I'm currently helping a wonderful individual who has, amongst other things, chronically tight hamstrings (back of the thighs). In order to help him the best way possible, should our approach be to stretch the hamstrings directly or utilize other strategies, including stretching the quadriceps (front of the thigh)?
Above simply wanting you to feel and move better, my goal for anyone I help is to understand WHY certain adaptations are taking place. I hope this article sheds light on this answer as a means to give you deeper insights to for your long-term health and movement function.
By and large, we've become a culture of reacting to what's wrong with a temporary fix, rather than addressing the true cause of an issue.
What if we try to understand how the body functions naturally and optimally? Once we have this understanding (on even a basic level), we can begin to make sense of what's truly going on based about the variance to optimal. There could be more occurring, though let's rule out the most logical variable first, the one that's most often the root cause.
We can explore this concept to better understand why we develop physical pain or dysfunction by looking at our POSTURE. To quote my teacher, Dr. Andrew Buser (The Posturelate), "Dysfunction cannot truly be understood until function has been defined and understood".
What is Optimal Posture when looking at the body from the side?
Your ankle, knee, hip, shoulder, and ear should be aligned over each other (soft tissue points) with a natural S Curve to the spine.
What happens when the body moves out of this position?
Understanding through feel: Get a sense of how your body feels normally (standing, walking, breathing, raising your arms). Move into the position of the model on the left in the picture above - head forward, shoulders slouched, hips forward, pelvis flexed back. Hold this for a minute or two and then try the tests as above. How do you feel both emotionally and physically?
What is Optimal Posture from the front view?
Your feet, ankles, knees, hips, shoulders, and eyes shoulder be pointing strait ahead and at the same height both left and right with right angles to the bones.
Try holding the posture of the model below - lowered right shoulder, elevated right hip, left knee in, left foot out - with the same tests.
Let's say your hamstring (back of upper leg) muscles are chronically tight and your posture is like that of the model below on the right (pelvis flexed back - loss of natural lower back arch). You could stretch your hamstrings or have work done directly on them, which might help temporarily. However, the pelvis being in this locked back position is sending a signal to your hamstrings to protect the body from injury and hold on for dear life; thus remaining in constant use.
What if we utilize a standing quad stretch (holding your foot near your glute behind you)? Although we're stretching the front of our leg when it's the opposing muscle that's tight, the stretch itself is moving the pelvis forward, a return to it's natural position, allowing the hamstrings to finally let go and relax.
We can utilize the same logic with the middle picture and lower back pain. You can see how the pelvis being tipped forward is creating a compression in the lower back (tight muscles and discs). In order for those lower back muscles to relax and discs to properly cushion your spine, we'll want to utilize either a passive position or individualized stretch to move the pelvis back to it's normal position, otherwise this compression will likely remain.
Optimal function is keeping the bones in the right place using the 'right' muscles (I will elaborate in this in a future article). I help my clients this way utilizing unique and individualized postural stretches, exercises, and positions based on a number of variables, such as ones current pain, injuries history, posture, gait, and activity history.
More than a 'how-to' on fixing your body, my hope here is to give you a better understanding of why you might have your pain or issues in the first place. Now you can use these concepts to talk with your Dr., PT, trainer, massage therapist, as to the underlying musculoskeletal issues going on, so that you can address the root cause and feel good, both immediately and long term as well.
As always, I welcome your questions, comments, and insights.
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