If I told you that stretching would make you look 10lbs lighter and get rid of your belly pooch, would you do it?
Huh? Explain.
When the body is tight, we have bad posture, which makes us look shorter and more rounded in our pooch (tummy). Being able to free up the muscles and re-align the body can make a world of difference in your appearance and how you feel. So lets look at stretching.
Kinetic Chain Theory. Everything in your body is constantly reacting to everything else. All the joints in your body are interconnected. If one joint lacks mobility, then the body will compensate somewhere else, which creates instability in another joint. Over time, the compensation is so subtle that you may not notice it until you start to lose range of motion in your joints.
What do I do? The first reaction is to stretch the muscle that feels tight. It goes deeper than that though….remember we said everything is connected? First you must figure out where the problem starts. It’s a domino effect. Say you have tight hamstrings, you decide to stretch and stretch the hamstrings. Addressing the hamstrings won’t solve it permanently, only temporarily. You must first address the root of the problem to correct the other issues (tight hamstrings). So where is the root of the problem? It may be the feet or the knees or tight shoulders! A physical therapist or athletic trainer can usually help you to determine this. Once you’ve identified the root of the problem, then you can go about addressing the issue which will in turn help alleviate the tightness in the muscle that seems to be the problem. Make sense? When all is lined up properly then it will start to loosen up tight muscles and aches and pains. The domino effect – The Kinetic Chain Theory.
Let’s look at a body that sits all day. The hip flexors are too tight from sitting incorrectly all day which in turn pushes the pelvis forward which then tells your gluteals (buttocks) they don’t need to work too hard and now your hamstrings have to pick up the slack! It’s a viscious circle. In the meantime, your belly starts to pooch out because of your poor posture at work and your tilted pelvis, giving you the appearance of a tummy. If you can find and fix the problem and stretch all the muscles out and have them functioning properly, then you will be sitting and standing straight and your belly pooch will most likely disappear by stretching and properly aligning your body.
Pilates is a GREAT way to help with this. The main principles of Pilates are Uniform Development, Alignment and Flexibility. Even if your Pilates Instructor cannot diagnose you he/she is on the right track using the principles of Pilates and the Pilates Method to help correct imbalances. A good physical therapist can help you to determine the root of your tightness and then give you recommendations, stretches and exercises. Oh yeah, and keep coming to Pilates Class!