In my last post I spoke about Crisis or Complacency in the areas of fitness and nutrition. How we (USA inhabitants) seem to oscillate between those two endpoints with little attention to a consistent even-keel path. I feel a similar situation exists in exercise routines in that individuals are either focusing only on the stretch aspect and forgoing the strength component or vice versa.
The sensible path should be a smart combination of the two: stretch and strength. Here’s a few examples of various imbalances and how that affects daily life.
Example 1
Let’s say your leg and hip muscles (in general) are weak, meaning doing a basic squat action requires holding on to either the wall or other object. You enjoy gardening and getting up and down from the ground requires assistance, your passion and enjoyment of working in the garden is limited because of lack of strength and mobility.
Example 2
You do a regular yoga or stretch class and have gained good flexibility. You can easily touch your toes and do various stretches. However, while putting your heavy suitcase in the overhead bin in an airplane you injury your back, due to lack of core and upper body strength.
Example 3
You lift massive weights in the gym and have strong arms, and upper body. You also sit at work for long hours every day. Someone dropped something on the floor and you have difficulty bending over to pick it up because of a lack of leg and spine flexibility. Even putting on your shoes is challenging.
In the above examples one component is missing in a balanced approach to exercise for longevity. I’m going to grossly exaggerate here but it is based on my decades in the fitness sector, women need to focus much more on the strength component while the men could use a heavy dose of attention to overall mobility, not simply stretching.
Why is this important?
One of the biggest issues facing our senior population is hip fractures. Here’s what the Centers for Disease Control say on the topic of hip fractures in older adults. Ladies particularly pay attention!
- Each year over 300,000 older people—those 65 and older—are hospitalized for hip fractures
- More than 95% of hip fractures are caused by falling, usually by falling sideways.
- Women experience three-quarters of all hip fractures
- Women fall more often than men
- Women more often have osteoporosis, a disease that weakens bones and makes them more likely to break
- The chances of breaking your hip go up as you get older
From my standpoint we have put an unusual amount of emphasis on gaining flexibility. And this is NOT to be confused with mobility. We need to get back to creating better avenues, particularly for the female population on gaining strength that is in balance with the stretch component of our bodies.
For more reading see Mobility vs. Flexibility and The Stretching Obsession.
What can I do?
- Make an assessment of which component needs attention: stretch or strength
- Develop a plan to gain muscle strength and or increase mobility and flexibility
- Get opinions on your plan by either trainers, PT’s or other experts in fitness
- Stick to the routine until you feel you need change
No one system is perfect for every decade of life. By system I mean your regular routine, be it walking, running, lifting weights, Yoga, Pilates and all points in between. Sometimes you just need to change up your routine as you move from one phase of life to the next. What you were doing was fine then, but now is different: embrace it.
“My attitude is that if you push me towards something that you think is a weakness, then I will turn that perceived weakness into a strength.”
Michael Jordan
