Conditioning Research

Someone asked me via Twitter yesterday if I could help to find anything on the ITB and in particular anything that would indicate against stretching it.  Not sure when I became the internet guru, but I was intrigued and did a quick search.  I should really have referred her to Colin Anyway, what I found was this article: Iliotibial Band Syndrome (ITBS) Myths One of the myths it points to is this: It’s the result of a tight ITB, so stretching to elongate the ITB is called for. WRONG : the ITB is a very thickened band of fascial tissues that is impliable. Unlike tendon and muscle tissue, the ITB cannot be permanently lengthened by stretching. Stretching can temporarily increase the length of the ITB by 5%, but this apparent change is probably due to a stretching of the two muscles that actually control tension on the ITB, the tensor fasicia latae and the gluteus medius. Tension on the ITB during running results partly from the contraction of these muscles, but when they ...

I liked watching this .  Never mind the specifics of what he is saying, the whole video reminded me of things I been learning, particularly in chatting to Colin .  Everything is connected to everything else.   You can't look at one muscle in isolation from the rest of the body.  Of course this ties in to the Anatomy Trains / Fascia approach that I have pointed to before