The groin stretch is yet another one of those lame stretches we’ve been advised to do to get the inner leg muscles to lengthen.
Groin stretch no more
In spite of what we know about stretching, many people and especially athletes still try to the stretch the groin muscles which pull the leg inwards or keep the thighs rotated inwards.
Groin stretch, the other side of the coin
Our attempts are most often futile since pushing on a tight area actually causes the brain to send a message to re-contract and tighten the tissues.
This violation of the stretch reflex happens everyday and prevents the groin muscles from truly being reset back to comfortable levels with minimal tension.
The pains we feel are often reflected in higher than normal resting tension levels.
Some people will even lie down and attempt to do a groin stretch passively… afterwards the brain has to re-contract to get back to its preprogrammed set point.
While the set points serve us, they can also be held in shortened, tight positions. By pushing a shortened position, the brain sends messages to re-contract and pull back to the set point thus not effectively lengthening the muscles we are targeting.
Muscles respond to messages from the brain and even the spinal cord when we quickly and reflexively pull away. When we shift to using the brain’s cortex, our muscles can be reset through a brain-body process which re-regulates tension in the muscles.
Instead of the groin stretch, we can use those groin muscles to gain length. This counterintuitive approach makes sense when we feel our way back to comfort.
This 2 for 1 approach readies muscles to be used and simultaneously relaxes them. A relaxed groin area is far more ready to be used than the tight, screaming groins many people endure.
The not groin stretch class
So instead of a groin stretch, we can learn how to artfully move the inner leg muscles in a variety of ways which will allow us to feel better at any time.
Tight inner legs may cause us to feel a tight band feeling around our back and even assist turning “on” the burning sensations of sciatica.
However, muscles don’t move in isolation, we can play with coordination sequences which engage both the legs and upper body to bring us back to more relaxed feelings.
When we’ve been pulled out of alignment through high tension levels, we can reset our body to bring us back towards balance.
A groin stretch itself is not enough to regain lost function and improve how well we can move without discomfort. We need integrated patterns which restores us. Different easy movement combinations in the field of gravity will do the trick.
By making little changes, we affect how we move as a whole, healthy being.
Please join our not groin stretch online class and learn how the brain improves brawn.
