The "move the foot pegs out a notch too far" approach works for me too. I believe that the true culprit is short achilles tendons and hamstrings - even when I was a runner, I couldn't consider hurdles because I could never get the legs stretched out enough. Years of desk driving makes it worse. When I'm being conscientious, I try to stretch a few times a week - it makes a huge difference. There are some nifty toys that you can get from a physical therapist just for that particular stretch; but here is a free one that works for me. Go to your room. Close the door (added benefit - no one can see what you're up to). Sit on the floor about a leg length from the door. Bend one leg up to your chest (loosely) leave the other leg out straight. Scoot forward til your foot is flat against the door. keep you leg straight (knee should not bend up from the floor) now lean gently forward. Switch legs and repeat Do it half a dozen times. The reason you do one leg at a time is that together, your short, tight, leg tendons are probably stronger than your lower back - if you tried to do both at the same time you would likely just pull your lower back. (A side benefit of the exercise is that it reduces liklihood of lower back injuries) The down side - you've got to be consistent. I do the stretch for a few months and then get caught up in whatever it is that makes life crazy and miss for a while and pretty soon it is like starting all over again. Good luck. Gar *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Wed Oct 27 1999 - 18:21:17 PDT
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