Kathy Shadrick, proprietor of The Muscle Specialist, a full service clinic for athletes dedicated to injury prevention and recovery, spoke to members of Circle City Multisports during their meeting at the HealthPlex Monday evening, May 1st.
Kathy has been practicing her trade since 1994 at her clinic, located in Carmel IN. During her presentation, Kathy explained to the members that muscle fiber consists of several components. One of these components is fascia, small muscle fibers that develop as a result of repeated activity or static positions. From time to time this fiber needs to be manipulated to increase muscle performance and prevent chronic use injuries.
Kathy used a rubber band to illustrate that muscle fiber had the ability to stretch and retain its original form. Fascia fiber however is less elastic and once over-stretched has to be manipulated to regain its form and functionality.
Another interesting point was that often, athletes don’t understand the difference between a symptom and a cause in muscle discomfort. Kathy pointed out that when an athlete has pain in their calf muscle, this is merely the symptom of another issue which could possibly be tight hamstrings that pull on surrounding tissues and muscles causing a problem in the calf. A trained therapist will recognize these symptoms and trace them back to the real cause in order to treat the problem. “Athletes are great at compensation” stated Kathy, “their bodies will adopt to stress in one area by shifting the work load to another group of muscles”. While this allows the athlete to perform, it can create problems down the road.
Kathy demonstrated the newest technique in stretching which involves holding the stretch for no more than two seconds. “Back in the old days, we were told to hold a stretch for 30 seconds or more” explained Kathy, “ the latest research indicates that when you do that, opposite muscles start to resist that stretch and cause tension, which defeats the whole purpose of the stretch”. “ We now know that putting tension on the muscle for just two seconds avoids that instinctive reaction and allows the muscle to maximize the stretch which lengthens the muscle for improved function.
The evening ended with everyone on the floor trying several new stretches and agreeing that they felt immediate benefit from this approach.
Kathy is available for consultation and will design a program for any athlete who is having issues or even better, for athletes who want to avoid injury altogether!
I think that everyone at the meeting came away with some new ways to improve their training and performance. Circle City Multisports thanks Kathy Shadrick for her time.
