By Li Fenghua (Beijing Today)
Updated: 2008-04-11 11:11

Flexibility training is a growing fitness trend among old people after a softer workout. The media's positive portrayal of yoga and Pilates, including pictures and interviews with celebrities, has increased the public's interest in this form of exercise. There is no question that yoga and Pilates have revolutionized the way many of us exercise by going beyond a "no pain, no gain" mentality to a more holistic workout. However, these forms of exercise can permanently alter body alignment, muscular balance and posture when students e pushed to extreme ranges.

You should never impose an irregular range of motion on your body. It should be allowed by your body, without force. Some people are born with the natural ability to stretch their body to abnormal limits, but most people have to work at maintaining their normal range of motion or lose flexibility as they age.

Understanding stretching

To understand stretching, you must realize that your muscles are not in charge of your range of motion. Skeletal muscle facilitates bone and joint actions, which dictates your range of motion.

Each joint has a distinct contact surface that determines its mobility and limitations. When you stretch your muscle, it is actually the joint and ligaments being moved across these various contact surfaces. A normal range of motion is part of healthy joint movement, but it is very unhealthy for individuals to stretch past their limitations.

Flexibility and range of motion are critical components in the fitness equation, and every method and technique must be appropriate to what you are stretching and who is doing the stretching. Each person’s body defines its own range of motion, and there is no standard when dealing with a varied population. Studies have shown that people who continuously perform intense stretches that exceed their physical limitation create uneven mechanical wear on the joints and ligaments, which leads to osteoarthritis.

Types of stretching

Here’s a brief description of a few stretching techniques:Static: Static stretching is often seen in the health clubs or at sporting events when athletes slowly stretch their muscles to the end point of movement and hold the stretch for a period of time, such as doing the splits.

Ballistic: Ballistic stretching is a very controversial technique that uses bouncing and abrupt movements to gain momentum to create greater range of motion. Most experts feel that this type of stretch does not allow the muscles and tendons to fully adapt to the demand of the stretch position.

Active: In an active stretch, the limbs and joints are stretched to a given point and held in position using an opposing muscle group. This form of stretch is demanding, but effective because there is no external force applying pressure to the skeletal muscle.

Passive: During the passive stretch, muscles are taken through their range of motion by an external force, such as a piece of equipment, your own hand or a partner. For example, to perform a passive stretch of the chest, a partner would stretch you by securing your arms behind your body.

Slow movement: Slow movements of a muscle, such as neck, arm and trunk rotations, are stretching techniques that are more appropriate for warming up to do another activity.

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