WARM UP AND COOLDOWN

The right kind of flexibility exercise is absolutely critical for anyone involved in sports; otherwise four things invariably happen:
· Restricted movement
· Decrease performance
· A breakdown in body tissues
· Potential long term injuries
What is flexibility? Flexibility is the range of motion available in a joint, such as the hip, or series of joints such as the spine.
1. Your joints: flexibility is joint specific -- you cannot assume someone is flexible just because they can touch their toes. The same person may not even be able to reach around and scratch the small of his/her back because their shoulder has poor flexibility.
2. Your sport: flexibility is sport specific. You would not expect a 300lb lineman to have the same flexibility as an Olympic gymnast, because it is not required for his sport. In fact, in a contact sport like football, being that flexible could be detrimental to his body.
The components of flexibilityFlexibility is both static and dynamic:
1. Static flexibility describes range of motion. This is the maximum range a muscle can achieve with an external force such as gravity or manual assistance; for example: holding a hamstring stretch at an end-of-range position or having a partner applies manual resistance.
2. Dynamic flexibility describes the range of motion at a desired speed. For example, a baseball pitcher or Tennis player needs a lot of shoulder rotational flexibility, but he also need to produce it at rapid speed. Arm windmills, Arms circles, etc.)
Here are a few helpful points about flexibility:
· Good static flexibility is necessary for good dynamic flexibility; however, having good static flexibility does not in itself ensure good dynamic flexibility
· Dynamic flexibility is vitally important in those high velocity movement sports such as sprinting, kicking and jumping.
· Dynamic flexibility is limited by the ability of the tissues to lengthen quickly, and the inhibition of what is called the 'stretch reflex', which if present would act to limit the range of motion.

Why flexibility is vital for performance, injury prevention and the treatment of painGood flexibility improves your joint’s range of motion. For example, flexibility in the shoulder muscles allows a swimmer to 'glide' the arm through the water using shoulder elevation. –YPT (2006)
· Flexibility is therefore essential for top performance
Good flexibility allows the joints to easily accommodate the desired joint angles without undue stress on the tissues around them.
· Flexibility is therefore essential for injury prevention
Stretching also forms an integral part of rehabilitation programs following injury. For example, it is accepted that a muscle tear will heal with scar tissue. This scar tissue tends to be functionally shorter and have more resistance to stretch than normal healthy muscle tissue. Therefore stretching is used at an appropriate time in the healing process to assist in lengthening this contracted scar tissue.
· Flexibility is therefore essential for the treatment of injury and pain
Posture, ergonomics and resolving painGood flexibility improves posture, ergonomics and resolves pain. Our bodies have a tendency to allow certain muscles to tighten up and that affects our posture. There are various muscles that universally show a tendency towards tightness and being overactive in movements. Here are just a few:
· The hamstrings, which actually comprise of three separate muscles: the Biceps Femoris, Semitendinosus and Semimembranosus
· Rectus femoris, one of the four quadriceps muscles, which inserts into the patellar tendon, which connects the kneecap (the patella) to the shin bone
· TFL, Tensor Fasciae Latae: it does most of the work while we stand
· Piriformis, which runs from the base of the spine to the top of the thigh bone –Common tightness in distance runners.
· Adductors, thigh muscles