Back Pain and Sciatica - Why Stretching is bad Advice.
People who suffer from the worst pain and recurring injury problems caused by muscle imbalances are usually those who exercise the most but don't support that exercise with the right nutrition.
Those who have hyper mobile joints which can be put out of place more easily when put under pressure; people genetically predisposed to the hyper mobility or from constant long term stretching. These people are also more predisposed to getting conditions like back pain and sciatica.
Everyone has muscle imbalances but the further your body gets from being strong and unbalanced in the pelvis, the more likely you are to experience pain from them.
Stretching changes the delicate relationship between the ligaments and muscles as they combine to provide strength and support for the joints. The pressure from stretching invariably ends up in the joint, stretching the ligament and connective tissue rather than the increasing the length of the muscle, so it might make you feel supple but that suppleness is at the joint rather than the muscle having good length and function.
Stretching the ligaments is not a good idea because they stay stretched resulting in the joint becoming looser, less strong and stable and thereby more susceptible to injury. This weaker joint that is put under pressure, overloads the muscles that are supporting it causing them to tighten to compensate. So in reality stretching can end up causing tighter muscles, the very thing you stretch for in the first place.
Warm ups for sports should actually involve exercises that oxygenate the body, get the blood circulation going and slowly take the muscles through a full range of movement.
A person that stretches a lot over a long period of time, such as someone using this to get relief from back pain or sciatica, will have a very loose feel to their joints and a contracted belly of the muscles. Stretching will do nothing to correct muscle imbalances rather it forces the body to compensate for them which can in some cases help starve off pain for a short time but eventually leads to worse pain that is more deep seated and chronic.
Programs that advocate stretching as a solution for back pain and sciatica are the work of therapists who have little idea as to how the body really works in a practical sense.
When our body gets 'out of balance' it can have a big influence on the stress that builds up in our soft tissue. This is because muscles work a lot harder to carry the weight of gravity around when it's not centered. Whenever we are sitting or standing, and especially when running around and exercising, carrying a weight that is 'off balance' is a lot more tiring on the muscles than it is when the same weight is 'balanced'. With this extra stress building up in the muscles the chance of over extending them and ending up with a back pain or sciatica problem is much more likely.
You can feel the effect of this yourself. Support a weight like a brick with both hands, arms raised above your head, then start to move the weight off centre as you lean it out to one side. You will feel certain muscles have to tighten up to provide more support for the weight as it moves to the side then they relax again as you bring the weight back into the centre. When weight is carried more evenly throughout your whole muscle system it feels lighter.
When our body is out of balance, certain muscles carry more of your weight than they should and become overworked, fatigued and tight and other muscles carry less of the weight than they should and become weak. Such as with a short right leg for example. This results in the muscles on the outside or lateral side of the short leg becoming overworked, tighter and stronger and the muscles on the inside or medial side of the leg becoming under utilised and weaker.
It's a situation that sets up an imbalance and causes a problem that gets diagnosed as 'runner's knee'. In reality it shouldn't be around long enough for it to get a name because if treated correctly by balancing the body and removing the compensations around the knee it clears up very quickly.
Those who have hyper mobile joints which can be put out of place more easily when put under pressure; people genetically predisposed to the hyper mobility or from constant long term stretching. These people are also more predisposed to getting conditions like back pain and sciatica.
Everyone has muscle imbalances but the further your body gets from being strong and unbalanced in the pelvis, the more likely you are to experience pain from them.
Stretching changes the delicate relationship between the ligaments and muscles as they combine to provide strength and support for the joints. The pressure from stretching invariably ends up in the joint, stretching the ligament and connective tissue rather than the increasing the length of the muscle, so it might make you feel supple but that suppleness is at the joint rather than the muscle having good length and function.
Stretching the ligaments is not a good idea because they stay stretched resulting in the joint becoming looser, less strong and stable and thereby more susceptible to injury. This weaker joint that is put under pressure, overloads the muscles that are supporting it causing them to tighten to compensate. So in reality stretching can end up causing tighter muscles, the very thing you stretch for in the first place.
Warm ups for sports should actually involve exercises that oxygenate the body, get the blood circulation going and slowly take the muscles through a full range of movement.
A person that stretches a lot over a long period of time, such as someone using this to get relief from back pain or sciatica, will have a very loose feel to their joints and a contracted belly of the muscles. Stretching will do nothing to correct muscle imbalances rather it forces the body to compensate for them which can in some cases help starve off pain for a short time but eventually leads to worse pain that is more deep seated and chronic.
Programs that advocate stretching as a solution for back pain and sciatica are the work of therapists who have little idea as to how the body really works in a practical sense.
When our body gets 'out of balance' it can have a big influence on the stress that builds up in our soft tissue. This is because muscles work a lot harder to carry the weight of gravity around when it's not centered. Whenever we are sitting or standing, and especially when running around and exercising, carrying a weight that is 'off balance' is a lot more tiring on the muscles than it is when the same weight is 'balanced'. With this extra stress building up in the muscles the chance of over extending them and ending up with a back pain or sciatica problem is much more likely.
You can feel the effect of this yourself. Support a weight like a brick with both hands, arms raised above your head, then start to move the weight off centre as you lean it out to one side. You will feel certain muscles have to tighten up to provide more support for the weight as it moves to the side then they relax again as you bring the weight back into the centre. When weight is carried more evenly throughout your whole muscle system it feels lighter.
When our body is out of balance, certain muscles carry more of your weight than they should and become overworked, fatigued and tight and other muscles carry less of the weight than they should and become weak. Such as with a short right leg for example. This results in the muscles on the outside or lateral side of the short leg becoming overworked, tighter and stronger and the muscles on the inside or medial side of the leg becoming under utilised and weaker.
It's a situation that sets up an imbalance and causes a problem that gets diagnosed as 'runner's knee'. In reality it shouldn't be around long enough for it to get a name because if treated correctly by balancing the body and removing the compensations around the knee it clears up very quickly.
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