I sat down this morning with a long list of possible topics to blog about. So much has come up in the last few weeks that my armoury is rich with stretchy topics. However, it occurred to me that I would spend the next 6 months writing about each and every injury that I have encountered in the month of July alone, and still not be done writing.
Without further ado, I give you the fifty shades version of Stretch for Success. Now, unfortunately, I don't have any juicy or explicit details to divulge. I do, however, have a huge selection of injuries for you.
To begin, I have met 3 martial artists this month, all from different backgrounds (Tae Kwon Do, Karate, Thai Boxing). Lateral flexion of the hip - or to keep it simple, lifting your leg to the side, seems to be a movement that is proving difficult. The issues I found in these clients were as follows.
My first client had very tight hip flexors. This can often result in the glutes not firing as they should and once I tested Paul's ability to pull his ankles apart against resistance, this was confirmed. After just one session, two of my 3 fighters said that their 'lift' felt easier and that the movement was less inhibited by the feeling that something was '...in the way' of the lift. Further stretching of the tissue just above the hip in one of these gents resulted in a much more profound effect on his lateral flexion. He was able to power his leg up quickly and extend his knee in a side kick much faster and with less upper body rotation than before. Again, much to my delight, great result.
Our third martial artist had surprisingly tight adductors - the muscle group that run up the inside of the thighs and allow you to squeeze your knees together. I find these quite difficult to release as the hip does not like to be in an open position to stretch this area. However, we discovered that will a little repetition, just learning to relax his legs resulted in us getting a really good stretch in this area. Through discussion, I also discovered that this gent had an injury about a year previously where another participant in the class had kicked him on the inside of his thigh and it had bruised badly. My client was still unconsciously protecting his bruised leg.
So we move onto upper body. Last week, I treated a typist, student, phone centre staff, mum of 4, personal assistant, hairdresser and a medical secretary. Out of all the individuals I treat with sports injuries, old surgery pains and everything else, these individuals were the most challenging. Working in high stress jobs is so damaging to the body and especially to individuals who work long hours and don't get any exercise. The seven individuals I mentioned all had huge issues with mobility in their upper bodies - through the shoulder, neck, upper back and even in the forearms. While in most people, I saw a significant improvement in mobility after just one session, in others, there will be a lot more work to do. It is especially difficult to get someone who has come from a high stress environment to 'relax' and allow me to stretch them. The results of these sessions can often be less than those where the client is able to relax and switch off. It was very valuable for me to learn this lesson, as from now on, I will time sessions with clients to allow for some wind down time before they come in.
Finally, we get to the runners. I had one runner who really surprised me with fantastically flexible and supple gluts (thats the posh way of saying bum muscles). Usually, runners are badly locked somewhere around the hip area and especially long distance runners who have spent 3 hours out training and then neglect their stretching as they have no time left. Again, with this individual, I surmised that posture while running was the cause of the lower back pain that was being experienced and some really good rotational stretches took care of that. I also send all of my clients home with a few tricks up their sleeves to help prolong the effects of the session and to add to their repetoire of stretches.
And the rest of the runners I saw this month.....well, I'm afraid that they will need a whole new blog all for themselves.
The purpose of this blog is to bring to your attention the different aches and pains that can be treated successfully with FST. I always advise individuals to try FST to see if it will help with aches and discomfort but it is essential for the client to take responsibility for their own well being and to mobilise and stretch frequently. So, out of my selection of broken bodies this month, most people left feeling much better, and some left with a lot of homework!
