbalance and I want to help to correct that before I get going. Stretching changes the proprioceptive information coming from your muscles and joints – it changes your body’s idea of where it is in space. It also “turns off” the muscles that you’ve stretched or lengthened (unless you re-activate them). Obviously that will change the way your body functions, which is not good when you want to lift heavy things or function at optimal levels.

Treat your stretching as therapeutic and/or restorative. If you know you have a muscular length/tension imbalance, you can help to fix it right before you train. Otherwise, I’d keep stretching to after a workout session, or to its own completely different session.

I do this sequence every night. Depending on how long I’m devoting to each stretch, it takes anywhere from 10-20 minutes. I always practice at night. It helps me to focus inward and wind down after a busy day.

Want to be flexible? Practice every single day. It’s the only way.

Hope this was helpful in some way! If you have other questions about flexibility, let me know in the comments below!