Are you stretching the right areas?

When all else fails, just stretch everything, right?  

As a sports chiropractor, I get to help many patients who have been watching numerous Youtube videos and stretching almost every area of their body on a daily basis, yet still feel tight or have pain.  After frustration sets in, they book an appointment with me and we sit down to figure out what's causing their lack of flexibility.

Although my examination process may seem random, I use a principle called the "Joint By Joint" approach to narrow down which areas we might need to work on mobility and which areas are better left "unstretched" and maybe even strengthened.  You can use this principle to help guide your flexibility training for better results in less time. 

Each joint or body area has a preference or need for more mobility/flexibility or stability/strength during our day to day training.  There's a pattern of alternating mobility and stability in each joint -- giving us the "Joint By Joint" approach.

For instance, many people complain of tightness in their low back.  They might try lots of spine stretching and be unhappy with the results.  If we look on the "Joint By Joint" chart, the lumbar (low back) spine craves stability and strength and the joints surrounding it such as the mid back (thoracic) and hips love flexibility.  By simply doing more thoracic and hip stretches and strengthening the lumbar region with core exercises such as planks, side planks, bird dog and dead bug, they will feel relief from the tightness in their low back by restoring the natural biomechanical needs of the area.

Everyone should be including flexibility, strength and cardiovascular endurance exercise in their weekly fitness routine.  By targeting your flexibility training to the areas that need mobility and stengthening to the areas that need stability, you'll see positive gains towards your goals, reduced risk of injury and more time efficient workouts as well.

If you are feeling frustrated with your lack of flexibility, I'm happy to help evaluate how your body moves and pinpoint how to improve your mobility with quick and effective techniques.  Book an appointment with me at by Bloomingdale IL office to get started today at https://www.ducatchiropractic.com/