Can You Be Too Flexible?

Dysfunctional? Yes. Hypermobile? Yes.  But as someone who got a zero on the "Presidential Fitness" test, am I impressed?  You betcha.

Asyou can probably tell, many of my blog posts arise out of various conversationsI have with clients, coworkers, and the various people I see everyday.  Today is no exception, as one of my clientsand I spoke about how it’s easy to spot someone that’s “stiff” and immobile,but is there ever a problem with being too flexible?

Theanswer?  Yes!  Being too flexible is actually a problem, andwhile it may not be as easy to spot, it can lead you down a similar path ofpain and dysfunction.

Forexample, if someone can palm the floor with their hands while standing, I wouldsay that’s actually dysfunctional.  Why?  Because we’re only supposed to touch ourtoes, and anything more than that means you’re getting that extra motion at theexpense of something else. 

Let’sbreak this down into smaller pieces so that it’s easier to digest.  On one end of the spectrum, you haveindividuals that are so tight and locked up, that bending down to touch theirtoes is probably a workout in itself. For these tight individuals, stretching is probably needed in somecapacity.  On the other end, you have thepeople that would rather be stretching than doing any other physical activity(and yes, I’m betting you know some people that are like that).

I'd like to say Ben Affleck redeemed himself for making "Argo"...but, well, I'm not quite there yet.

Goingback to the joint-by-joint theory (which is based on the theory of mobilelevers built on stable segments), you can easily see that if someone can palmthe floor, they may be displaying great hip mobility….but that may be coming atthe expense of what’s supposed to be a “stable” lumbar spine.

Youonly need so much mobility.  After that, it’slike having a signed poster of “Gigli”…you’ll experience diminishing returns.

Thesame is true with the shoulder.  I’veseen many people that show great shoulder mobility on a given test, but theywrithe in pain if you put them in a position where their rotator cuff has toactually go to work.  Clearly, they havetoo much mobility and need to work on controlling it so they can stay pain-free.

Doyou like to stretch?  Then you probablydon’t ever need to.  Don’t like tostretch?  Well, then you probablyshould.  And, in both cases, you shouldbuild some additional stability through picking up heavy things, and thenputting them down.