Do you train or coach stretching and flexibility? Here are the top 10 most common mistakes we have seen in our Coaching Education experience at Body Before Skill Training Academy.
Whether you are (or you’re working with) a dancer, yogi, martial artist, gymnast, athlete, or just trying to improve mobility and flexibility, corrections to these key mistakes are the first thing we teach our coaches to help improve flexibility gains and reduce injuries.
Based on over 20 years teaching coaches to improve mobility and flexibility using methods from kinesiology, integrative anatomy and physiology, here are the most effective stretching techniques, brought to you by our teaching faculty at BBS Training Academy.
First, let's establish that ANYONE has the potential to become more flexible by training safe and correct techniques. It's not just genetics and young age that makes you flexible; it's also your lifestyle, training habits, and your training methods.
Over the years as we compared knowledge and experience across different sports, we started to see some patterns and common errors that many coaches and teachers don't address in training sessions.
Flexibility can be a little finicky; it's probably one of the most complex physical abilities to master because it involves many different physiological systems.
Here are the top 10 flexibility mistakes that are affecting your training. Learn what's holding you back and the fixes you can make to upgrade your stretching.
1. You're Scrunching Instead of Stretching
You think you're stretching nice and long, but actually, you're "scrunching". When you're stretching, you're curling up like a snail instead of lengthening your muscles.
INSTEAD: Lengthen your stretch - it doesn't matter how far you can go! What matters is the angle of your stretch and if you're feeling it in the muscles you are trying to stretch.
2. You're Collapsing Instead of Lifting
When you're holding a stretch skill, you're collapsing to the ground instead of lifting. Your muscles are relaxing and falling to the ground instead of extending upwards and away from the ground.
INSTEAD: Lift your body up and make yourself long and strong! Think of growing as tall and long as possible towards the sky in your stretches: you will be more stable and extend your muscles properly if you expand your stretch.
3. You're All Skew
Great, you look like a boomerang! Yes, it's frustrating that your stretching is not yet on point - but stretching at wonky angles is just slowing down your progress. Don't focus on how impressive your stretch looks: focus on correct alignment to develop flexibility in the right muscles.
INSTEAD: Be patient, stretch straight. It may look like you're not as flexible, but trust us when we say that you're ten steps ahead of a wonky stretcher!
4. You're Holding Your Breath
Not breathing during stretching does two things:
A) Your muscles won’t be getting enough oxygen, and
B) It triggers your nervous system to be on high alert as it thinks your body is under stress, making it more difficult to deepen your stretch and ultimately become more flexible.
INSTEAD: Breathe slowly and deeply to relax your body, inhaling when you rest and exhaling as you ease more into the full range of your stretch.
5. You're Only Stretching Passively
Passive stretching helps your muscles & connective tissues (including your fascia & tendons) to lengthen by applying tension using a belt, a wall, gravity, or a partner to help stay in position while you're stretching. Active stretching, however, puts your new flexibility to use and helps you to keep it!
INSTEAD: Learn to use both passive AND active stretching techniques. In a passive stretch, the muscles should RELAX and LENGTHEN. In active stretching, you need to hold the position on its own, adding movement and CONTRACTING to hold the lengthened muscles in place.
6. You're Too Focused on Skills & Poses
You're so focused on "showcasing" your stretchy skills that you forget to develop your overall flexibility. Many poses or skills you find in gymnastics, martial arts, dance, or yoga are not a tool to build your flexibility. They are a DEMONSTRATION of the flexibility you have and can use in that moment.
INSTEAD: To get flexible, you need to train your body to be more flexible before you can achieve the skill. Your entire body needs to be mobilised and stretched before you work on applying flexibility to a skill or pose; especially the ones that feel the most difficult!
7. Stretching with Stress
When you stretch with stress, your body tenses up until your tissues are as solid as a rock. No wonder it’s not effective! The body needs to feel relaxed and trust the movement and guidance to move into the stretch. Learn to work with a stretch, not against it!
INSTEAD: Learn to love stretching and guide using a safe, calming, and effective stretching technique that supports the body.
8. You're Bored
We get it. Stretching can be boring and uncomfortable. But we promise, it doesn’t have to be that way! Signs of boredom means you’re not challenging your body at the right level. So many people struggle with this, and we have a great solution.
INSTEAD: Learn to “game-ify” your stretching and mobility workouts through a FUNctional Training approach.
9. You're Not Stretching Often Enough
You've been stretching every week for the last 15 years and getting nowhere... but that’s because your body needs a consistent development phase with regular training before you maintain it with weekly stretching.
INSTEAD: Learn how to plan your stretching! There are so many systems in our body involved in stretching and flexibility... and they all need time and consistency to develop!
10. Lacking Confidence in Your Stretching Technique
This is by far the biggest issue with see with athletes and coaching. With so much focus on strength, skill, agility and cardio training... where does stretching and mobility come in?
INSTEAD: You can learn safe, highly effective and enjoyable training techniques, blending an easy to learn, neuro-myofascial approach with BBS Training Academy eLearning courses, and boost your knowledge, skills and confidence for flexibility training.
Want to learn more? Enrollment for our BBS LONG & STRONG Functional Flexibility Training eLearning course is now open!
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