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Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Stretching…..hmm, when, why, How?

We would all like to be just that little bit more flexible than we are and most of us could be a lot more flexible. However how do we go about doing this, when is the best time to do it and what sort of stretching should you do?
According to Dr. David Musnick and Mark Pierce, A.T.C. (in their book "Conditioning for Outdoor Fitness"), "The goal of stretching is to lengthen a muscle and move the corresponding joints through the full range of motion, thereby allowing both the contractile (muscle and tendon) and the noncontractile (ligament and joint capsule) structures to lengthen."
Recent years have shown a lot of conjecture over the positives and negatives of the stretching process. This is warranted since evidence seems to suggest that the effect of stretching exercise on muscle performance depends on the type of stretching done (ie static vs dynamic) and the whether the activity is concentric or eccentric (ACSM). It appears that static stretching done prior to activity may decrease velocity, power, and force of muscle contraction, and dynamic stretching may lead to acute improvements. Stretching for injury prevention in the warm up seems to be more specific to exercise performances that require increased flexibility, such as gymnastics, rather than just rhythmic aerobic activity in which there seems to be no greater reduction in chance of injury than from just doing a progressively dynamic, activity specific warm up. Whether or not stretching is included in the warm up or not, it is widely accepted that a warm up should be done prior to stretching or competitive exercise, and also stretching following any conditioning activity is recommended.
Types of stretching
Static

Moving the body into a position which creates tension of a particular muscle group, and the surrounding ligament and tendonous support, then holding it there for 15-60 seconds.
Dynamic
Moving selected body segments through their full active range of motion repetitively, often mimicking movements of the activity that are to be subsequently performed.
Ballistic
Is dynamic stretching done with more rapid contractions and stretches of the muscle group, this is not done as often due to the possible increased risk of injury with these activities, however if done when conditioned and warm, there is no reason why these cannot be performed, and may be beneficial for exercise that involves rapid high intensity movement.
Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF)
This is done by actively contracting a muscle group against resistance for six seconds, followed by a 10-30 second static stretch of those same muscles.

A regular stretching program recommended for most adults should consist of at least 10 minutes of major muscle group stretching including neck, shoulders, upper/lower back, pelvis, hips and legs, performed four or more times for each group, a minimum of 2-3days per week.

Some Do’s and Don’ts to think about
DO
Warm up well before stretching
Start your stretching program off slowly
Focus on your breathing (breath in deeply through the nose and out slowly through the mouth)
Try and relax (find quiet spot, comfortable surface, etc)
Listen to your body and its limitations.

Do Nots
Hold your breath
Bounce
Force a stretch to point of pain (should be steady tension)
Stretch injured muscles
Rush your routine (set aside the stretching time into your allocated program time)
Compete against others (our bodies are different and require personal treatment.)

American College of Sports Medicine 8th eds. (2010) Baltimore, USA.
http://running.about.com/od/running101/a/stretching101.htm
http://sportsmedicine.about.com/cs/flexibility/a/aa022102a.htm
great link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaDXNjFjjnU

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