It is common for our patients to say that they’ve been stretching but it’s not working anymore. This can even be the reason why they may seek treatment. What is the problem? Why is your stretching not working?
What we know is that when we stretch the muscle fibres it is usually short lived. When we do gain more flexibility, it is actually due to the tolerance of the nervous system to let you stretch more. Your nervous system determines how much it will let you stretch based on a couple of things: your behaviours and how strong you are in a full range of motion. If your nervous system determines that your muscles are not strong enough to control a particular range of motion, then it will not allow you to functionally achieve that range.
We want to help you to train to become more mobile, not just flexible. Flexibility is how far your joints can move. Mobility is how far you can move your joints. Improving mobility, not just flexibility, can create more stable, stronger, and more functional joints. Pro Function’s Functional Range Conditioning® (FRC®) practitioners use this approach to assess your body’s true mobility.
The functional range approach looks specifically at individual joints to determine whether or not you have enough mobility to perform your sport-specific movements. The goal is to identify specific deficits that may be limiting performance and fix those deficits to increase strength, improve capacity, and reduce injury.
Functional Range Conditioning is great for people with injuries, athletes wanting to improve their performance, and for people looking for long term joint and physical health.
Dr. Joseph Greenwood is one of our FRC® certified practitioners and is located at both our Centrefield Sports location and our downtown location to help you meet your mobility goals. Book online at www.profunction.ca.
Submitted by Pro Function Sports Injury Clinic
