If a muscle is tight, we stretch it out, right?  After all, stretching is supposed to help.  So, wouldn’t it make sense that it should get better with said stretching?  And if stretching isn’t helping, then what actually will?

 

Stretching can feel pretty good at times, and often give us a feeling of relief.  If our hamstrings feel tight, for example, then it usually feels good to stretch them.  Cue classic hamstring stretch with the leg propped up on a rustic wall picture below.  We all know this stretch, because we’ve either seen it or done it.  Now, I’m not saying this is a “bad” thing, and by all means if you enjoy it then have at it.  What I am saying though, is that tightness is there for a reason.  If stretching isn’t helping then something else needs to be done.

 

 

One thing we can do is consider a set of principles used by Dr. Evan Osar, which he calls the ABC’s. It’s an acronym that stands for:

 

Alignment, Breathing, and Control.

 

Alignment: In this context, alignment is referring to the position of the torso in space. At BSP NOVA we teach what we refer to as a “Tall and Tight” position. This means our hips are relatively neutral, and our ribs point down in the front and slightly up in the back. Think of this as a “canister” position in which the ribs and hips face each other. We teach our clients to own this Tall and Tight position during heavy squats, deadlifts, lunges, etc., because it puts them in the best position to be successful.

 

Breathing: This refers to our ability to regulate our internal pressure, whether at rest or during exercise. Learning efficient breathing patterns can help us move weights safely and efficiently, improve ranges of motion, and great for blowing up balloons at parties.

 

Control: This simply refers to controlling the desired muscles and joints in the movements we are doing.

You’re probably thinking

 

“that’s all pretty nifty, dude, but what does that have to do with tightness?”

 

That’s a fair question, and I’ll answer it with a story below.

 

 

Once upon a time, there was a hamstring that went by the name of Hammy (I know, super creative right?). His friend, Nerve the nervous system, kept telling young Hammy that he was “tight,” and that he needed to stretch. Hammy didn’t think he was tight, but felt that he wasn’t being put in the best position (alignment) to be successful. Because of a less than ideal alignment, Nerve created a sensation of tightness for Hammy. Luckily, they ran into a coach that went by the name of Coach (creativity is flowing I know). After taking a look at Hammy, coach Coach realized that stretching wasn’t going to be the solution. He decided to take Hammy through some drills to see if it helped.

 

 

In the video above we have some guy called Th-omas performing a standing toe touch. If you look closely though, he starts off in a “macho man” position (low back arched, front side of ribs pointing up). This puts his hamstrings on stretch and makes them feel “tight” before he even begins to descend. As you can see, starting off with this less than ideal alignment, the guy doesn’t get very far.

 

 

Using the principles of the ABC’s though, Coach can dramatically and quickly improve this “tightness” without stretching. He used a drill called 90-90 wall breathing with hip lift.

• Coach laid him on his back with his feet on the wall, and his hips and knees making 90 degree angles.
• Then, Coach tells Th-omas to think of “pulling his heels down” to slightly lift his hips off the floor. This pulls his hips out of macho man position so he can understand what a more neutral, or even slightly flexed position feels like.
• Finally, he has the guy take 3-5 big breaths in the nose fully inhaling (think abdomen and ribs expand), and exhaling like he’s “fogging glass.” Feel free to hold a piece of glass over your mouth while doing this to see if it fogs up.

 

 

The last step is to simply re-test the standing toe touch and see how it feels. Th-omas now knows what a better alignment for his torso feels like, and can start off in a tall and tight position. If there is a big change like there is in the video above, then we know that tightness wasn’t the issue at all. His alignment (macho man), put him in a position where his hamstrings were already being stretched. Thus, when doing the toe touch he wasn’t in the best position to be successful.

 

After seeing the videos above, Hammy decided to give them a try, and like magic he didn’t feel nearly as tight (feel free to break this out as a party trick at some point too on friends). He understood what better alignment felt like, and how breathing could help him own that position. Then, all that was left for him to do was to learn to control this tall and tight position during his exercises at the gym. He needn’t spend tons and tons of time stretching, because taking the ABC’s into account was the answer.