11/16/07

Stretching ≠Flexibility

The two terms are not synonymous, but they are related. You use stretching as a method to improve flexibility. In reading the interview of strength coaches in the newest Training and Conditioning magazine it was interesting to read the responses to the question of flexibility. No doubt flexibility is an important component of athletic development. It is not a matter of stretching or not stretching or for that matter the type of stretching, for me it is when you strength to work on flexibility. One thing I know for sure that warm-up is not the place to work on flexibility. I know that from experience and it is substantiated by research.

7 Comments:

At 11/17/07, 12:11 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Vern, I have a hockey athlete that has IT band FS, he has had this problem for 2 years now and I am at the end of my rope with ideas. we have been working on hip strength and stretching, icluding the foam roll for 6 weeks. The ortho says we need to keep hammering out exercises but i was wondering your thoughts on what we should do to get this athlete on the right path and have it be a functional path.

 
At 11/17/07, 12:23 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Vern, I forgot to mention that the pain is in this hockey athletes hip area, not by the knee. The ortho has ruled out bursitis.

 
At 11/17/07, 9:18 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

have you looked at a possible labral issue in the hip? Pretty common with sports like hockey, soccer, and football and much harder to get a good diagnosis. Some say MRI Arthrogram is the way to go, but still only like an 80% correct diagnosis. I think diagnostic scope is what alot of people are recommending now.

Also, on the ITB FS front there was an article by Shirley Sahrmann that talked about adductor issues leading to ITB issues in distance runners, might be worth looking at. I think it was in JOSPT within the last two years. If you're interested I can try and find it and send it your way.

Also, I was lucky enough to be part of the GIFT Fellowship program this past year and there was an PT in California who had a great deal of expierence with hip injuries, and whose research interest dealt with the functional approach to hip impingement, labral issues.

Pat Donovan MEd, ATC

 
At 11/17/07, 10:39 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Anonymous - CLEAR THE CHAIN. From your remarks above, you are focused on the hip. Take a look at the athletes foot, ankle, knee ,patella mobility, back,rib mobility, shoulders,. Look at the SP,FP,TP motion. I find alot of hockey players with similar symptoms in our clinic are SP and TP Plane dominant. Lacking FP plane motion and excessive TP motion through the upper thoracic region.Followed with a very weak core.Hope this helps you.

Ron B.

 
At 11/17/07, 12:44 PM, Blogger Joe Przytula said...

Don't forget a L5 nerve root problem can mimic those symptoms, and should be part of your differential diagnosis. Along the lines of where Pat is going, take a look at that hip joint capsule too. Finally, ala Ron, don't forget to look globally. Hockey being a collison sport means SI joint issues. For instance, a same side upslip, a contralateral outflare or ipsilateral inflare can overload that ITB.

 
At 11/18/07, 12:28 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Muscles and minds need to stretch to grow, but if stretched too thin, they will snap" - JW

 
At 11/19/07, 10:28 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I heard a very well known college hockey team conditioning coach say once at a seminar that he prevented nearly all of his injuries including hip problems by using the Functional Movement Screen on them and then using the info to correct the imbalances. I wondered why he was having so many injuries that were so easily fixed with the FMS when he was so respected in the field.

 

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