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22ndCenturyMedia.com avtive aging
22nd century media | February 28, 2019 | 5
Improve flexibility with
TheraCORE movement specialists
Let’s be honest. Are people
really taking the time
to stretch each day? They
always hear the advice to
stretch before a workout
to get the muscles primed
and ready to go, but it’s not
just before workouts that
stretching is important.
Stretching should be a regular
part of your day, just
like brushing your teeth.
We stretch to improve
our flexibility. Our flexibility
is the available
range of motion of our
joints. Most often individuals
are too flexible in one
area (think the arch in the
back of a gymnast) and not
flexible enough in others
(the hunchback of Notre
Dame). Flexibility of our
joints in the appropriate
range of motion is important
for several reasons:
Flexibility allows the
muscles surrounding the
joint to fire correctly. This
helps us with our posture.
When we have good posture,
we have decreased
stress along the joints of
the spine, hips, knees and
ankles. With less stress
on our joints, our muscles
continue to fire correctly
for greater periods of
time preserving the wear
and tear on our cartilage.
If our muscles are firing
how they are supposed
to, our body moves more
efficiently, therefore we
have less chance of injury
because we are decreasing
bad stress and strain
throughout the body.
Stretching also helps to
increase blood and nutrient
supply to muscles and
cartilage. This helps to
decrease muscle soreness
after exercises or participating
in greater amount
of activity than your body
is used to.
There are many do’s
and don’ts of stretching.
Let’s take our hamstrings
for example. My husband
has tight hamstrings. I
seem him stand up, bend
over and bounce to try
and touch his toes. This
is his idea of stretching.
This is absolutely wrong.
First and foremost, you
should never bounce into
a stretch. When muscles
and surrounding tissues
are tight, they need time
to progress into a stretch.
Hold your stretches for
at least one minute of
time. This is not going to
change the length of your
hamstring muscle, but it
will, over time, change
how mobile the hamstring
muscle becomes, allowing
you to gain range of
motion. Secondly, my dad
should be lying on his
back or seated in a chair.
His hamstrings are tight. If
he bends over to touch his
toes, he is just bending at
his back, not getting a true
stretch of his hamstring.
If anything, he is putting
himself in harm’s way of
injuring his back because
his posture is not allowing
him to fire his glutes
and stomach to protect his
spine in this position.
This may seem confusing
at first, but it doesn’t
have to be. Physical
therapists are movement
specialists. We can help
you! TheraCORE offers
a 30-minute TheraSTRETCH
program that
is a one-on-one stretching
session focused on
head-to-toe mobility with
a licensed professional.
It is offered at all three of
our locations: Burr Ridge,
Lockport and Westmont.
Start your daily dose of
stretching today!
Submitted by TheraCORE,
which has three locations:
16622 W. 159th St. #503 in
Lockport; 6901 S. Madison
St. in Burr Ridge; and 350 E.
Ogden Ave. #200 in Westmont.
For more information,
call (815) 838-5070 or visit
www.theracorept.com.
TheraSTRETCH
Alleviate tight muscles and get blood flowing with
a personalized total body hands-on stretch.
$40 per 30 minute session
Benefits:
- Ease tendon and muscle tightness
- Decrease injury risk
- Help curb post workout soreness
- Feel better in everyday movement
Lockport
16622 West 159th Street - Suite 503
815.838.5070
Available at all 3 locations.
Burr Ridge
6901 S. Madison Street
630.590.5409
Westmont
350 East Ogden Avenue - Suite 200
630.908.7430
Easy scheduling available at: www.theracorept.com