It happened again! You’ve done your best deadlift of all time and suddenly you hear a crunch. You’ve thrown off the alignment of your spine and now your disk is directly lying on top of a nerve, causing an extreme amount of pain. Back to the physical therapist you go! Even correct form, puts a load of stress on your body. Does rolling on foam rollers and balls take away all of the tension that’s locked inside of your body? No. Let’s talk more about correct mobility exercises and mobility training!
So what do you do? You pull out the foam rollers, you press, shake, and massage your tight muscles. Foam Rollers are an excellent method of recovery for your fascia, but what about injury prevention for your muscles? “Foam rolling does not increase the length of the tissues being rolled. In order to have the foam roller actually change the length of the tissue, you would have to be able to apply a force into the tissue at an angle closer to that of the fiber alignment . ” says Dean Somerset . The KIKA Method not only applies force at an angle closer to the fiber alignment, but it also increases the range of motion of the muscle, helping to prevent injury. It’s not just about helping injuries heal, but also about helping to prevent injury from happening
Many facilities know what static stretching is, but they don’t know or understand the power of passive stretching. Dancers have used passive stretching for years! Kika Stretch Studios- Home of The KIKA Method has been spreading the power of passive stretching to the public over the last 9 years. The KIKA Method stretch coach/personal trainer acts in place of gravity and continues to slowly “add the stretch” by following your body’s lead. This form of passive stretching is excellent for warm-up, cool-down, recovery, and injury prevention.
Breath
Breathing works in conjunction with your nervous system. The rate at which you are breathing will either rev up the nervous system, or calm it down. We help your nervous system function better, by following your natural pattern of breath. You can only go so far on your own. KIKA Method practitioners act as gravity and help passively stretch your muscles to a new level each session. Our sessions not only help you become more flexible, but they help soothe, mend and heal your body by allowing for the soft tissue to relax and increase joint mobility.
Why Decompress?
If you do not extend the muscles on a consistent basis and enhance your range of motion, your body forms into the shape of a box. It is a good idea to extend the muscles to help relieve the constant compression muscles face on a day to day basis. This compression can lead to joint pain, back pain, and knee problems. Muscles shorten, like the hamstrings or quads, and blood does not properly flow throughout the body. This can decrease things like hip mobility, full range of motion in the body, The definition of tone is a constant contraction in the muscle. It is great to have tone, but if your muscles never get a chance to relax, you lose range of motion and the ability to move discomfort free. The best way to give comfort to contracted muscles is to passively stretch them after physical activity. If you don’t stretch, you’ll shrink.
Some of the most commonly done exercises in the gym are the lunge, the squat with feet hip width apart, the weighted squat which bends at a 90-degree angle and the shoulder blades forward, and upper body work done in a squat position or standing. This very common work often puts a ton of strain on the glutes, the hip flexors, the spine, the hamstrings, the quads, and the shoulders. It is important to incorporate hip flexor stretches, spine decompression, hamstring stretches, and quad and shoulder release into your life through Kika Stretch.
Continue foam rolling, because it has a wonderful effect on the connective tissue in the body, but you must also incorporate a full body program that will help decompress the entire body. When you stretch on your own, you only go so far. You aren’t able to effectively increase your range of motion to a new level, because you keep stretching to the same point over and over again. Facilities use a program like the KIKA Method to help their clients elongate their muscles and reach superior results. If you don’t stretch, you’ll shrink. Is your current stretch program helping you get to a new and heightened level each time?