Well, being technical, you can’t actually be “double-jointed” because we all have the same amount of joints as each other. Stu was actually “hyper-mobile” also known as having ‘Loose joints’. This meant that he had a much greater range of motion through his joints, meaning his movement capability was far higher than most other people.
So why is this important? If you are hypermobile then you are at a far higher risk of injury if you do not move or train smart.
What is Hypermobility?
Everyone is born with varying degrees of joint laxity – this is the ease with which we can move. Ligaments are short bands of connective tissue that joins bones to other bones, as well as joining bones to our core skeleton. They are tough by design and notoriously slow to heal due to a reduced supply of blood. When someone is hypermobile then they tend to have more laxity due to a lack of collagen (or similar protein) in their ligaments. This deficiency leads to a person having more “give” in their joints.
Hypermobility can also be caused by shallow joints. Some of our joints are not designed to move (one example of this is the bones in our skull), but most of our other joints are synovial joints and move easily. The ball and socket is a specific type of synovial joint that allows a huge amount of movement. Examples of this include the shoulder and hip joints, where the end of the bone sits neatly into the joint socket. If someone has shallow joints then it is easy for the joint to become dislocated from the socket with sudden or excessive movement. Do you remember Riggs in Lethal Weapon – his party trick was to dislocate his shoulder in order to get out of handcuffs!
During pregnancy, women experience an increase in the hormone Relaxin which increases the amount of laxity they have around joints, especially the pelvis. This can often lead to pain or difficulty walking.
Hypermobility tends to run in families and it is estimated that around 5 to 10% of the healthy population have one or more hypermobile joints. In practical terms, I have always seemed to train 2 or more people with hypermobility at any one time, and so it really isn’t that unusual.
What are the problems with Hypermobility?
Hypermobility is not always a disadvantage, in fact, it’s far from it. In swimmers and gymnasts, for example, the increased range of movement can help them perform at a higher level. Swimmers benefit massively from their huge wingspan so if they can make it even longer due to an enhanced range of movement then they have the potential to be more efficient with every stroke. Likewise, we all know that gymnasts need to have fantastic flexibility and the ability to control their limbs through extreme angles.
However, loose joints also increase the chances of strains, dislocations and even stress fractures. A long term effect could be osteoarthritis which results from degradation of the joint cartilage.
Dr Alan Pocinki, who is an expert in this field, also states that “to compensate for stretchy blood vessels and increased venous pooling (too much blood collecting in over stretched veins) most people with hypermobility appear to make extra adrenaline which may account for the high energy, always on the go lifestyle of hyper mobile people”.
He also states that this is a reason why some hypermobile people experience anxiety – because their sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight) is overworked.
How to test for Hypermobility
There are numerous tests that you can perform, but the likelihood is that you already know if you have one or more hypoemobile joints. I can confidently tell you that I don’t and that’s why you will never see me close to achieving the splits or in an excellent overhead position 🙂 (but that’s not for lack of trying, I assure you!)
Here are 4 tests you can do to test for Hypermobility. These are part of the Beighton test,
- Straighten your ellbow – see if the elbow hyperextends more than 10 degrees.
- Straighten the knee – see if the knee hyperextends more than 10 degrees.
- Flex the thumb downwards to the forearm – does it touch your forearm?
- Place both palms flat on the floor without flexing the knees.
If any of these tests are positive then you likely have hypermobility. If you can do all of these then you are on a par with Reed Richards (look him up ;-D )
What you MUST and MUSTN’T do if you are hypermobile
YOU MUSTN’T – If you are hypermobile through a joint then you must NEVER stretch it. If you stretch an already hypermobile joint then you will degrade it over time, and cause even more instability, and potentially create pain in the joint. This is why it is important to know whether you have loose joints
You may feel tight if you are hypermobile, but this is not because your muscles are actually tight – how can they be if you have so much range of motion? Anyway, how much range of motion do you actually want – don’t be greedy! Tightness is usually a result of the body laying down trigger points in the muscle. This is believed to be because the body is trying to create stability in the muscle. If you have trigger points then choose to foam roll instead of stretch. This also helps to switch on the parasympathetic nervous system (rest and digest).
YOU MUST – Strength training is the only surefire way to built stability throughout a joint. This is a recurring theme, but strength training is usually the panacea to most things. If you want to build a strong, resilient and robust body then you must strength train. This advice applies to joint strengthening too.
There are no real no-nos in relation to strength training (although this will be individual-specific) but it is important to monitor your range of motion so that you are nowhere near your end range. For example, on a single arm dumbbell shoulder press, the arm should fall in line with the ear and not beyond. If in doubt then get someone to check your technique since you are unlikely to be able to feel it.
And that wraps it up. I hope you find this article informative. Train smart and you will become bulletproof.
Coach Craig.
Author - Craig Peterson - Personal Trainer & Mentor
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