Stretching can be of benefit for many reasons. This includes injury prevention, muscle relaxation, postural improvement, better blood flow amongst others. Activities like Yoga and Stretch Therapy have become very popular in recent times along with other forms of soft tissue release such as massage, lymphatic drainage and reiki because people have generally become “stiffer”. There are a number of reasons for this including people generally move less these days, more people working in a desk based environment as well as doing less physical activity. In this post we’re going to discuss the many benefits of stretching along with some simple tips to help you feel more mobile and flexible.
Athletes use stretching exercises to both prepare for and subsequently recover from bouts of exercise and the types of stretching and soft tissue release vary in timing. In general, athletes and exercisers perform dynamic or active type stretching before a game or workout to prepare the muscles and joints for action. Conversely they use static or developmental stretching post match or workout to aid recovery, particularly when returning worked muscles to their original length along with helping with lactic acid dissipation.
Stretching can also help improve your posture. When your joints and muscles remain in a fixed position for long periods of time they adaptively shorten to this new position. This can lead to stress on joints and stiff, tight muscles which can become painful. Stretching can help these muscles return to their normal position and relieve the joints of any unnecessary strain. Stretching the neck and chest muscles is a great way to reduce the incidence of forward head posture which is common in desk based workers.
Stretching can be generally defined as static or dynamic With static stretching being held at the point of stretch or mild discomfort to the person for around 30 seconds. However, on the other hand dynamic stretches require the person to move with control into positions of stretch or mobility but then releasing almost immediately before repeating the sequence multiple times.
This can be done for specific muscle groups such as the chest muscles or the hamstrings with the only difference being the period of time the stretch is held for.
The intensity of the stretching depends on the particular situation it will be greater with warmed up muscles than with cold or fatigued ones before starting a stretching exercise routine or a flexibility training program the muscles and tendons should be warmed up actively by running hopping or other exercises careful proportionate stretching exercises are among the most important regenerative or relaxation or measures to be carried out at the conclusion of physical exertion the purpose of this is to return the fatigued muscles to their normal length not to obtain any additional improvement in flexibility increased flexibility can be accompanied by those stretching exercises that form part of a general flexibility program not when the muscles are fatigued after intense exercise muscle stretching should be done only with great care even on the days following intense activity.