Your trainer is not always right

The Washington Post—April 9, 2012

Fitness, April edition

When your personal trainer says jump, you say how high, right? Well, according to experts interviewed by Fitness magazine’s Peg Rosen, the advice you hear at the gym may not always be correct.

Maybe you’ve heard that the more flexible you are, the better. This is not just false; it’s a dangerous theory, says Jo A. Hannafin, orthopedic director of the Women’s Sports Medicine Center at Hospital for Special Surgery in New York. Hannafin says “there is no health benefit in having a hyperflexible body or being able to twist yourself into a pretzel just for the sake of doing so. In fact, pushing your body into extreme stretches can cause injury.”

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