Cross Training: Stretching

"This is pure neglect."

That's what my chiropractor said the first time he looked at my X-rays. Not "some wear and tear." Not "let's keep an eye on it." Neglect. And he was right. The pain in my neck wasn't from one bad roll; it was years of damage I'd been ignoring one session at a time, both on and off the mats. Neck pain, shoulder pain, tingling down my arm. I brushed all of it off and trained harder. Bigger partners, longer sessions. I called that toughness. It was idiocy.

One Helpful Add

Of everything I've added to my routine, stretching has the best return for the least effort. No gym, no trainer, no equipment. And more is not better. A study out of the University of Southern Arkansas found that 30 seconds gets you the full benefit, and holding for a full minute added nothing. A paper out of Italy put the weekly dose at about five minutes per muscle group. That's the whole prescription. If you've been telling yourself you don't have time, you're out of excuses.

What To Stretch

This is where most routines fall apart. People stretch whatever they remember from high school gym class and wonder why their neck still hurts. For jiu-jitsu, I hit these five routinely: hip flexors (mine had decayed into a rusty old guitar string, and guard retention lives here), hamstrings, mid back, shoulders, and neck. Thirty seconds each, five muscle groups, done in under five minutes.

Final Thoughts

I didn't start stretching because I read a study. I started because a chiropractor looked at my X-rays and told me I'd been neglecting my own body, while calling it dedication. You don't have to earn that lesson the way I did.

Tomorrow morning, before coffee, before your phone. Five muscle groups, 30 seconds each. Do this for 2 weeks and then try to tell me your body doesn't feel different.

____

Dr. Megan Lisset Jimenez 

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