Among coaches and athletes, misconceptions about flexibility abound. Understanding the facts is the only way to properly implement flexibility into your training program.
By Vern Gambetta
Vern Gambetta, MA, is President of Gambetta Sports Training Systems, in Sarasota, Fla. The former Director of Conditioning for the Chicago White Sox, he has also worked extensively with basketball, soccer, and track and field athletes.
Perhaps the most misunderstood and controversial component of training is flexibility. Much of this controversy has arisen because of the myth that flexibility is a panacea--that our athletes must become contortionists in order to prevent injuries and perform athletic movements. This is a gross misrepresentation of the role that flexibility plays.
To be sure, flexibility is an important piece of the training puzzle. But, like other aspects of training, it must be based on the sport and the individual. Being able to stretch body parts into pretzel-like positions is great for a gymnast, but may be counterproductive for the soccer player.
Before we ask our athletes to prove their elasticity in a sit-and-reach test, we must ask ourselves the following questions: Where is flexibility needed and how is it most efficiently developed? How much of flexibility is determined by joint structure and body structure? What is the best time in the workout to develop flexibility? What are the flexibility requirements for various sports? Is it possible to be too flexible?
STATIC vs. DYNAMIC
The conventional definition of flexibility is the range of motion that is available at a particular joint while the body is at rest. For most athletes, however, such a definition is not particularly relevant. During competition, the athlete's body is not at rest--and this can change a joint's range of motion.
Instead, flexibility during movement must be viewed as a dynamic controlling quality: It allows the joint to go through as large a range of motion as can be controlled. The controlling nature of flexibility governs two areas: the range of motion used in skill performance, and the length of the movement available for force production and reduction.
To conceptualize this idea, I use the term "mostability," which is a synergistic combination of motion and stability. Gray defines mostability as "the ability to functionally take advantage of just the right amount of motion at just the right joint in just the right plane in just the right direction at just the right time" (Gray, 1996). The opposite is instability, which is any degree of mobility that cannot be controlled.
Perhaps the reason flexibility is thought of as a static quality is that it is often measured statically by factors such as the sit-and-reach test. However, experience as well as research has shown that there is no relationship between static flexibility and dynamic performance. Some of the fastest and most explosive athletes that I have worked with have been "tight." Conversely, some of the most-often injured athletes were the individuals who were most "flexible" in the conventional sense.
In addition, the dynamic range of movement expressed in sports movements is significantly greater than can be expressed statically. This is due to the elasticity of the involved tissue and reciprocal inhibition which allows the opposing muscle group to relax. Such is why a pitcher can externally rotate at the shoulder beyond 90 degrees when pitching, but statically may not be able to get within 10 to 15 degrees of that dynamic range.
FUNCTIONAL FLEXIBILITY
So what is the goal of flexibility training? Essentially, it is to functionally increase and strengthen range of motion. Therefore, the athlete's sport must be considered and his or her joint strength must be an integral component of flexibility training.
Consider the following quote on flexibility and sport-specificity: "... While there is no proven connection between joint looseness and overall athletic performance, too much looseness can be a real liability in sports that require rapid changes of direction and acceleration, such as basketball, tennis, and soccer, while too little of it would seriously restrict a gymnast or a figure skater; and so the quality of joint looseness or flexibility is largely sports specific" (Arnot and Gaines, 1984).
After sport-specific considerations, we must understand the relationship between flexibility and strength. According to Kreighbaum and Barthels: "Flexibility ... is an important factor in prevention of injuries and in efficient skill performance, but to satisfy these purposes, flexibility must be accompanied by ligamentous and muscular stability surrounding an articulation ... Adequate strength in extreme joint positions also is necessary to prevent joint structure damage by the outside force" (Kreighbaum and Barthels, 1990).
Observing these concepts will give the control and range of motion necessary to efficiently and safely perform the required skill. Most importantly, joint integrity must never be compromised for range of motion. When this occurs the athlete will be predisposed to injury.
Also important to note is that improper strength training can impair flexibility. This is not because the athlete becomes too muscular or muscle bound, although that is a possibility, but because the improper development of a muscle or a group of muscles around a joint can result in a restriction of motion at that joint. My personal experience is that a properly designed strength-training program will enhance flexibility rather than retard it because of the control and stability that strength lends to movement.
ASSESSING THE ATHLETE
Assessing the athlete is the first step in flexibility training. To begin, one must understand the factors that influence an athlete's flexibility. Flexibility is both an anatomical quality and a physical ability. Anatomically, it is determined by the shape of the joints. Physically, it is the ability to perform movements through a large amplitude.
Furthermore, consider the following five factors that determine flexibility:
Formally assessing flexibility is best done through the observation of athletes in their respective sports. Functional flexibility is best exhibited by economy of movement in the desired sport skill--the athlete who is too tight will not have this economy of movement. Ask yourself: Is the athlete smooth in his or her movements? Can he or she get in the required positions dynamically? Has there been a pattern of injuries?
If the answers to these questions point to a deficiency, then it is time to do a more detailed functional assessment. The tests should be functional and dynamic and must make comparisons intra-individual rather than inter-individual. For example, compare left to right to identify any deficiencies. Observe the athlete's movements and see if deficiencies identified on the tests impair performance in any way. The results are highly individual, therefore we should not compare flexibility norms.
What about the traditional sit-and-reach test? Fundamentally, it is a mistake to include the sit-and-reach on the President's Physical Fitness Test battery (for the previously mentioned reasons). What makes it even more fallacious is to have norms set that make inter-individual comparisons on this highly individual physical quality.
What are better ways to test flexibility? Consider the tests in the book Lower Extremity Functional Profile, by Gary Gray with Team Reaction, as a beginning point to developing your own functional flexibility profile. I do not think we should try to come up with a universal flexibility test that addresses all populations. It is more useful and practical to develop a test that measures "mostability" in positions that the athlete will have to perform in competition.
DEVELOPING FLEXIBILITY
When gains in flexibility are needed, they should be developed individually for each athlete. Here are some principles to follow:
Unlike other physical qualities, flexibility can be improved from day to day. And once range of motion is increased or developed to the desired level it is easy to maintain that range of motion. Less work is needed to maintain flexibility than is needed to develop flexibility.
WHEN?
Many of the problems with flexibility begin with its placement within the structure of the workout. Too many coaches equate stretching with warming up. However, stretching is not warming up. You must warm up in order to effectively stretch and gain flexibility.
Out of habit, many athletes perform static stretching during their warmup. But static stretches before warmup or competition can actually cause tiredness and decrease coordination. In addition, static stretching improves static flexibility, while dynamic stretching improves dynamic flexibility; therefore, it is not logical to use static stretches to warm up for dynamic action.
The optimum time to develop flexibility is post-workout. Muscles are already warmed up; consequently the greatest gains can be made at this time. Post-workout flexibility training also has a regenerative effect, calming the athlete, restoring the muscles to their resting length, stimulating blood flow, and reducing spasm.
In Stretching Scientifically--A Guide to Flexibility Training, Kurz presents a convincing argument for including an early morning stretching session in a flexibility program. This session simply entails performing a few rhythmic dynamic stretches to lubricate the joints, and should take 10 to 15 minutes. Kurz recommends that no isometric static stretches be done in the morning because they are too exhausting to the nervous system. "The purpose of this stretching is to reset the nervous regulation of the length of your muscles for the rest of the day" (Kurz, 1994). The athletes that I have used it with have felt that it helped them better prepare for workouts later in the day.
AGE DEVELOPMENT
The work of Drabik highlights the growth and development considerations for flexibility. At preschool age there is no need for any development, as natural play and movement take toddlers' joints through full ranges of movement. From age six through 10, the mobility of the shoulder and hip is reduced. Therefore, to prevent any permanent reduction in mobility at these joints it is necessary to do dynamic stretches. Drabik recommends, "avoiding static stretches of all kinds (passive, active, isometric) in training preadolescent children because excitation dominates over inhibition in a child's nervous system. This means that it is hard for children to stay still, relax, and concentrate properly on feedback from their muscles for periods as long as static stretches require" (Drabik, 1996).
Age 10 to 14 is the developmental stage where flexibility should receive emphasis. With the rapid growth that occurs in this age range, flexibility should focus on the muscles made tight by the rapid growth of bones. If this is not done, the ultimate effect will be bad posture and susceptibility to injury. After the growth spurt, flexibility training can be increased and become more sport-specific, very similar to an adult program.
CONCLUSION
There have certainly been some great athletes who have also been able to exhibit amazing flexibility. However, this is not usually why they are great athletes. Athleticism combines strength with coordination, of which flexibility can be useful in certain situations. The goal of flexibility training is not a "Gumby" effect where the athlete has no joint integrity, but rather strength intertwined with flexibility that allows the athlete to control his or her movements. Performance is not a stretching contest!
References:
Arnot, Robert B., and Gaines, Charles L., SportsTalent, Penguin Books, New York, N.Y., 1984.
Dominguez, Richard H., and Gajda, Robert S., Total Body Training, Warner Books, New York, N.Y., 1982.
Drabik, Jo'zef, Children and Sports Training, Stadion Publishing Company, Inc., Island Pond, Vt., 1996.
Hartmann, Jurgen, and Tunneman, Harold, Fitness and Strength Training, Berlin, Sportverlag, 1989.
Kreighbaum, Ellen, and Barthels, Katherine M., Biomechanics--A Qualitative Approach for Studying Human Movement, Third edition, Macmillan Publishing Company, New York, N.Y., 1990.
Kurz, Thomas, Stretching Scientifically--A Guide to Flexibility Training, Stadion Publishing Company, Inc., Island Pond, Vt., 1994.
Kurz, Thomas, Science for Sports Training--How to Plan and Control Training for Peak Performance, Stadion Publishing Company, Inc., Island Pond, Vt., 1991.