Thai Yoga Stretching for Flexibility

Every autumn, especially during November and December, when I have no races scheduled, and things slow down at the gym, I like to take advantage of the downtime to do some professional upgrading.  I like to take courses that will make me a more complete personal trainer, better able to offer valuable and much needed services to my clients.  

Over the past few years I’ve noticed that many of my clients are lacking in flexibility - in both segments of the population I train - those training for specific run events and those working through difficulties presented with osteoarthritis. 

People often overlook the importance of flexibility training, thinking that strength and cardio are more important in achieving their fitness goals.  But these three components of fitness are not mutually exclusive, in fact, they are quite complimentary. 

For example, a runner who wishes to gain speed needs to not only build strong leg and core muscles, but they must maintain and even enhance flexibility to reach their true speed potential.  For instance, if their hip and gluteal muscles are tight, they will not be able to reach their full stride potential, thus limiting how far they can move forward in each step.  If their competitor has more flexibility and thus a wider stride, they will cover more ground in one step then their opponent, thus beating them to the finish line. 

The injury prone runner should also consider that they are less likely to strain their hard working muscles if they are loose and pliable from proper flexibility training. Translating to less time on the bench and more time training towards your goals. 

For those suffering with osteoarthritis, flexibility training is important to help maintain range of motion (ROM) in joints that are often underused due to pain and inflammation.  Stretching those joints, especially the hip and shoulder, will help prevent loss of mobility, helping to maintain a full quality of life and confidence in everyday activities that involve lots of reaching, bending and twisting.  Things that many of us take for granted until we lose them.  

Over the last seven years, I’ve been using static and dynamic stretching techniques to help my clients to improve their flexibility.  But I wanted to do more for my clients, so I spent this past weekend attending a workshop learning technique on Thai Yoga Stretching for Flexibility.  

Daniela Goode, Co-director of Navina Thai Yoga Therapy, lead the workshop at the Can-Fit-Pro Academy.  I was fortunate to have a small class size of only 6 students, with a 3-1 student-teacher ratio, so I had lots of time with the instructors (Daniela & Debra) and hands on experience developing my stretching technique on the other five students (who were also personal trainers) in the workshop. 

This workshop focussed on stretching techniques to gain flexibility in the hip and shoulder joints, as well as several key muscle groups including: quads, hamstrings, adductors, gluteals, hip flexors, deltoids, pecs, traps and the erector spinae of the back.  

These techniques utilized body weight mechanics, accupressure and breathing techniques to facilitate deeper stretching than other standard methods (e.g. static/dynamic methods).    

Thanks to Daniela & Debra, I feel confident in using these Thai Yoga stretching techniques on my clients in the hopes of making them more confident in their motions, as well as, helping to prevent injury, promote recovery, increase mobility and release built up tension in their bodies and minds. 

Curious about these flexibility techniques? Ask me about them at our next appointment and I’d be more than happy to show you!