The Importance of Being Flexible
I am Dr Patrick Flanagan, and this is the latest edition of my
Dr Health Secrets newsletter.
I am a scientist with over 300 inventions related to health,
longevity and medicine. This newsletter installment is about
stretching, flexibility and its effects on your body.
Bone Up on Your Stretching
You attempt to bend down and lift your cat but your lower back
creaks, seizes up and complains. Your hamstrings are tight as
two boards of plywood from years of running, but will not allow
you to reach down to pick up your grandchild. You stretch for
the bar of soap in the shower but your shoulder tightens in its
rotator cuff. Your body rattles, grates and squeaks like the tin
man as you stiffly maneuver through your busy day.
If you want to retain a youthful flexible body that will bend at
your request, then move the toxins out and get the oxygen in to
the connective tissues and joints. You may not ever be ready to
run away with the trapeze lady at Cirque de Soleil, but you will
be able to bend down and pick a flower or tie your shoe all the
way into your 70's if you give in to a routine practice of
stretching.
Flexibility is a health issue for many adults as the average
person loses up to 70% of flexibility between the ages of 20 to
70 if they do not take conscious action to stretch their joints,
ligaments, and bones. Although not life-threatening, lack of
flexibility is a health concern for those who exercise, and for
those who don't, because of its debilitating effects on the
human body, as joint stiffness increases and muscles become less
limber with age.
Stretch These Old Bones
Extended periods of inactivity bring about chemical changes that
can limit flexibility. Underused connective tissue loses
elasticity as it becomes stiff and dense. The human body goes
through a similar process as it ages, but a flexibility program
will not only improve physical fitness, it can give you a more
youthful body. Stretching will increase suppleness by
stimulating the production of chemicals that lubricate the
connective soft tissue. Stimulating the production of lubricants
between connective tissue fibers promotes hydration and as a
result, the pliancy and agility of the movements of your body,
slowing down the aging process.
Flexibility is defined as the absolute range of motion available
in any joint. It is joint specific. How far will the joint yield
to slow steady stretches while breathing deeply. It is also
movement specific. You may be flexible in one shoulder stretch,
but not in another. Flexibility training promotes relaxation
both mentally and physically. Body awareness, aligned posture,
and proper breathing patterns will be enhanced and carry over
into your daily life, which is the ultimate goal of all exercise
and health care. You exercise to increase the quality of your
life through taking care of the body. Stretching quickens the
delivery of oxygen and other nutrients, while speeding the
removal of lactic acid and other waste products. It is vital to
hydrate, and re-hydrate after deep stretching, to help remove
the toxins from the body and to promote suppleness and lasting
health.
Recommendations for Flexibility Training
1. Stretch and flexibility training should be done when the body
is warm.
2. Yoga is an amazing practice to strengthen and stretch the
body and mind.
3. Never stretch to the point of pain, only slight discomfort.
4. Slow long inhales and exhales will aid you to get into a
stretch, and ease the muscles over time into relaxing more
deeply.
5. Hydration is a necessary way to keep healthy, removing the
toxins from the muscles, joints and connective tissue.
Water These Old Bones
Some of you may say, "Well, I hate water and I don't want to
drink anymore than I have to," and while I want to enforce that
water is essential to our bodies and minds, seeing as how we are
mostly comprised of it, there are other ways to make the most of
the water that you do drink.
Make sure you can absorb the nutrients with proper hydration.
That means enough of the right kind of water each day. The
naturally present water in raw foods is a great source but also
make sure your water has a low surface tension.
Though most tap and bottled water has high surface tenions,
there are ways to make water more available to your body's cells.
Silica is a natural mineral and special forms of microcluster