Why Stretching Is Key to Success
The human body has more than 600 muscles, and you will use a significant number of them in your triathlon training. You have learned about how important it is for your muscles to be strong, but there's more to successful performance than just strength. You must keep your muscles loose or they will fight against you in your training and in the race.
Tight leg muscles keep you from achieving the proper running form. Tight arm and shoulder muscles hamper your swimming stroke. In both cases, you have to use more energy to get from point to point, and you tire more quickly.
Even worse, tight, inflexible muscles are more prone to injury, and the fact that your body is an interconnected set of muscles and tissue means that a defect in one area can mean trouble in another. For example, tight hamstrings can cause back pain. Tight calf muscles are one of the main causes of plantar fasciitis, a nagging foot problem that can affect your training and racing for months.
Swimming, biking, and running are challenging to your muscles, and it is normal for them to tighten under the strain. As the muscles tighten, they work less efficiently. The looser you can keep your muscles, the better they will work.
Learning how to stretch is important. Even more important is learning when not to stretch. Make it your practice to warm up for at least five minutes before stretching — every time. Stretching cold muscles is asking for injury.
Naturally Flexible
Everyone knows someone who seems to be made of rubber, who can twist and contort into all sorts of positions with no difficulty at all. People with that kind of ability are born with muscles that contain more than normal amounts of a protein called elastin. That substance gives their muscles the pliability others envy.
One way to loosen up the entire body is to go for a light swim. The water is naturally relaxing and will help lessen the tension in all of your muscles. A yoga class can also promote flexibility and relaxation.
In truth, however, too much flexibility can put extra stress on your joints. Former tennis star Kim Clijsters retired at an early age in part because her extremely loose muscles did not support her joints well, leading to a series of injuries.
The bottom line is that anyone, even the most flexible of individuals, will experience tight muscles after athletic activity. You can even tighten up just sitting at your desk at work or on a long airplane flight. Stretching is the best way to relieve the tension and relax the muscles. Once you acquire the habit of stretching, you will find yourself wanting to do it apart from training. As life's habits go, this is one you don't want to fight.
However you decide to do your stretching, just make sure you do it. You might get away with no stretching for a period, but eventually it will catch up to you in the form of an injury or increasingly poor performance. For example, if you never stretch your calf muscles, they will become tighter and tighter and you will have an excellent chance of developing, among other things, Achilles tendon problems.
