Workout of the Day:
Five sets of:
Power Cleans x 3 reps
Rest 90 seconds
Ring Push-Ups x 12-15 reps
Rest 2 minutes;
and then,
Three rounds for time of:
Deadlift x 12 reps (with weight used for power cleans)
Run 400 Meters

Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation Stretching – Hold and Relax
Written by George Economou

This post has been a long time coming. Too often an athlete has asked how PNF stretching works after they’ve seen seemingly miraculous gains in mere minutes. A common response: “We’re tricking your muscles.” While that’s true, the intent of this post is to get you to understand how that trickery is occurring.

Flexibility, much like strength, isn’t solely based on the physical mechanics of a muscle – how the tissues and fibers are connected. For example, if you were to do a dissection of my “tight” hamstrings, you may find that the muscle tissue is plenty long enough to accommodate a straight-leg-raise to 90 degrees while lying on my back…but that’s simply not the case. So if the muscle is long enough, why can’t I do it? As it so happens, my brain isn’t functioning at optimal levels; or rather, there’s a miscommunication between my muscles, my brain, and everything in between – the neurological mechanics.

Within the muscles you have sensory receptors known as muscle spindles. The role of the muscle spindle is to sense when a muscle is under a load and prevent that muscle from being ripped to shreds because of that load – it forces a contraction. This function is critical to keeping your muscles safe, but it can compromise certain movements. Take the deadlift as an example; my hamstrings are so tight that in order to prevent injury while under a load, my lower back is forced into flexion.

Static stretching will assist in lengthening the muscle over time, but it won’t necessarily address the issue of your muscle spindles firing overtime. Time to introduce a new variable to the flexibility equation, the Golgi Tendon Organ (GTO). Within the tendons connecting muscle to bone exist the GTO. The GTO’s mission is to prevent a tendon from tearing itself from bone or muscle while under load – it forces a muscle to relax.

Let’s go through a quick example, hamstring stretch with rope assist.

-Lie on your back with legs locked out and extended. Wrap a loop around one foot and pull that leg towards you. As the muscle stretches, muscle spindles in the muscle send a signal to alpha motor neurons in the spinal cord saying, “My muscle is being stretched, what should I do???” To which the alpha motor neuron responds, “CONTRACT!!!!!” And you reach your stretch limit. Hold this position of your stretch limit for approximately 10 seconds.

-Count 3-2-1 and contract against that stretch by trying to press your heel towards the ground. The rope you’re holding prevents your heel from actually making any progress. Hold this contraction for approximately 5 seconds. During the contraction, the frequency of signals from the muscle spindle to alpha motor neurons decreases, which is why some of you may lose the stretch sensation. As the contracting muscle pulls on the associated tendons, the GTOs send impulses in relation to the force of contraction. The impulses sent by the GTOs inhibit the alpha motor neurons, basically saying “Hey there muscles, it’s ok to relax, because you’re going to rock my tendon’s world if you don’t.”

-Once you release the contraction, pull your leg a little bit closer. Upon releasing the contraction, there is slack in the muscle that you can take up, increasing your stretch limit and repeating the cycle.

-Repeat this cycle 3-4 more times and hold the last stretch for 20+ seconds to affect some long-term change in your muscle.

While the gains made during PNF stretching are significant, they are not as persistent as we’d like. Consistency is the name of the game if you’d like to see any lasting effects. While the coaching staff makes great attempts to stretch at least one major muscle group after each session, it’s up to the individual athlete to devote some time to their maintenance and recovery. We’ll teach you the techniques, and provide the reminders, but the hard work is up to you.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 8th, 2010 at 10:14 pm and is filed under Workout Of The Day. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.