We pull or tear muscles in areas of our bodies where we have good flexibility, movement, and motion. What? Yup, you read that right – areas where we have “good” flexibility. We don't pull or tear muscles in areas where we don't have motion, however these areas may be the most important. But often times it's the tight areas in a muscle that can be the cause of a tear or pull.
It may help to think of a knot in a piece of string. Most of the string looks and works fine, expect for the spot with the knot. When you pull on the string, the knot tightens and if you pull hard enough or fast enough, the string breaks. But usually not at the knot. You may have good range of motion and flexibility in certain parts of muscles, but most likely you still have small tight areas (commonly called knots) that need to be ironed out to help reduce the chances of a tear. Another analogy that may help: think of pulling on a wrinkled shirt to try to stretch out the wrinkles. The shirt will stretch but there are still wrinkles in the shirt. Some areas of the shirt are still flexible, while others are tight and wrinkled.
This is why seeing a great Physical Therapist, Chiropractor, Massage Therapist or Personal Trainer and using things like the foam roller and mobility training are essential to good health. They can all help you “iron” and stretch the pockets of knots out. The less knots you have in your tissues, the more energy your body can store and release to produce movement. The more energy your body can store and release, the more power and strength your body can produce. This results in more calories being burned and improved efficiency in the things you love to do. Remember you can be effective at something without being efficient. The more efficient your body is, the less stress and strain gets placed on your entire system and the less likely you are to get injured. Trust me you don't want to be that person running along this season who pulls their hamstring because of tight hip flexors on the opposite side leg. The hamstring may be the “victim”, but the tight hip flexors are the “criminal”. Chase down the criminal and the victim will be happy!
For more information on how we can help you identify these types of things before bad things happen to your body, please contact Joint Ventures’ Personal Trainer Keith Colby at keith@jointventurespt.com and set up your free trial today before it's too late!