Good stretches for someone who sits in a chair 50hrs/wk?

[wmblake2000]

Anything is better than nothing. Daily, even if it is just a few minutes. Sustained stretching works.

Stretching is very rewarding in that once you get started it gives you fast results both in the depth of stretches and in feeling good. However, once you get to yoga type of deep stretches you do discover the limitations in the range of flexibility caused by joints and tendons and working on those takes time. But at the same time, you feel really good and see improvement - some faster, some slower depending on the body type. There's a difference in releasing tension of the muscles and in working on the mobility of the muscles/tendons/joints.

 

It also helps golf beyond the obvious benefits of being flexible. Many poses are really humbling to those of us who are not that flexible and are mostly made of arms and legs. Once you accept that you won't get any deeper and stop fighting it suddenly you start to get deeper. But getting deep is not the point but to feel the pose work the right bits of the body. This does translate directly to golf as well, at least to those of us who are not so good at this game. Once you just accept that you hit bad shots and stop beating yourself about it suddenly you start hitting better shots because you no longer attach to the negativity. Just observe that you hit a bad shot, accept it but do not attach to it and move to the next shot. This is one of the things that is often said that one should do but it's not exactly an easy thing to do.

 

Re:RitchieHunt and shoulder blades. That area indeed is prone to being inflamed by diet. It's very annoying as it is not quite a deterministic process and isolating the causes is difficult. For me it is that if I eat something with gluten for dinner I will pay dearly for it the next day. But caffeine (noooooooo!!!! don't take away my coffee!) and sugar are common culprits as well.

 

My point was, for me and I am sure for a lot of people, the real hurdle is simply adopting a new habit and sticking with it. Clearly there are better and more effective mobility exercises and yoga poses - but my point for someone getting started is... get started. I have found that giving myself permission to just to a little is better than skipping a day because I can't or don't want to do a longer workout.

 

I am about 15 months into this kind of thing - at first I did a much more involved mobility program, but also did it less often, and frankly got worn down/injured (plus strength work. Now gradually I am building more and better stuff into my regimen - but the mindset of a little is better than nothing remains a key thing for me. It's like saving par (or bogey) and keeping the round going.

[Singapore Joe]

Anything is better than nothing. Daily, even if it is just a few minutes. Sustained stretching works.

Stretching is very rewarding in that once you get started it gives you fast results both in the depth of stretches and in feeling good. However, once you get to yoga type of deep stretches you do discover the limitations in the range of flexibility caused by joints and tendons and working on those takes time. But at the same time, you feel really good and see improvement - some faster, some slower depending on the body type. There's a difference in releasing tension of the muscles and in working on the mobility of the muscles/tendons/joints.

 

It also helps golf beyond the obvious benefits of being flexible. Many poses are really humbling to those of us who are not that flexible and are mostly made of arms and legs. Once you accept that you won't get any deeper and stop fighting it suddenly you start to get deeper. But getting deep is not the point but to feel the pose work the right bits of the body. This does translate directly to golf as well, at least to those of us who are not so good at this game. Once you just accept that you hit bad shots and stop beating yourself about it suddenly you start hitting better shots because you no longer attach to the negativity. Just observe that you hit a bad shot, accept it but do not attach to it and move to the next shot. This is one of the things that is often said that one should do but it's not exactly an easy thing to do.

 

Re:RitchieHunt and shoulder blades. That area indeed is prone to being inflamed by diet. It's very annoying as it is not quite a deterministic process and isolating the causes is difficult. For me it is that if I eat something with gluten for dinner I will pay dearly for it the next day. But caffeine (noooooooo!!!! don't take away my coffee!) and sugar are common culprits as well.

 

My point was, for me and I am sure for a lot of people, the real hurdle is simply adopting a new habit and sticking with it. Clearly there are better and more effective mobility exercises and yoga poses - but my point for someone getting started is... get started. I have found that giving myself permission to just to a little is better than skipping a day because I can't or don't want to do a longer workout.

 

I am about 15 months into this kind of thing - at first I did a much more involved mobility program, but also did it less often, and frankly got worn down/injured (plus strength work. Now gradually I am building more and better stuff into my regimen - but the mindset of a little is better than nothing remains a key thing for me. It's like saving par (or bogey) and keeping the round going.

Sorry, got off on one of my tangents. The first sentence I wrote is the essence of what I really meant to say: even small amount of stretching makes you feel good about it almost instantly. The rest is more esoteric.

[wmblake2000]

Anything is better than nothing. Daily, even if it is just a few minutes. Sustained stretching works.

Stretching is very rewarding in that once you get started it gives you fast results both in the depth of stretches and in feeling good. However, once you get to yoga type of deep stretches you do discover the limitations in the range of flexibility caused by joints and tendons and working on those takes time. But at the same time, you feel really good and see improvement - some faster, some slower depending on the body type. There's a difference in releasing tension of the muscles and in working on the mobility of the muscles/tendons/joints.

 

It also helps golf beyond the obvious benefits of being flexible. Many poses are really humbling to those of us who are not that flexible and are mostly made of arms and legs. Once you accept that you won't get any deeper and stop fighting it suddenly you start to get deeper. But getting deep is not the point but to feel the pose work the right bits of the body. This does translate directly to golf as well, at least to those of us who are not so good at this game. Once you just accept that you hit bad shots and stop beating yourself about it suddenly you start hitting better shots because you no longer attach to the negativity. Just observe that you hit a bad shot, accept it but do not attach to it and move to the next shot. This is one of the things that is often said that one should do but it's not exactly an easy thing to do.

 

Re:RitchieHunt and shoulder blades. That area indeed is prone to being inflamed by diet. It's very annoying as it is not quite a deterministic process and isolating the causes is difficult. For me it is that if I eat something with gluten for dinner I will pay dearly for it the next day. But caffeine (noooooooo!!!! don't take away my coffee!) and sugar are common culprits as well.

 

My point was, for me and I am sure for a lot of people, the real hurdle is simply adopting a new habit and sticking with it. Clearly there are better and more effective mobility exercises and yoga poses - but my point for someone getting started is... get started. I have found that giving myself permission to just to a little is better than skipping a day because I can't or don't want to do a longer workout.

 

I am about 15 months into this kind of thing - at first I did a much more involved mobility program, but also did it less often, and frankly got worn down/injured (plus strength work. Now gradually I am building more and better stuff into my regimen - but the mindset of a little is better than nothing remains a key thing for me. It's like saving par (or bogey) and keeping the round going.

Sorry, got off on one of my tangents. The first sentence I wrote is the essence of what I really meant to say: even small amount of stretching makes you feel good about it almost instantly. The rest is more esoteric.

 

Yeah, after I posted that I thought I misread your intent.

[CaddiesFault]

the PGA teaches this one in their level 1 apprentice program for those that sit for long periods:

 

Because of that posture, your shoulders are in a forward position and thus your pectoral muscles and parts of the front shoulder are contracted, resulting in losing flexibility over time.

 

Stand in a narrow doorway with the door wide open. put your arms on each side of the doorframe right around shoulder height, and lean forward until you can feel your pecs and shoulders being stretched. do a 5 or 10 count, whichever is more comforable, and do 3 sets a couple times a day, or as many as your body can handle! try moving your hands up or down on the doorframe for lightly different stretching feels as well.

 

 

As for the lower back, my favorite drill i learned in football in junior high, and still do it to this day. I see it on the golf channel, the driving range, 1st tee and many other odd places:

 

Lay flat on your back, and pull one knee over the other so your hips rotate. try to keep both shoulder blades as close to the ground as possible to create maximum seperation of the hips and shoulders. you should feel it stretching the lower back and hips. maybe even the glutes. Gotta activate those...Do this in both directions.

 

 

Finish it by stretching your hammys. if they are tight, your lower back will be too. While standing put 1 leg up on something and lean forward. should feel a good stretch in the hammy of the leg up on the object. i prefer a table about double the height of the picture below. some of you will be more or less flexible than me so choose the object appropriately.