Jay has found a way…or has fallen and is being mercilessly attacked.
How do I stretch my ______? (insert twangy pieces here). Mmmm, well I guess the answer could be in the question, as long as you are asking the right question, and as long as you are pointing to something that is stretchable.
First as a self assessment, how do you know that something is tight or is lacking the necessary range? Are you struggling to get into position? Is it this position?
If it is, then I wouldn’t worry, there is stretching things for stretchiness’ sake, and too much of that can be a hindrance, and just a waste of otherwise well spent time picking up rocks and being awesome. But, if it is an issue that restricts your ability to get into solid mechanical positions of bad-assness, then you have got some work to do, because not being awesome is not an option.
Back to your assessment, what position made it feel tight? If you tell me it’s when you do this (wiggle arms and make strange faces, or lean over and make strange faces), then I’m going to use exactly that position to improve the position, but with maybe a little bit of extra juice to make it happen. Bands, kettlebells, partners, barbells, all the above, can be used to pin down bits of the body while you use the opposite direction to make a stretch. Once you have found a way to make it stretch, hold steady at end of range, and then hit 5 sets of contract relax stretching. WTF? Take a deep breath and hold it for a count of 5 seconds, simultaneously contract the muscle you are trying to stretch, this will further tighten it. Release your breath and the contraction, and sink further in to the stretch for a count of 10 seconds. One set down, now repeat..
It’s really not that technical. If it’s tight, stretch it out, if it’s loose, tighten it up! Don’t stretch loose stuff and don’t tighten up tight stuff..
Strength / Skill
Floor Press
20 minutes to find a 5RM
Conditioning
Tabata:
Squat
Ring Dip
Slam
