Flexibility Exercise

[BoMan]

At 67 my back and hamstrings are becoming more rigid and it's getting harder to popup smoothly - especially after my first hour in the water. I'm doing 150 push-ups and 80 situps daily but it feels like I need to add flexibility exercises to reverse or slow the trend. I'm considering these but would like to hear from you.

[oldmansurfer]

I'm not sure but it doesn't seem to add to what I am already doing. Here is my mobility stretch. I take a wide stance then drop down my left knee toward the ground and squat with my weight over my right foot. This is the stance I would do in the tube frontside, then I move my weight back over my left foot and drop my right knee without coming up so keeping my head low as it is on the lowest point of that stretch and this is the position I might be in for a snapping top turn prior to executing it then I go back to the other way and repeat 10 times. Note to others I started doing less than 10 repetitions and worked up to that. In your old age you need to be careful to not overdo it.

[billie_morini]

[quote="BoMan"]At 67 my back and hamstrings are becoming more rigid and it's getting harder to popup smoothly - especially after my first hour in the water. I'm doing 150 push-ups and 80 situps daily but it feels like I need to add flexibility exercises to reverse or slow the trend. I'm considering these but would like to hear from you."

BoMan, seriously? You do this many push-up and situps? This is awesome!
Yeah, you need to do some other stuff, too. Ideal for moving the maximum quantity of parts in one exercise session is rowing. I have one of these, without the monitor: https://www.waterrower.com/us/shop/natu ... chine.html. I love it.

P.S. is "67" a typo? I didn't think there were 8 years between us.
billie

[BoMan]

You do this many push-up and situps?

Being retired I have time to do this in small groups throughout the day. My baby grandson thinks its funny and he's right!

P.S. is "67" a typo? I didn't think there were 8 years between us.billie

Sadly little brother it wasn't a typo. 1951 was SO long ago!

[oldmansurfer]

I'm not sure but it doesn't seem to add to what I am already doing. Here is my mobility stretch. I take a wide stance then drop down my left knee toward the ground and squat with my weight over my right foot. This is the stance I would do in the tube frontside, then I move my weight back over my left foot and drop my right knee without coming up so keeping my head low as it is on the lowest point of that stretch and this is the position I might be in for a snapping top turn prior to executing it then I go back to the other way and repeat 10 times. Note to others I started doing less than 10 repetitions and worked up to that. In your old age you need to be careful to not overdo it.

I actually got this backward this would be if I was a goofy foot. Just change left for right for a regular foot.

[billie_morini]

Gee whiz, BoMan:
1) Even if these counts are achieved in daily repetition, it's terrific. (and reps are good)
2) hope I look as good as you and can do the things you do 8 years from now (that horn playing + the exercise is prolly really good)

I've often thought that:
1) working is killing me
2) if I didn't work, then I could get healthy and fit

Your post really makes me think this even more than before.

[LostAtSea]

I've been reading that static stretching, yoga doesn't really give a person much benefit. Anyone else seeing these studies? Thoughts?

[tomthetreeman]

I've been reading that static stretching, yoga doesn't really give a person much benefit. Anyone else seeing these studies? Thoughts?

Can you elaborate/punctuate more clearly? Static stretching=yoga or static stretching nor yoga provide benefit? Yoga asana is definitely not static stretching, and I’m of the opinion that it provides huge benefits for pretty much any physical activity. Static stretching, I don’t know, but I can’t see how it would hurt. Can you link to any of the articles/studies? I’d be interested to read them.

Tom

[LostAtSea]

I've been reading that static stretching, yoga doesn't really give a person much benefit. Anyone else seeing these studies? Thoughts?

Can you elaborate/punctuate more clearly? Static stretching=yoga or static stretching nor yoga provide benefit? Yoga asana is definitely not static stretching, and I’m of the opinion that it provides huge benefits for pretty much any physical activity. Static stretching, I don’t know, but I can’t see how it would hurt. Can you link to any of the articles/studies? I’d be interested to read them.

Tom

Sure...

https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/ ... o-stretch/

More fundamentally, the results underscore the importance of not prepping for exercise by stretching, he said. “We can now say for sure that static stretching alone is not recommended as an appropriate form of warm-up,” he said. “A warm-up should improve performance,” he pointed out, not worsen it.

A better choice, he continued, is to warm-up dynamically, by moving the muscles that will be called upon in your workout. Jumping jacks and toy-soldier-like high leg kicks, for instance, prepare muscles for additional exercise better than stretching. As an unscientific side benefit, they can also be fun.

[dtc]

Not doing static stretching before exercise is not the same as not doing static stretching at all.

Most active young people probably don’t get huge benefits from yoga unless they do it quite often and regularly (eg 3X per week), but when you get old(er), anything that helps with mobility (not necessarily flexibility) is very useful. So I hear ...

[tomthetreeman]

I've been reading that static stretching, yoga doesn't really give a person much benefit. Anyone else seeing these studies? Thoughts?

Can you elaborate/punctuate more clearly? Static stretching=yoga or static stretching nor yoga provide benefit? Yoga asana is definitely not static stretching, and I’m of the opinion that it provides huge benefits for pretty much any physical activity. Static stretching, I don’t know, but I can’t see how it would hurt. Can you link to any of the articles/studies? I’d be interested to read them.

Tom

Sure...

https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/ ... o-stretch/

More fundamentally, the results underscore the importance of not prepping for exercise by stretching, he said. “We can now say for sure that static stretching alone is not recommended as an appropriate form of warm-up,” he said. “A warm-up should improve performance,” he pointed out, not worsen it.

A better choice, he continued, is to warm-up dynamically, by moving the muscles that will be called upon in your workout. Jumping jacks and toy-soldier-like high leg kicks, for instance, prepare muscles for additional exercise better than stretching. As an unscientific side benefit, they can also be fun.

The only mention of yoga is where you compared it (I think) to static stretching. My comments were in response to the yoga reference... Like I said, yoga asana (postures) is not static stretching. I can see how comparisons are made, but yoga is more like ‘total body engagement and release combined with breath and attention’ (I just made that up) than simply stretching a muscle or group.

The study is interesting... I don’t typically stretch before surfing, save for shoulder warmups and sometimes my calves if I know they’re tight or if it’s going to be a long session.

I think a regular yoga practice is probably the best preparation for a life of surfing, but maybe not one right before the other.

Tom

[BoMan]

I think a regular yoga practice is probably the best preparation for a life of surfing..

I've avoided yoga since I took a college class with my wife that tied me in painful knots ...but ok, you convinced me to give it another try. What do you think of this routine?

https://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-11552/10minute-yoga-sequence-for-a-strong-flexible-spine.html

[oldmansurfer]

In my old age I feel stretching is important to maintain flexibility which will help to prevent injury. However that said I did yoga when I was 9 years old and continued to do it till I started surfing 9 years later. I do some quick stretches before I go surfing usually but long ago I did a hatha yoga routine at home before I left for the beach. I guess somewhere along the way I quit doing yoga and now I find it impossible to do without injuries occurring (like the lotus) but perhaps some of what I do might be considered a yoga posture it is just completely removed from the other nonsense that goes along with yoga.

[tomthetreeman]

I think a regular yoga practice is probably the best preparation for a life of surfing..

I've avoided yoga since I took a college class with my wife that tied me in painful knots ...but ok, you convinced me to give it another try. What do you think of this routine?

https://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-11552/10minute-yoga-sequence-for-a-strong-flexible-spine.html

Move locust and side plank down the list so they’re after warrior III, and skip camel (that’s an intense back bend and there’s already a fair amount of backbending in there). Look up sun salutations or surya namaskar A and mix it in anywhere in there to lengthen the sequence a bit if you’re up for it.

Tom

Ps, bottom knee can be down in side plank if it is too much on the shoulder or just in general.

[LostAtSea]

I also find it feels pretty good to stretch but the studies make a lot of sense in regards to what's happening to the muscles when you over extend them, which is basically what stretching is.

I will continue running, a pre-surf jog to the beach to get my muscles warmed up and just generally being active throughout my day, but I am going to forgo the static stretching exercises I was doing, which included the yoga positions.

Some of the back stretching I was doing was making things worse anyway.

[oldmansurfer]

I do mostly dynamic stretching where I don't hold the position. For instance on the days I do weights (Tuesday and Friday) I stand on one leg then raise the other leg forward as high as I can easily and bring it back down and without touching the ground then out sideways as high as I can easily and back down without touching the ground then bring my knee up to my chest without using my hands as high as I can easily and then back down without touching the ground then backwards . I do ten reps with each leg. I don't hold the stretched position but quickly go back down. It also helps my balance since I am standing on one leg during this. I imagine it helps strengthen my ankles as well. The rest of the days I do similar exercises but laying on the ground mostly.

[RinkyDink]

I've had these thoughts lately. Not long ago, after I had been surfing regularly and doing some skateboarding, I felt more flexible. Actually, my body felt more like it had when I was a juvenile. Now I had read somewhere that if you exercise, gain muscle, and gain strength that you will also gain flexibility. That actually was my experience after starting consistent exercise. I then started thinking about how active my life was as a child. I skateboarded everywhere, walked everywhere, rode BMX bikes everywhere, went on crazy hikes in the hills . . . of course I was flexible. If exercise naturally increases your flexibility (I need to verify that that is true, but it seems so), then exercise in lots of different ways could potentially lead a middle-ager to start feeling juvenile again. . . with the added benefit of some neurogenesis. So I'm starting to incorporate the things I liked doing as child back into my active life. The flexibility seems to follow the exercise and throwing in some stretching is most likely a bonus if you do it right. I think I've often gotten my stretching wrong in the past.

[oldmansurfer]

I was a very active child and young adult. I also did yoga and could do the splitz all the ways down nearly to the ground and could walk around on my hands while my legs were crossed behind my head. There is no way that I am ever going to get anywhere near that limber no matter what exercises stretches etc I do. So if you suddenly find you can cross your legs behind you head let me know how that happened. As I get older I notice less flexibility. It's just what happens to your connective tissue when it gets old. However that doesn't stop me from trying to be as flexible as I can be. It's a battle but as long as I can surf I am okay with less flexibility.

[RinkyDink]

I wonder about the purpose of stretching. Why and when do I want my muscle fibers stretched?

--Snip--

Just why stretching hampers performance is not fully understood, although the authors of both of the new studies write that they suspect the problem is in part that stretching does exactly what we expect it to do. It loosens muscles and their accompanying tendons. But in the process, it makes them less able to store energy and spring into action, like lax elastic waistbands in old shorts, which I’m certain have added significantly to the pokiness of some of my past race times by requiring me manually to hold up the garment. https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/ ... o-stretch/

I was surfing the other day and a barrel seemed to be opening up and my first thought was, "Yeech, I don't know if I can crouch into a tuck to fit into that tube," and then it closed out anyway. It did leave me thinking that I should probably do some stretches that prep me for a tube riding tuck (I like Big H's Child's pose or Crow pose, I forget the name). That's sort of how my approach to stretching is evolving. I try to find a practical purpose for my stretches. I know, for example, that my calves are tight because the muscle feels like it is almost on the brink of cramping. There's only one way to deal with that for me and that's stretch those calf fibers (static or ballistic stretches seem irrelevant as long as I get the flexibility back to my calves). I actually use a foam roller more than I perform stretching exercises. I can feel and verify that my foam roller is working, especially with sore muscles. The main reason why (and I think this might be particular to me) I'm prone to foam rolling over stretching is that I think I'm prone to overdoing the stretching.

Anyway, the question the article brings up in my mind is whether stretching should be more specific or targeted rather than generalized. I wonder if a weight lifter, for example, benefits more from having a compact muscle (muscle fibers denser and closer together) rather than having the fibers elongated and stretched out. Going into a tuck to fit into a barrel might benefit from more elongated muscle fibers whereas swinging your longboard into a bottom turn might benefit from more compact glutes and hamstrings that are less stretched out.

[RinkyDink]

As I get older I notice less flexibility. It's just what happens to your connective tissue when it gets old. However that doesn't stop me from trying to be as flexible as I can be. It's a battle but as long as I can surf I am okay with less flexibility.

Aging didn't seem to slow Jack Lalanne down. He was strong, sharp, and flexible (as far as I know) up into his 90's (died at 96).