by Chris Korfist
When you introduce a new concept to someone, for it to create a lasting impact, it needs to be meaningful and it needs to connect to something they already understand. With RPR, we often start our introductions showing people the huge change they can make instantly in their hamstring flexibility.
This is a great starting point because pretty much everyone, from 8 to 80, knows what their hamstrings feel like and have done a hamstring stretch (or the old presidential sit-and-reach test). Do I think hamstring flexibility (or any flexibility test) is a be-all and end-all? No. But go to a high school football game or the start line of your local 5k and the odds are pretty good that you’ll see how people tie flexibility to performance. For better or worse - it’s meaningful.
So let’s do a quick experiment. Stand up! Bend at the waist and do a toe touch. Where do your hands land? Did you touch the floor? Are your fingertips at your knees? It doesn’t matter. This is our baseline.
Now - put a palm high on your chest and take ten quick mouth breaths up high into your chest. How’s that feel? Now test against that baseline. Where’d you end up?
Ok, shake it out and put your palm on your stomach just below your belly button. Now take ten breaths down into your belly, in through your nose and out through your mouth. How’s that feel? Now test again against that baseline. Any change?
If you’re like just about everyone that I’ve ever done this with, you discovered that “stretching your hamstrings” isn’t remotely as effective as just taking a few good breaths.
Generally, this comes with a simple question: “What the hell just happened?”
To answer this, we’re going to get deep.
What is Stretching?
A great place to start is to make sure we’re answering the same question. In the world we’ve all grown up in, we’ve learned about the body using a mechanical paradigm. Under that mechanical paradigm, when we stretch we are thinking of the muscle like a rubber band - we are pulling on it and it responds by lengthening. We can sum it up by saying that length and tension are the output of our intentional actions related to that muscle. Here’s a wrench in that system - why is it that some of the most ardent yogis that I know are also the ones who talk the most about their tight muscles? Their entire practice is based around flexibility. Maybe I know the wrong yogis, but it’s not isolated. We’ll come back to this.
What really governs our flexibility?
If we take apart the action of stretching, we can get a clue into what’s really happening. There is a neural signal between the brain and the muscles which governs how much range of motion will be available. It is not conscious, it is our subconscious mind (our nervous system) which dictates the safe zone of movement based on the structures, the muscles, and our history. When we run into the edge of that zone and try to push past it, we either find that we can’t (“Ugh, my hamstrings are SO TIGHT”), that we subconsciously compensate to achieve the goals our conscious minds have dictated (“What do you mean I’m rounding my back to touch my toes?”), or we get injured (hello freak hamstring pulls). This is one of the coolest things about our bodies - we will subconsciously do anything to survive! But survival is not optimal.
A New Paradigm
If everything we have learned is under a mechanical paradigm, but we have unanswered questions, we know there is more to the story. If we know that the nervous system is what tells your body where the edges of safe movement are, then we need a new paradigm. The new paradigm is neurological. Our nervous system governs all of our performance (physical, mental, and emotional), and needs to be at the root of everything we do. It doesn’t mean our mechanical paradigm was wrong - we still need to be strong enough and flexible enough to perform our activities - it just means that we have a new order of operations.
FIRST NEUROLOGICAL, THEN MECHANICAL
In that test we did earlier, most people will get worse compared to baseline with the chest breaths and then better than baseline with the belly (or diaphragmatic, if you want to be pedantic) breaths. That was because we gave our body a signal that it was under threat (chest breathing) and it responded with protective actions (limiting the available range of motion - in addition to probably giving you a feeling of edginess or anxiety). Then, when we gave it a signal of safety (belly breaths) it immediately responded with improved performance (greater range of motion and maybe a feeling of wellbeing).
Going back to the yoga enthusiasts, when they’re in practice they’re breathing well and intentionally into their bellies. As soon as they’re out of the studio, you’ll see their breath go right up into their chest. In their practice they don’t feel tight, but as soon as they’re back in the real world with kids, work, and life they’re right back under threat. Performance is limited.
What Does It Mean?
This new paradigm doesn’t mean anything we’re doing today is wrong. What it does mean is that when we chase changes without first addressing our neurology, we are either choosing to take the harder path or setting ourselves up to fail.
So here’s how RPR fits in. Using our system of breathing and tactile input, we are able to address our neurology through reflexes that tell your nervous system that it’s safe. With that safety, we are able to reset compensation patterns that have developed as a response to threats (present or perceived). When these patterns are reset, we empower ourselves and our clients to raise their ceiling of performance.
One Last Note On Stretching
So do I stretch my athletes? I can’t answer that categorically. I do if they need it. Static stretching, PNF stretching, FRC mobilizations, foam rollers, they are all great and useful tools to have in the toolbox. If we can continue to give our bodies feedback about safe positions (and we divorce ourselves from the idea that greater flexibility = greater athletic performance), I’m on board. It’s like the light bulb analogy we use in our clinics - we’re here to get the electricity flowing right. Once the power’s on, it’s up to you to make that bulb burn bright!