Meet the Quadratus Lumborum

UPDATE: This is an old rambling post, but it is also a very popular one as people try to figure out their quadratus lumborum. Here is a recent ebook by Sean Schniederjan I purchased called Quadratus Lumborum Fixed: For Ultimate Low Back Balance, Strength and Comfort (Simple Strength Book 14). I have used many of Sean's ideas in some of his other ebooks and here he has the first book, that I know of that explains the purpose of the QL as well as gives ideas for controlling it:

Some experts say that as much as 65% of low back pain is quadratus lumborum related. Do you have quadratus lumborum problems? Do you feel tightness on one side of your low back that simply won't go away? This book delivers fast, easy to digest knowledge and fixes to quadratus lumborum imbalances using your natural movement for a healthier and balanced lower back. BONUS - also get enhanced super stretches to increase low back flexibility.

The Quadratus Lumborum is not a math formula or punk rock group! But first, I am happy to have had a great week of running last week totaling 85 miles.
Mon. 5 miles (5k trail race)
Tues. 8 miles
Wed. 12 miles
Thurs. 8 miles
Fri. 22 miles (planned on 16 but felt real good-had plently left in the tank)
Sat. 14 miles (planned 8 but felt pretty good-would have gone longer, but I carried  no $ to get liquids)
Sat. 16 miles (planned 11 to get to 80 for the week but felt pretty good)

Two weeks ago I hit 73 miles and figured that might be the most for a week this summer, but the weather turned cooler on Friday and if the running feels good and fun, I say, "Keep running!"

After finishing the 73 mile week I took a day off, and the next day I felt "off" a bit in the mid back area and right side, like something was twisted wrong. I ran the Mine Falls 5K Trail race and that didn't help. I then ran the Gate City Striders Ultimate Runner track night 4 races (400m, 800m, 1 mile, 5K) and my right side was still bothering me. It wasn't a memorable event, but I made it through. The only fight I had was in the 5k when Karen P. caught up with about 3/4 of a mile to go. I tried to keep in front of her and that helped me pick up the pace and hopefully had her running faster too.

photos Jim Rhoades

Thursday I did a new workout DVD that I had that combines the TRX with Kettlebells. It was a killer workout, but it didn't help my back and neither did the 8 miles I did after the workout.

Then I went to the Cape for a few days and my back and hips were just horrible. It was very uncomfortable to just move and I only pushed through one 5 miler. I did get some sun and surf in with the family. It was a completely horrible week of running, and I was looking forward to my offfice visit with Dr. Baroody on Monday.

During the trip I decided to make sure I was using my abs correctly. I used a tip from Dr. Jolie Bookspan (article here from the book The Ab Revolution Third Edition- No More Crunches No More Back Pain)  and also started doing these exercises from Dr. Stuart McGill.

On Monday, Dr. Baroody worked on the tweak in my back and that started clearing things up, but I had a follow-up visit on Friday and I told Dr. Baroody about my left hip-glutes. This seems to be the major problem now. The left glute gets rather tight and I feel really tight at the top of the left back pelvis. I told him when I run I can't rotate the left hip back and the femur sort of presses into the hip creating the pain and not giving me a  hip rotation. He's a good listener and tried to make sense out of what I was explaining. He did a lot of ART work and finished on the back of the hip. He said it was the quadratus lumborum muscle.

The QR was already a muscle I was quite aware of, but it is a tricky one and one I never found a good stretch that would help it. About 10 years ago when I completed the Falmouth road race, I went direcly to the massage tent where I usually meet a local chiropractor. From years of doing this, he knows a bit about my hip problem. A couple of times, after having an uncomfortable race, he did work on my QL and I would feel great afterwards. In fact, I would feel better running a 5 mile cool-down to my parent's house then I did running the race! However, I never could find a way to stretch, release, or strengthen this muscle.

What is the Quadratus Lumborum?

The quadratus lumborum is a well known muscle that is a primary cause of lower back pain. Its action of bringing the hip up is important for balancing postural distortion. Not only does it refer into the Sacro-Iliac joint, but can cause stress in that joint by pulling the hips out of alignment.

According to this article

The quadratus lumborum muscles, together with the illiopsoas, are a common cause of lower back pain....Because most people sit for 90% of the day, their quadratus lumborum muscles are short, tight, and overused. The quadratus lumborum muscles assist in side bending and in back extension...If you have back pain that is only on one side of your lower back, there’s a good chance it’s the quadratus lumborum on that side...If indeed one of your quadratus lumborum muscles is causing you pain, the quadratus lumborum pain is due to habitual overuse.

With the constant tightness back there (and this is exactly where I used to press 25 year ago to "crack" my own back), I decided to target this area. Dr. Baroody showed me a couple of stretches. One looks like this (you have to go 52 seconds into the video to get the stretch).

Another is a stretch on a swiss ball. This video has a good summary on the quadratus lumborum.

Here is another QL stretch I found that I am doing.



He also said that doing kettlebell windmills will strengthen this area.


The problem with the stretches is that I don't feel them exactly where I feel tight, however something good must be going on as my hips are feeling a little bit better every run and I did run the equivalent of 2 marathons over the past three days.

I am sure the QL stretches are helping some. I'll give it a couple of weeks. In addition, I have started doing resistance stretching of my hamstrings in particular again. My quads and hammies are stating to loosen up some. I wrote tons on resistance stretching a couple of years ago (good place to start) and it still is a unique stetching program that works. I also had a massage a week ago and two weeks ago. That started the loosening process.

UPDATE
I just found this book and am reading it slowly. It has a great section on the quadratus lumburom with stretches and trigger point areas for releasing the QL. I have had other books on trigger points, but this one seems very comprehensive with loads of information. I will report on this book later, after I have read and tried some of the ideas in it more thoroughly.



To see a hamstring resistance stretch find the 4:00 mark. This comes from the Resistance Stretching With Dara Torres DVD.



Bob Cooley, author of The Genius of Flexibility: The Smart Way to Stretch and Strengthen Your Body,shows a partner resistance stretch here.



Finally, I noticed that one of my posts on functional hallux limitis got mentioned on a forum for Aikido (OK he did say my post might be like "watching paint drying" to some readers!). Josh mentions my posts on the stiff big toe and learning body wisdom. I know nothing about Aikido but read through the thread and wanted to find out more about what they were talking about. I do like the phrase "wisdom of the body"  as that is what I am trying to figure out. The links sent me here, where I wanted to learn what Kua was. I found this video and found the movements interesting. My femurs often seem stuck and this actually helped me feel them rotate better.



Anyhow, it has been a successful and busy week!

An Olympian gets Stretched using Resistance Stretching

I was doing some resistance stretching last night (something I haven't done in a while) in order to to work on my tight quads. When I was done, I checked out the resistance (or meridian) stretching websites (again something I haven't done in a while) and saw a video I hadn't noticed before on Bob Cooley's Meridian Stretching site. I think there are three variations on doing resisitance stretching: one is self-stretching, one is getting stretched by a stretcher, and the other is this wild looking stretching where a bunch of stretchers work on one athlete like he or she is a human maleable pretzel. I have seen a few videos online of this type of stretching before (most notably with Olympic swimmer Dara Torres) and it always looks visually fascinating . The new video shows Olympic speed skater Nancy Swider-Peltz Jr. getting stretched before the Vancouver Olympics.



I don't know Nancy Swider-Peltz Jr. but I watched her in the Olympics (her Olympics blog). By the time I started attending Wheaton College in 1977, her mom Nancy Swider was a student at the school and already an Olympic speed skater (seventh in the 3000m at the 1976 Innsbruck Games) and had set a world record weeks after the Olympics. Her dad Jeff Peltz was a football player who lived a couple doors down in my dorm one year. Her mom went on to participate in 4 Olympics, and I always marveled when hearing about the many hours she spent in daily training to be an Olympian. These were the days before my college (and many schools) even had a women's cross-country team. Women were just breaking into sports and  here was a world class athlete doing unheard of things with incredible discipline and drive. This was also before the time of cross-training being fashionable (in fact it wasn't even a word back then) so besides all the speed-skating and drills she did, she sometimes ran with the cross-country team,  swam on the swim team, and she biked.  It certainly was eye-opening for someone like me who thought that running was hard work to see someone so intense in athletic ambition and ahead of the times in training ideas. I also have never seen a lady with stronger looking quads in my life!

Here is a blog post interviewing one of the stretchers working on Nancy Swider-Peltz Jr.

Here is one of my posts on resistance stretching that includes links to many other posts.

I also noticed that Bob Cooley's Meridian Stretching site has listed classes at his Boston studio to learn and practice self-stretching. I may have to try going down sometime. I have three videos on resistance stretching, but it would be good to get pointers. The classes are only $20. I went to a stretcher once and it was great to get worked on, but it was ridiculously priced (unless you were extremely rich, it was too unaffordable no matter what the benefits). Here is my post on that experience. I would have loved to have done more, but I am not ridiculously rich.

A Recent Article and Video on Resistance Stretching

Here is a newspaper article on resistance stretching. It is from News 8 in Autsin, Texas. Cat Fitzgerald is the resistance trainer. There is a video on the site where you can see how he stretches rock climber Andrew Higier.

"The concept is really simple: resist when you stretch," Cat Fitzgerald, a certified RFST trainer and director of Hara Health in Coral Gables, Fla., told Ivanhoe.

Unlike regular stretches, which hold muscles in a passively stretched position, RFST actively lengthens muscles by stretching while moving them through their natural range of motion. Many people overlook stretching as a nonessential part of their workouts, but experts say it is the key to maintaining a youthful and healthy body."

My Top Two Recomendations to Help You Recover Your Stride

This is my 100th post on Recover Your Stride. I have worked extremely hard at becoming a better runner or should I say I have worked hard at becoming a runner that can run pain free, injury free, be more balanced, and run with a more correct running stride. I have tried a lot of different ideas throughout the year and at one point was ready to quit because of the ongoing problem with my hips and left side. The past few months I have have really progressed and I have put together some routines that have allowed my running to feel so much smoother and to start bringing back the balance that I have not had in my running stride for over 20 years. So this 100th post on my blog will begin to highlight the 10 best things I have learned, tried ,or discovered this year. A year that is ending on a high note as just about every run I do now feels so much better than I have felt while running in years. I am getting to the point where running feels fun and free again, rather than it being a daily battle to see if i can get out the door and run in a way that doesn't hurt or feel uncomfortable.

I will start with my two favorite things I have discovered this year. Both have given me a lot of control over how my body feels and responds to running as well as they have both left me feeling so much better in my daily life. My legs are already so much looser and smoother as I continue to implement the changes brought on by working on my muscles and connective tissues. My stride feels so much lighter and younger and my joints, particularly my hips, do not feel so tight, old, and stuck in place.

I will continue in further posts with recoomendations 2-10 as well as where I think I am going next year: as I have a few things in mind and am starting to generate a "plan" for next year. That would be a first because in most recent years I have just been trying to make my body recover my stride but it was always so haphazard and I had no control. I think I am now getting to where I have control over the imbalances in my body so that I can start building on that to further enjoy running (even into my 50's). And hopefully race fast too!

Number 1
The Ming Method found in "The Permanent Pain Cure" by Ming Chew

"The Permanent Pain Cure" is the most recent book I have read and I am using bits of it on top off everything else I am doing as well as still exploring everything else in the book. I wasn't sure if I should recommend something so recent as my top choice of the year. But I think that this book has the most bang for the buck.

What I like about the program that Ming sets forth is that it is fairly comprehensive in that he covers a lot of ground. It covers stretching, strength work, and eating and hydration, but what I find most noteworthy are the self-therapy releases (based on ART) , the spinal decompression work, and the stretches for the fascia. I have not seen these things put into a general book that make them easy to understand and use. Particularly I like his releases based on ART (Active Release Technique). These up the notch a bit for people who use foam rollers, tennis balls, or elbows to a different level because you move your muscles to achieve a stretch and break up scar tissue. It is so much more effective. It has done a great job on my hamstrings and quads and allows them to loosen up and improve my running stride.

I am still playing around with the releases as well as thinking up some of my own based on the techniques. For example there are no calf and lower leg releases in the book. Last night I took out my TP Massage roller and spent just a couple of minutes on my lower leg just beneath my calf. Instead of just rolling my muscle up and down the roller, I held my leg in place and twisted and turned my foot and ankle around and back and forth. This not only loosened my leg up, I felt the effect up into my hip and lower back as they loosened up also. The most interesting thing was when I did my right lower leg, I felt the stiffness at the bottom of my right heel in certain positions. This is where I thought I might be getting plantar fasciitis in the summer. So there might be a tightness in my lower leg's muscles and tendons that could be contributing to the problem near my heel.

Here are my previous posts where I reviewed or commented on this book. I consider it a great resource for athletes (or non-athletes) using some newer techniques that they might want to try.

Stretching Your Fascia Using "The Permanent Pain Cure"

How to Release Your Hamstrings with a Tennis Ball

Number 2
Resistance Stretching

Static stretching has never worked for me. Right at the point where I was about to give up on my running this summer I took out a book I had bought a couple of years earlier. The book was "The Genius of Flexibility" by Bob Cooley. I had quickly looked at the book when I bought it and tried a few of the stretches. Unfortunately I had never read "how" Bob Cooley wanted the stretches to work. I had never used resistance against the stretches. I tried a few stretches after "reading" some of the book this time and noticed something happening that was not happening with other stretches I had tried. I read more and realized this was the method used by Dara Torres on her incredible return to the 2008 Olympics. Upon exploring resistance stretching more (you provide resistance against the stretch) I found it started loosening up my hips and muscles so that running started to become easier again.

Besides reading through the book I bought two different resistance stretching videos. One was Bob Cooley's "The Genius of Flexibility 1.0" and then as soon as it was released I got the Dara Torres Resistance Stretching Video from Innovative Body Solutions. Both DVDs are cheap and go through a 20 minute resistance stretching routine. Some stretches are different on the two DVDs so I mix up which one I use.

I also went to a resistance stretcher named Janet. She worked on my muscles and gave me some stretches and tips on how to do the stretches. I have not had the opportunity to go back as it can be expensive, but I wish I could go for a few more sessions as it felt great to have this work done on my muscles. She was able to stretch my legs and hips in many different ways that I would never be able to duplicate on my own. Resistance stretching has worked great for me and it might be just the type of stretching and strength work (it helps in that department too) to get your body untangled and running smoothly again.

Here is Bob Cooley's book:

You can go to Innovative Body Solutions to order the Dara Torres video or order through Amazon:

or you can go to Meridian Stretching to order "The Genius of Flexibility 1.0" DVD

I have had many posts on resistance stretching.

Resistance Stretching: This is what Dara Torres does!

More on Resistance Stretching

The Genius of Flexibility Video 1.0 Review

More on the Dara Torres Resistance Stretching DVD

The Growing Influence of Resistance Stretching

SNAP!!! What in the World was That? OK don't stretch too hard!!!

Hold Steady and Stay Positive After getting stretched by a professional.

Partner Resistance Stretching

Improving a Hamstring Stretch

Plus I am sure I touched on how resistance stretching has helped my running in many other posts.

Let me know if you try any of these methods and the results you get as I am curious as to how they work on other runners.

Improving a Hamstring Stretch

I have continued playing around with stretching and other techniques trying to get looser and more balanced in my running. After having a great track workout two weeks ago running 5 X 1 mile my left leg went wobbly again. It was back to rotating in and that made running and walking uncomfortable for a week. I couldn't get it aligned right no matter what I tried. I still ran but that leg was not balancing correctly. A week later at the track we had an all out mile. I couldn't run correctly and only ran about 5:55 and it wasn't fun. The week before I had done 5 repeat miles in 6:00. Something was amiss.

That night I used my T-Roller to work on my muscles because it was hard to sleep. I noticed a lot of tightness on the inside hamstring down near the knee. I knew that in the past this muscle would get tight and pull things out of alignment. I took a hard ball and used it to massage deep into that muscle. That seemed to loosen things up for a change.

I had been doing resistance stretching on the hamstrings every day, but when I do the self-stretching my knee is pulled close to my chest and it seems to work more on the upper hamstrings. It looks like what Steve is doing at about the 5:58 mark in this video.

That is a good stretch but it was not doing the same thing as when I went to get stretched by Janet, a trained resistance stretcher. When she did similar stretches my leg was held further out about 90 degrees from the other leg with the knee pointing straight up. When I stretched in this position I recalled how I felt the muscles getting stretched at the lower end, toward the knee, of my hamstring and it felt good as I never had found a stretch that worked those tight muscles. I had to figure out a way to stretch out the lower hamstrings.

I think I found a workable solution for now. A year or two ago I bought a stretching tool called the Hamstretch. I hoped it would help me get my legs positioned to give me the good stretch I would get in my hamstring when a therapist would stretch me. It never seemed to work right because I think I only used it to do static stretches and it has just been sitting around unused.

I tried using it and positioning the bands so I could push down and resist the stretch as I used the hamstretch to pull up my foot and lower leg. I can use one hand to hold me knee in position and the other hand to pull on the side bars. It seems to work. I have been getting a much better stretch in my hamstrings using the Hamstretch to keep my knee further away from my chest. It has been loosening up my hamstring even more and I think that is my my hip is loosening up more and not being so stiff and tight. Here is the Hamstretch device.

I put it to the test on Sunday by running a 5k road race in Manchester. I didn't finally decide to race until race morning. I was feeling a bit lethargic but my left hip loosened up while running and it was the best my hip has felt in a race all year. I ended up running 18:59. It was the first time I had been under 19 minutes since last Thanksgiving day. I wasn't feeling real competitive but ran it at a pretty constant effort, although I slowed in the last mile. I hit 1 mile in 5:45, two miles in 11:50, and I had visions of going faster than my final time but then we hit a long straightaway with a cold headwind. It never seemed to end. I had run by myself from mile 1 to mile 2. At mile two I was 20-30 yards behind a teammate that eventually finished in 18:25. But then a pack that had stayed behind me started catching up and I got passed by some runners to which I had no competitive response. I was not sharp and had no kick except enough to just make sure I got under 19:00. I am pleased with the time and hope to improve on it soon. It was nice not to have my hip jamming up for a change.

Here is a partner hamstring resistance stretch that Janet sent my way. You can see Bob Cooley, the author or "The Genius of Flexibility" getting stretched. If you know someone who is good with muscles you could try the stretch like this. My wife prefers that I use the Hamstretch. His knee is closer to his chest in this stretch than I use with the Hamstretch.

Good Stretching for the Hips

Here is a resistance stretch that I really like although I don't have the flexibility that Luther from flexiblestrength.org demonstrates in this video. This is called the gall bladder stretch but it stretches the hip and outer leg.

Here is an interesting and similar stretch that may be modified to use as a resistance stretch. I like how the non-stretching leg is held against a wall to keep the hips from rotating. Dave Schmitt calls it the #1 stretch to eliminate low back pain.

Here is a fascinating video of Bob Cooley author of "The Genius of Flexibility" doing some pretty hard-core and advanced resistance stretching. The stretches are on the arms and fingers. I would like to see him perform some work on legs and hips. It looks unusual, sort of like working on human clay, but that is because the person being stretched resists against the stretch. When the person pushes back against Bob's stretching then they are getting a strength workout. One direction is a stretch, the other is a strengthening workout. It is pretty interesting, but I don't know what he is talking about the first minute or so; I guess he is referring to positive results from the stretching because he links stretching to personality awareness.

I have only done my Z-Health drills sporadically lately. I did receive my weekly training tip from Dr. Eric Cobb of Z-Health and it was something new that I never heard or noticed before when doing these joint mobility drills. He writes,

"If you are struggling with any particular Z-Health drill, have a seat. One of the things that many people overlook in Z-Health is that you are not required to perform the exercises standing in neutral stance.

You want to begin to think about the Z-Health drills simply as templates -- you can perform them seated, lying down, on your stomach, on your back, or on your side. Make sure that you explore the exercises in different positions because they will have very different effects.

Many of our happiest clients feel that the greatest benefits from Z-Health drills came about when they began applying the drills to their everyday situations. The office worker who practices Z-Health while seated will often see a fantastic effect from that during the course of their normal day.

Keep Moving,

Dr. Cobb"

Maybe I will take a second and new look at some of the drills and see if a seated or lying down position will help. At least it will give some variety. You can sign up for the weekly tips at the Z-Health website. You can listen to an interview with Dr. Cobb here. Here is an interesting article called "The Body is a Unit" that tells why Z-Health focuses on mobilizing and coordinating all the joints in the body. You can find out more about Z-Health here:

Partner Resistance Stretching

I found a series of 15 resistance stretches that Carole Childers has put online. As presented they can be used as both a strength exercise and a resistance stretch as you resist against your partner moving your muscle. These are not the stretches that Janet, the resistance trainer, used with me. Her stretches were more complicated and she had a good sense of what my muscles needed to do. These look pretty basic but they may make doing a resistance stretch easier if you have a partner to try them with. Here is the stretch for the hamstring:

Partner Resistance Exercises: Hamstring Stretch -- powered by ExpertVillage.com

Here are some quadriceps resistance stretches:

Partner Resistance Exercises: Quadriceps Stretch -- powered by ExpertVillage.com

Partner Resistance Exercises: Quadriceps Supine -- powered by ExpertVillage.com

Here is the abductor stretch (the stretch is when your partner presses your leg down and you resist the stretch. You are strengthening when you press up as your partner provides resistance!)

Partner Resistance Exercises: Abductors -- powered by ExpertVillage.com

Here is an adductor stretch:

Partner Resistance Exercises: Adductors -- powered by ExpertVillage.com

You can see all 15 videos including the upper body videos on the expert village website.

If you like the idea of resistance stretching (and it is working wonderfully for me) you should visit Innovative Body Solutions to learn more and order the DVD with Dara Torres. It is a bargain at the price they sell it for. You will easily learn how to do resistance self-stretching and strengthen. You can also go to Meridian Stretching and order Bob Cooley's DVD. The DVD is the same price and it has some similar self-stretches, but some that are different from the other DVD. Both will teach you how to self-stretch with resistance stretching.

Hold Steady and Stay Positive

I have lots of cool things happening and a lot to digest and put together. The last two days have been very busy. Today I had my first resistance stretching session with a trainer. Yesterday the new DVD on resistance stretching arrived in my mailbox as well as another running DVD, so there is a lot to be excited about and loads of new information.

I received the DVD from Innovative Body Solutions. I haven't watched the whole thing yet but I started watching it yesterday and got through the first bit and I am very impressed. The founders of Innovative Body Solutions, Steven Sierra and Anne Tierney (who visited this blog and offered some good advice), are very good teachers and I was learning a lot more than the little I had already found on resistance stretching. I will fully review the DVD later when I have viewed and watched it a bit, but the biggest thing I learned was how to not only stretch but to strengthen the muscles using resistance stretching. I know this was in Bob Cooley's Book, but seeing and being shown how this works made it very easy to understand and implement. I also liked how the training taught first how to strengthen a muscle, then to stretch it, and finally to put the two together and do both stretches continuously. I only got up the the calf stretch on the DVD. I mentioned before that I hadn't found a resistance stretch for the calf and here was one right on the DVD. I also liked how they reference the names of the muscles being stretched. As an athlete I like to know the names of the muscles (my wife says I just like to say the big fancy names) but I know runners talk about certain muscles and we expect a stretching program to talk our language. I look forward to viewing and using the rest of the DVD. I enjoyed the Bob Cooley "Genius of Flexibility" DVD and found it well worth the price paid. This is the same price and already it is quite the bargain. I know how much other DVDs are sold for from other programs I have tried and this is well worth the cost.

Having seen a bit of this DVD yesterday, today I went down to Massachusetts to meet a stretcher named Janet and to be stretched out and learn more about how this all works. Janet did a lot of stretches with me and just like on the DVD there were both the strength and stretch portions. I learned I was doing it too hard on my own. She evaluated and worked on different meridian groups (I have got a lot of work to do to figure this out!) to find out which needed the most work. She was explaining the stretches as she went along, which I really like as I am very curious and want to know what is happening. She pegged the muscles groups that were really tight or weak. She moved my muscles through the stretches as I resisted and they did not hurt or really stress anything, but I could feel the right places stretch that needed to be stretched in some very new and different ways and directions. Things (fascia or scar tissue?) were giving way and making little pops as the stretching continued. I had much more mobility after each leg was stretched. She was packing a lot in, and at the end did some stretches on my lats and shoulders. She really noticed that they needed the stretching. She gave me lots of notes and it was a really positive experience. I do think that that this resistance stretching is on to something. It is very different from tradional static stretching and seems to have an immediate impact. I like it!

Last night I watched an pre-release of an update of the Building a Better Runner: Building from the Ground Up. The first edition and this was put out together by Jay Johnson, who is the middle distance coach at the University of Colorado, and Mike Smith, who is the head cross country coach and middle distance coach at Kansas State University. Jay sent a pre-release copy of the DVD and I thought it was very fascinating. I watched the whole thing last night, taking all sorts of notes. What I found interesting is that most of what is on this DVD is covered in many of the pages on this blog. I have been searching out all kinds of routines and therapies and here they were in a completely different form on one DVD and it is put together for runners. I saw how many of the drills were similar to the joint mobility work I have been playing around with. Some of the sand drills and other drills reminded me of Z-Health. Other information like implementing movement through all 3 different planes of motion reminded me of Scott Sonnon's DVDs like "Ageless Mobility", "Intu-Flow", and "Flow-Fit". A lot of the drills reminded me of Eric Cressey's "Magnificent Mobility" and even the dynamic flexibility drills in Matt Fitzgerald's book "Brain Training for Runners". I even saw some resistance stretching particularly of the lower legs for runners. As Jay and Mike say in the DVD they didn't invent all this stuff but they put things together in a unique way. I am not saying they even got their ideas from the other DVDs and books I mentioned. In fact they do things in very different ways. I just noticed the connection to so many of the things I have been finding and trying and it looks like they are arriving at a similar solution even if they went a different direction to get there. What I like is that these drills are particularly directed at runners. I just wish I had found this DVD earlier as I think their emphasis on preventive work and routines is so important. We didn't do these things when I was running in high school and college. This is a treasure trove of knowledge and exercises that should be a welcome addition to the collection of any serious runner, injured or healthy.


All the drills, however, are not for all runners and this is mentioned. There are over 100 drills and many would not be good for someone starting out or probably with an older body. But there are so many very useful drills and routines that would benefit the smart runner. I can't wait to try some of them. The athletes doing the drills are young, strong, athletic, and elite runners. Yes, that is Christian Smith doing many of the exercises. He finished third in the 800 meters in the 2008 Olympic Trials and earned a trip to Beijing with his last second and truly exciting dive to the finish line. I wonder if he practiced a diving drill. The 800 meters was the most exciting race of the Olympic Trials this summer as the first three finishers raced for Oregon teams and the trials were in Eugene. The stadium was rocking at the dramatic finish!'

Here is a video of the race from a fan inside the stadium. Listen to the noise!



Here is the televised video (very inspiring!):



So there is a lot of exciting things going on. As I was riding to my stretching session today I plopped a new Cd I had heard about into the the Cd player. I enjoyed listening to "The Hold Steacy- Stay Positive" on the trip down and back and now I will equate those songs with resistance stretching. This is not a music blog (maybe I need to start one) but I have to like a group that plays with the sonic blast of Bruce Springsteen and with his storytelling power as well as reminding me of the spirit of Mike Peters and The Alarm as well as the Alarmish "Whoahs" throughout the title song. You have to like lyrics that look into all sorts of dark corners and then hint at some redemption...

..."there's gonna come a time when the true scene leaders
forget where they differ and get the big picture
cause the kids at their shows, they'll have kids of their own
the sing-a-long songs'll be our scriptures,
we gotta stay positive ..."

or in another song,

..."we gonna build something this summer
we're getting back together
raise up a giant ladder
with love & trust and friends that hammer...
...Let this be my annual reminder
That we can all be something bigger""

Anyhow good music from a singer that looks like Elvis Costello. I also listened on my mp3 player as I had a very loose and enjoyable run this afternoon after today's stretching. Things had really loosened up in my hips quite a bit and I had a rare bouncy feeling as I ran. I felt like things were lined up so much better and my run was so fun I extended it a couple of miles to do 10 miles. If resistance stretching can leave me feeling this loose as I run I will be very happy.

One last thing for Chris B. when he reads this- that was a really good track workout on Wednesday. Thanks for pushing me throughout the set of intervals. It was tough and enjoyable Most of the guys were not running due to the Reach the Beach Relay this weekend. The workout was 5 X 1 mile with a lap rest between each. It was supposed to be at 1/2 marathon pace. We decided 6:30 pace would be our goal. I like being a front running "Kenyan" when I run. Some runners like following such as the "Ethiopian" runners and finishing strong at the end. Chris and I worked well together as Kenyan and Ethiopian. He ran off my shoulder and that kept me on an ever increasing pace. We did the first mile in 6:27, then progressed to a 6:21, a 6:17. the 6:11, and finally on the last one the Ethiopian runner took off. I told Chris not to worry about staying with me if he wanted to go faster. Chris broke 6 minutes and I did 6:02. It was a really good workout and with only each other running a similar pace we ran the workout to perfection.

Here you go, "Stay Positive"!

The Growing Influence of Resistance Stretching

Here is a short video from the CBS Evening News on the effect Michael Phelps and Dara Torres have had on fitness buffs from little swimmers competing to people wanting to know more about resistance stretching. At 1:35 you can briefly see Dara getting stretched as well as Luther Cowden who sent an email reply last week about running and resistance stretching.



Here is a CNN video explaing how Dara Torres does it. You can see snippets of some of her exercise routines, mashing (people use their feet to massage her muscles) , and resistance stretching (her secret weapon).


Here is an audio interview from Growing Bolder with Bob Cooley who invented resistance stretching and wrote, "The Genius of Flexibility".




Here are some more resistance stretches from an article in FitYoga magazine. It looks at the stretching from a yoga perspective but has some new variations of resistance stretching that I have not previously seen. There are stretches to loosen the quads, relieve pressure in the lower back, stretch the psoas, and unburden the shoulders. Hit the "next' at the bottom of the page to proceed throught the article.

The Genius of Flexibility Video 1.0 Review

Yesterday the DVD I ordered showing how to do resistance stretching finally arrived. I wrote about resistance (or meridian stretching) here: Resistance Stretching: This is what Dara Torres does! and here: More on Resistance Stretching. This DVD is the one I ordered from Bob Cooley's Website: Meridian Flexibility Center. What little I have learned in the past couple of weeks about Resistance stretching I have learned from from Bob Cooley's book The Genius of Flexibility and the few web sites and videos I have posted in the above two blog entries. This information gave me a start but reading and seeing pictures in a book is not always the best way to learn a stretch, particularly ones that are so new and different. That is where this DVD comes in handy.

The Genius of Flexibility DVD 1.0 includes instructions for 16 stretches for level 1 stretching (you can do them by yourself). Seeing the stretches and hearing the instruction make the stretches easy to understand and accomplish. I could easily do all 16 stretches while watching the DVD for the first time. I never tried them all when reading the book. If was easy to see the movements, the exertion levels, and the range of motion to shoot for when stretching. Two people would demonstrate each stretch. The stretchers looked athletic and like normal people. There was no new age music playing in the background as the stretches were demonstrated. Overall the instructions were easy to follow and I didn't have to be concerned about doing the stretches in a wrong way. The stretches can also be played one by one or in a 20 minute stretching workout. While I don't usually worry about stretching some of the muscles in the video it felt good doing some stretches like the ones for the shoulders. I will definitely keep using the video and should be able to transfer what I learned about resistance stretching to other similar stretches. One thing I wonder about is that I don't think any of stretches are geared towards some muscles that runners use a lot, like the calves of anything below the knee. I might be wrong about this and more advanced stretches may work these areas but I would really like to see a calf and soleus stretch using this method. The DVD was more about the stretching and did not get into all the meridians and the psycological and emotional parts of the stretching that the book gets into. You will have to read the book if that is your interest.

In addition to the stretching routines there is an introduction to resistance stretching, some testimonials including Dara Torres, some previews of more advanced DVDs that use partners or equipment and other information. For the price of $20 plus postage I think the DVD is a great purchase if you want to check out resistance stretching. It is so very different from any other stretching routine you may have tried so it is worth seeing it on DVD to get a good handle of the technique. I have ordered another DVD from Innovative Body Solutions but it is not shipping until the end of the month. It sells for the same price and I hope to learn more about resistance stretching and see some different stretches. It is put out by the stretchers who work on Dara Torres. I believe they also helped on the DVD I just reviewed.

So far I am finding more range of motion in my hips and a better balance when running since undertaking resistance stretching. It really seems to start getting out the junk and tightness that is in my hips and is starting to loosen up things more. I also think my stride is lengthening again as my hips are not so tight! Other stretching routines, particularly static stretching where you try to pull and stretch a relaxed muscle, often leave me tight and sometimes in worse shape them before I stretched because it pulls things out of alignment. Resistance stretching, on the other hand, does not leave me stiff or sore, even though so much force is generated as you stretch. This is a marvel to me as it is not what I would expect from such a routine. I even do the stretches before I run and my legs feel fresher because of it.

If I can get this stretching working correctly I feel it may help me in my quest to recover my stride. I have now run three days in a row. I did 8 miles Monday and again on Tuesday (although both heels were a little sore after that run). Today we had a track workout. We were supposed to do 5 miles on the track (yech!) at marathon pace. I finished in exactly 33:00 minutes which is a 1 1/2 minutes faster than the Bil Luti 5 miler I did in July and I was running much more efficiently. I friend even said I looked much smoother in my stride as I was running and if that is true I am pleased. The timed 5 miler was the longest paced run I have done on the track since college when I did a 50 mile solo run once. Fortunately the workout went quicker after the first 2 miles. I have to admire the people who race 10,000 meters on the track. That is a lot of laps!

More on Resistance Stretching

As I posted here I started rereading Bob Cooley's "The Genius of Flexibility" a couple of weeks ago and remain intrigued and frustrated with this technique. I am intrigued because as I play around with the stretches and try them out I am finding some that work for me. I am frustrated because there is not a lot of information out there on the technique (even though it is getting some big publicity -thanks to Dara Torres). I also have not received either DVD I ordered. The DVD from Innovative Body Solutions is not supposed to be released and shipped until August 22nd so I knew that would take awhile. I haven't received or heard a word about the DVD I ordered from from Bob Cooley's site Meridian Flexibility Center yet and it has been almost two weeks. Maybe these places are swamped with the interest in the technique. I would like to learn more so I await the arrival of the DVDs. Here is Bob Cooley's book on resistance streching. It is the only book I have found on the this type of stretching.




Here is a new Youtube video of Bob Cooley doing the hamstring stretch with the help of a partner.



Here is another video I found of a back or lat stretch using resistance stretching.



This ABC News "Person of the Week" profile on Dara Torres has a some brief looks at her stretching.



The other frustrating thing about resistance stretching is that the stretches don't list what muscles are being stretched. They can be listed by the body part, the emotions, or the psychology they effect. I have found that the "gall bladder" stretches seem to pinpoint the muscles I need to stretch. I do the hamstring, the quads, and one that seems to work nicely on my hips is one where (from a sitting or lieing down position) hold one knee with the same side hand and hold the ankle or foot with the other hand. I pull the ankle and knee toward the opposite shoulder as I resist by pushing away with the foot and leg. This does some really good work on my hips. I felt better and stronger when running Monday and Wednesday in the hips area from doing these stretches.

Luther from Flexiblestrength.org has been kind enough to answer some of my questions about resistance stretching with a thoughtful reply. This is part of what he wrote:

"Hi Jim,

I took a look at the pictures on your blog. It's difficult for me to know exactly what's going on with your left leg, but it is clear that the thigh is internally rotated while your lower leg/foot is externally rotated. I'm not sure what is causing this. I can appreciate how you wish to find a way to resolve this issue so you can live the active lifestyle you yearn for. My hope for you is that RFST can assist you in this endeavor. I have worked with many people who had previously resigned to the tension/pain that they were experiencing and had come to the conclusion that it was something they would just have to accept and deal with for the rest of their lives. In many of those cases, me and that person have been able to work together to create permanent improvements in those imbalanced areas which really surprised them.

I think there are some health problems that are difficult, if not impossible, to reverse, but am confident that most of the biomechanical problems that people experience can be resolved with RFST. Again, it's difficult for me to give you definite advice on your situation, but I can offer you a bit of what I know about the "shifts" you may be experiencing.

When there is a muscle in the body that is tight or weak, other muscles are recruited to make movements for the tight/weak muscle group. We call this substitution. When this occurs, the bones are pulled out of their proper alignment. This creates a twisting in the body that can cause all sorts of problems.

When you practice Resistance Stretching, you begin to take tension out of the chronically tight muscle groups while strengthening the weak muscles. Relieving the tension allows the muscle to execute it's proper designated actions. For example, the action of the lateral quads is to flex, abduct, and externally rotate the leg. If you were to Resistance Stretch the quads, you would ideally resist by flexing, abducting, and externally rotating the leg, as another person extends, adducts, and internally rotates the leg. Chronic tension would be removed from the quads as you do this and as a result, the bones that had been pulled out of alignment by the substituting muscles would return to their ideal resting position. This may explain the "shift" or little pop in the capsule area you experienced.

However, it takes many repeats of resistance stretching on the chronically tight muscle groups to retrain the muscles permanently. So, as a result, the substituting muscles may once again pull the bones back out of alignment after your stretching session. Additionally, it really requires assisted stretching with another person to make the changes permanent, as it takes twice the force to stretch a muscle as it does to strengthen it, which is something you can't do on your own. Plus, when stretching yourself, you won't be able to resist in all three planes at once. For example, when doing the quad stretch at the wall, you are mainly getting extension and flexion at the hip, without much or any adduction/abduction, internal/external rotation. Unfortunately, I don't know of any trainers in New Hampshire, but there are some in Massachusetts and New York.

However, you can still accomplish quite a bit with self stretching. At the very least, you should be able to prevent your imbalance from getting worse. You have the right idea by stretching the target muscle group and then the balancing, the medial hamstrings. Remember not to push yourself through the stretch. When you get to the point where you can no longer resist, or it feels too tough or painful, stop, do a repeat, and try stretching the balancing muscle groups.

Hopefully this helps you out. Let me know if you have any other questions, and I wish you the best.

Luther"

What impresses me so far about resistance stretching is that it doesn't hurt or tighten my muslces like traditional stretching. Despite all the force that is generated during the stretch it seems to be "good" force that in my case seems powerful enough to undue all the damage in my muscles and hopefully move things back to the place where the muscles start working the way they are supposed to work.

On Luther's site you can also order for under $10 variations on the stretches. It is a good way to check out the stretches and find ones that work for you. I ordered them and they are then all them posted online for you with pictures and descriptions. The stretch I really like can be seen on one of Luther's free preview pages. Look for Gall Bladder stretch.


I have kept way from running for the past week except for Monday night and Wednesday night. Monday I did the last trail 5k race. I am still about 1 1/2 minutes behind last years time at these races. With my heel still somewhat sore (still don't know if it plantar fasciitis or something else) I have been just mountain biking. The break from running feels good and my body feels good without the stresses of inefficient running.

Monday nights trail race was a race where you start depending on your best time in previous races. The fastest guys didn't show up which meant I started last and by myself. I wore my Nike Free v5 shoes that I have been walking around in all summer. They are so comfortable I didn't want to use them running. So this was my first run in them. They felt OK. I don't know how good they are for racing but my hips felt a bit better than they had been. I think I just missed breaking 20 minutes but it was hard to run by myself until I caught and passed people.

Wednesday I did the track workout. I did 8 X 800m all between 2:55 and 3:00 (except the first which was about 3:03). I used the Nike Free v3 without insoles (they are a bit small). Again I liked the feel. I have used Frees a couple of years ago for some training (up to 16 milers) but never for intervals. After 3 intervals I switched to the Asics Hyperspeeds because the frees were a bit small. They felt clunkier but I went faster. However I am wondering if the bottom of this shoe is too rigid. I had been wearing these for the few weeks before my heel started hurting.

My heel area was OK during the intervals but at the end of the workout (just like the race on Monday) it tightened up.

I will keep from running for a bit to see how things react or hopefully heal.

Resistance Stretching: This is what Dara Torres does!

Last Monday I took out a couple of stretching books that I bought a couple of years ago to flip through again to see if I could learn something new or helpful to help with my misaligned hips and legs. I first checked out "Stretch to Win" by Ann and Chris Frederick. It is a book that presents stretching in a well-thought out way with some interesting moves but I remembered doing these before with the the results that I needed to fix my biomechanics. I would recommend it however to someone with good biomechanics that needs to work on their whole body flexibility.


I then took out "The Genius of Flexibility" by Bob Cooley. I am not sure I had delved much into this book before because after buying it I noticed it didn't really tell you which muscles were being stretched, however it did list all sorts of psychological and emotional benefits you would get from each stretch and it seemed a bit far-fetched to precisely claim all these benefits from doing stretching exercises. Reading the stretching parts carefully I noticed that there is a difference in how you perform the stretched compared to what you would think when looking at the pictures (where they may look like traditional stretching).



I read that this is something new called "resistance stretching". To stretch a muscle this way you contract the muscle you are stretching as you stretch it out. "To stretch muscles, you start in a position where the muscles are as short as possible and then CONTRACT the muscles while elongating the muscle as far as possible until the muscles can no longer contract." I decided to try two stretches on Tuesday night. I did the hamstring stretch and the quadriceps stretch. I have found an example of both stretches here:



While doing the quadriceps stretch I heard a little pop from around my left hip capsule and a lot of the tightness in there disappeared. I felt real good after both stretches and did them again Wednesday before the track workout. I had a real good workout and my stride felt better than it had in a long time. I did 4 X mile in 6:09, 6:07, 5:59, 6:02. I was pretty happy with those results and the feeling of a somewhat better stride. I then headed down to Falmouth for the Road Race on Sunday. I went out for runs on Thursday and Friday but felt extremely tight. I was still doing the stretches and a few others. I notice that I feel better without the tightness in my hips when sitting, walking, or sleeping, but my running stride was still very tight and awkward. I didn't stretch much Saturday (or run) and started loosening up more by nighttime. I felt somewhat loose before the race on Sunday but my hips and muscles are very much limiting me as I run.

I ordered the DVD on this stretching system from Bob Cooley's website as well as one from this website that uses the same method and now are the people working with Dara Torres. Yes that is right. You have probably heard about Dara Torres extreme and expensive fitness routine that helped her get to her fifth Olympics in swimming. You may have heard about the $100,000 of yearly expenses that she has that includes hiring two personal "stretchers". Well "resistance stretching" is the type of stretching that she does. It can be done as a self-stretching routine, but I guess it is most powerful when someone else stretches you. After all it is claimed by the resistance stretchers that is takes twice as much force to stretch a muscle as it does to strengthen it. By turning around resistance stretches, you can do strength exercises.

I like how my muscles around my joints feel after I do the stretches. They feel warm or hot like a fire is burning in them. I don't feel like I am ripping something apart like I sometimes feel when doing static stretches. I also think that with my ingrained patterns of muscle movement while running and moving that I need something very powerful to get me back into proper form and movement. This type of stretching seems to offer that. I will give it a shot. It is new and different (and thanks to Dara Torres) something that will be looked at a lot by athletes and others. I didn't find much web information or impressions of other people who use the program yet, but I did find some interesting links.

First, here is a New York Times article on Dara Torres that is very interesting. If you go to that article you can find a video of Dara doing some resistance stretching or you can find it here. Here she demonstrates some self-stretching exercises.

Here is a video on Dara Torres from the E-60 television show. Near the end you can see some of expensive training routines including a bit of stretching with her stretchers.



This video show Dara in 2000 when she first started using Resistance Stretching. It shows Bob Cooley and others stretching Dara. This is a very different form of stretching than most people are used to seeing.



If you really want to see an interesting video of Bob Cooley and others stretching an athlete in Holland check out this video.



Here is a recently published article on resistance stretching from Time magazine.

Here is a commentary on the article that includes a post from Dara Torres' trainers.

Here is a 2006 Running Times article on resistance stretching.