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thinksinpictures
Dec 3, 2003, 5:39 PM
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Edit: new question a few posts down
I try to stretch every night before I hit the hay, both to increase my flexibility for climbing purposes (isn’t everything geared toward improving climbing in one way or another?) and just because it makes me feel better. I’ve got a routine of stretches that I cobbled together from four years of high school track & cross-country (that was over four years ago though), but I’m noticing more and more that the stretches I’m doing focus mostly on my legs and hips, especially on the hamstrings. I know what I’m doing with respect to avoiding overstretching, etc., it’s just that the stretches I learned were meant to benefit long-distance running.
What I’m looking for is advice from someone who knows what they’re talking about on stretches that I can do for my back and upper body. Basically, I’d like a simple routine for my whole body that I can do in less than 20 minutes or so. In addition, I’m curious if there’s any good reason to avoid stretching every day. I always take at least one or two days per week off from strenuous exercise, but I usually stretch every day, and to the best of my knowledge, there’s nothing wrong with this. Thanks in advance for any useful info you have to offer.
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iltripp
Dec 3, 2003, 6:19 PM
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Stretching the hips, and hams, etc. are important for climbing as well. I always try to make sure I'm doing this. If you're looking for stretched for the shoulders and back, there are a bunch of good stretches you can do.
Here's a link with a quick climber's yoga routine:
http://www.gunks.com/index.php?pageid=130&pagenum=4&smGroup=15&smID=64
It's got some good stetches for the arms and shoulders.
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gat
Dec 3, 2003, 6:50 PM
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I have an exercise physiology background, so I'll try to help a bit.
[quote="thinksinpictures"]
I try to stretch every night before I hit the hay, both to increase my flexibility for climbing purposes
[\quote]
You may already know this, but just in case...The thoughts on pre-exercise stretching have changed a bit over the last several years. It is now generally accepted that stretching after a light warm up is best. This allows your muscles to warm up, making them more pliable. This allows a greater range of motion while stretching, in the end providing better results.
In reply to: What I’m looking for is advice from someone who knows what they’re talking about on stretches that I can do for my back and upper body. Basically, I’d like a simple routine for my whole body that I can do in less than 20 minutes or so.
I would either search the internet or go to a good local fitness store and browse their books/videos section. Why? Your athletic background has probably exposed to you the basic stretches. Any stretch that you are not familiar with is going to be hard to reproduce correctly without the visual cues you can get in a book or video. My wife had a video series by Karen Voight (spelling?). One of the tapes is a 30 minutes stretching session. I found it very valuable to learn some new techniques.
In reply to: In addition, I’m curious if there’s any good reason to avoid stretching every day. I always take at least one or two days per week off from strenuous exercise, but I usually stretch every day, and to the best of my knowledge, there’s nothing wrong with this. Thanks in advance for any useful info you have to offer.
I know of no reason to worry about stretching too often, but I have heard caution regarding "over stretching". It is possible to cause soreness from over stretching. I don't mean improper technique (like bouncing), I mean literally forcing too much stretch. It's definitely possible w/ the aid of a partner or a towel.
I'll attempt to give you an idea of a routine (not 'specific' exercises) I do for my upper body that I have great success with...
1. A pre-req (for me anyway) is to be ready for a "meditation like" state - a buzz helps :wink:
2. I sit on the floor and find my center in a comfortable upright sitting position
3. Go throught the entire range of motion for each arm, including lengthening by reaching. This is not done in simply one plane of motion. Also, be sure to observer the differences in the feeling based on the position of your head/neck.
4. Next I do the same for my shoulders (think rolling the shoulders and 'spreading' the shoulder blades). Again, pay attention to the differences in feeling based on the position of the head/neck
5. Next is torso twisting, again increase the stretch by positioning the head/neck
6. Lastly I specifically work the full range of motion in all planes for my neck while my body is in a neutral position.
Hope that helps.
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jerrygarcia
Dec 3, 2003, 6:58 PM
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Buy this book. I took a class at one of their schools and have just continued to use the book to teach me more poses.
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thinksinpictures
Dec 4, 2003, 3:13 PM
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Thanks for the great info so far, but now on to the next question: what about situps and pushups? On non-climbing days I usually intersperse two sets each of situps and pushups into my stretching routine. I understand the value of iron abs while climbing, so I'm less curious about the situps. I've heard, however, that since climbing mostly works "pulling muscles" in your arms, it's a good idea to do pushups or the like to keep your "pushing" muscles balanced (in terms of strength) against your "pulling muscles."
note: I've simply put the terms "pushing muscles" and "pulling muscles" in quotes because I just don't feel the need to buff up on my physiology in order to term the muscles correctly and sound smarter. And believe me, I will usually go to great lengths to try and make myself sound smarter. :wink:
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dino
Dec 4, 2003, 3:30 PM
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A guy named John Anderson wrote up a book on stretching about 25 years ago and its worked for me. The key to stretching is warming up. You can warm up with stretching but it works better the other way around. I've noticed that after a full day out when I have the miraculous machine at optimum temperature for performance I can stretch out another 25% or so. You can really feel your muscles stretch out then. There is another book out on stretching which requires the use of a small length of rope. The stretches are ok but they are hard to interpret from the text.
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gat
Dec 4, 2003, 5:51 PM
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In reply to: I've heard, however, that since climbing mostly works "pulling muscles" in your arms, it's a good idea to do pushups or the like to keep your "pushing" muscles balanced (in terms of strength) against your "pulling muscles."
yep, helps prevent injury.
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