Olympic Flexibility

As I mentioned in last weeks blog, my upcoming trip to the London Olympics is made possible by a small town girl with a big dream.  US Modern Pentathlon is a multi sport event like now other, combining fencing, swimming, horse-back riding, running and shooting... All in one event! 


In many ways, Suzanne Stettinius has been training for the 2012 Olympic games all her life.The daughter of a Navy Seal, this girl knows how to shoot a gun and has been riding horses since she was a little girl. In high school and college she was on the swim team and cross country run team. The fencing was the one new sport she had to learn "later in life" (she's now 24, so its all relative!) 

Suzanne lives on a farm "in the boonies" of beautiful north Baltimore County. Ironically, she is about 5 minutes from my house (and NOTHING is near my house). When you live in the hills of North Baltimore, you're used to driving... A LOT. Suzanne drives great distances to train, particularly for fencing in DC and swimming at McDonough (since she can run, ride horses and shoot all at her parent's farm).

The fact that we live minutes apart was random good luck. She could stop by for stretch sessions after a run or before swimming or fencing. I always joked that she either smelled like horses or chlorine (and often it was a mix of both :)

On a side note, after I working with Suzanne for a few weeks I was hanging out with my sister, niece and nephew. They started talking about this local Olympic hopeful that my niece and nephew went to high school with. I said "you mean Suzanne Stettinius?" Turns out, my nephew was best friends with Suzanne's brother Ed (pictured above shooting with Suzanne at their farm) since they were little kids, Suzanne graduated high school with my niece and I had briefly met Suzanne when she was probably 5 years old. So our paths had crossed in a previous lifetime.  

The flexibility technique I use with Suzanne is called Ki-Hara. It's the same technique five time Olympic swimmer Dara Torres touts as her "secret weapon" that allows her to compete at an Olympic level with athletes half her age.

The Ki-Hara technique was refined by Steven Sierra and Anne Tierney of Innovative Body Solutions and incorporates Resistance Stretching and Mashing to create dynamic flexibility with strength. I also trained under Susan Bianchi at Intrinsic Health Systems, who has been stretching Jets football players for years.

More and more, athletes from all different sports are understanding the importance of flexibility and how it relates to power, performance, recovery and injury prevention. I've stretched several Raven's players over the years as well (and no I won't name names) but I can say that even though she's small and lean, stretching Suzanne's long legs and powerful swimmers arms is just as much of a workout for me (but I'd take that any day over bicep curls!) I often get asked what I do to get my arms, and I say "I stretch athletes!"

A typical session with Suzanne includes mashing (pictured below) which literally means I am walking all over her to get her muscles warmed, loosened up and prepared to stretch. Yep, I use a walker to help me stabilize so I can really dig my heels in (trust me, she's not complaining). The benefits are similar to a deep tissue massage, which is essential for an athlete who trains as hard as Suzanne. But often many athletes either don't have the money or the time to invest in weekly massage or sports specific stretching. A one-on-one Ki-Hara session combines both the benefits of massage along with flexibility.

After we mash for a good 20 minutes (which gives us time to chit-chat), we'd move onto the Resistance Stretching for 30 - 45 minutes, depending on what training she just completed and what training was up next (often she was fresh from a run and had a swim or fence training next) so we'd focus on stretching out the legs first, which also helps flush the muscles, lessen soreness and speed recovery to she bounced back faster and was more ready for her next run. Then we'd move onto her favorite upper body stretches to increase range of motion and power up her arms for swim practice. Fencing is more of a one-sided sport, so the Ki-Hara technique works at bringing her body back into balance and staying centering from a strong core throughout all the stretches, which applies of course to the horse back riding and shooting as well.

During the stretch session, there is very little chit-chat because Suzanne has to stay focused on resisting and staying engaged from her core. The stretches move her arms and legs through full range of motion in specific, rotational and diagonal patterns, engaging the core continually to achieve full body flexibility with strength. Trust me, stretching Suzanne is a workout for me too. 

Here is a short clip (because my batteries died half way through the filming!) to give you an idea of what the Ki-Hara Mash and Stretch session is like (guess we'll film Part 2 when Suzanne is back from London): 

After the stretch session, we finish up with another 20 or so minutes of mashing, along with some restorative yoga poses. Once in a while she'll stay for a quick snack (got her hooked on occasional green smoothies and chia seeds) ...then off she goes to her next training session! 

I offer private sessions at Performfit Sports Conditioning facility in Towson. If you want to stretch like an Olympian, let me know! More info at www.flexiblewarrior.com

Did you know that the U.S. Government is one of a few countries that does not fund Olympic Athletes? The athletes rely on contributions from private donors to to help fund their expenses. Here is a great article about How Athletes Fund Their Olympic Experience http://www.sheknows.com/health-and-wellness/articles/804894/how-athletes-fund-their-olympic-experience

To donate to Suzanne's Olympic Fund, visit http://www.suzanne.mintmeadows.com/home - For a $25 donation, I will mail you and Flexible Warrior DVD (just email a copy of your receipt to karen@flexiblewarrior.com and let me know which DVD volume you want). To choose a DVD visit http://www.flexiblewarrior.com/

Thanks for supporting Suzanne and her her Journey to London Summer Olympics!