Groin pulls appear
suddenly and are ruthless in their crippling affect on an athlete. In
sport after sport they are the most prevalent muscle strain injury.
What Are They? A “Groin pull” itself is
simply the over-extension of certain muscles, tendons or ligaments that
are attached to the hip. They are stretched beyond their normal capacity
causing them to tear, usually because some force is pushing or pulling
the leg away or off angle from the hip.
What Can Be Done About Them? To ready the hip-leg
muscles for that kind of pushing and pulling, they need to be stretched,
that is relaxed. Warm up stretching is something all athletes know about,
but such stretching often violates the Three Principles
of Successful Stretching, leading to less than fully relaxed
muscles.
- Stay Focused.
- Stay Together
- Stay Real
I. Stay Focused. Like most physical exercise,
stretching works best if you stay focused while doing it. But, most
athletes have other things on their mind when they stretch: what's going
to happen in the game today, whether they can finally reach their toes,
can they hold a painful stretch longer than the person next to them,
how long must they do this, etc. With the mind so busy, it
is hard for the body to relax. Just like a ball handling drill, you
will drop the ball if your mind is somewhere else.
II. Stay Together. Game
Fall stretching is more than just elongating muscles,
it is the first chance of the day for your body, breath and mind to
get together on one athletic activity. It is only when these three work
together that athletes are able to get into the "zone," to
play without distraction or confusion at the peak of power and control.
Game Fall stretching
readies you for this.
III. Stay Real. Your muscles are
stretched and move on the field in a continuous connected fashion. In
real world competition, the body is not held in one position while a
muscle is stretched and there is no "bouncing" in and out
of a stretch. So, to mimic reality, your stretching must also keep moving.
Game Fall stretching never
pauses - you move into a stretch when you inhale, you stretch while
you exhale, and you never hold your breath. You roll the part
that was stretched, say the leg, perpendicular to its last stretch,
thereby keeping the stretch continuous and seamlessly moving from one
stretch into the other.
By following these three stretching principles, your muscles are able
to relax and elongate to their maximum.
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