Flexibility Program for the Endurance Athlete - Get your foot off the brakes!!

In this post we will discuss the importance of flexibility for the endurance athlete. Because there is so much debate about how to integrate this into your program, far be it from me to offer insight on that front. I will let you weigh in on the debates you agree with and apply as you see fit. I know....this is a cop out if you ever read one...true.

It is a fact, flexibility improves range of motion which usually means fewer injuries and less energy loss when reaching the limits of our range of motion during exercise. Basically being tight causes us to fight our own bodies when we approach the limits of our range of motion during exercise....its like we have our foot on the brakes!!! Being flexible allows for the brakes to be disengaged.

What we really want is to ensure that, in swimming, our arms move in their sockets through the entire stroke, without resistance. On the Bike, we want to be able to get into an aero position without having our glutes force us to be to upright. In running, we want our hamstrings and quads to have just enough flexibility so that we are not fighting them at full stride. So flexibility is important for endurance athletes. Note: Do not over do it though, it can lead to injuries by over overstretching or being too flexible.

Based on what we want for swimming, biking, and running...these are the muscles we should focus on for our flexibility program. Do a self assessment of your flexibility while swimming, biking and running and decide on the muscles you need to work on and integrate that into your program. The frequency of integrating into your program is really dependant on the outcome of your self assessment.

For me personally, I do 15 minutes of stretching 2 to 3 times a weeks focused on chest, shoulders, back (upper and lower), glutes, quads, hamstrings, and calves. I have decent upper body flexibility and a little below average on the lower body front. I do static stretching holding the position for 15 to 30 seconds, and sometimes functional stretching, only holding the stretch at the limit of the range of motion for a second and repeating 5 to 20 times for each different stretch. I incorporate my stretching into my core program, I usually start with the stretching.

Simply put, flexibility is important to reach your speed potential, there is less energy loss in fighting our muscles at the end of our range of motion. No more foot on the brakes or maybe not pressing as hard on the brakes.

Mikey