THE IMPORTANCE OF STRETCHING - Printer Friendly

THE IMPORTANCE OF STRETCHING

Stretch your athletic potential by using flexibility training to create long, strong muscles.

Written by Frank Claps, MEd, CSCS

Fitness competitor Libby Streeter was looking for a way to counter her history of pulled muscles: "Many, many muscles - too many to count," she says.

Her colleague Brandy Maddron felt she needed to take advantage of every opportunity to give her fitness routine a boost, since she lacks a gymnastics or dance background. College coach Andrea Hudy, MA, CSCS, believes an athlete can perform better by increasing her range of motion.

The common thread for each of these women is flexibility, or the ability of a joint to move in its full range of motion. Although each uses a different method, all three advocate stretching to achieve the ends they desire.

The trio's support of stretching is welcome news to Michael Alter, a former gymnast, coach and physical-education teacher who has parlayed an interest in the subject into two influential books, Science of Flexibility (Human Kinetics, 1996) and Sport Stretch (Human Kinetics, 1998). He believes stretching has multiple benefits for the fitness-minded, and not just physical ones.

"First, it's spiritual, in terms of the union of the body, mind and spirit," Alter explains. "There can be a relaxation of stress and tension that can be both physical - in the muscle - and psychological."

Libby, a self-described Type A personality who won her IFBB pro card at the '99 NPC Nationals, agrees. "The more I stretch, the more I find inner peace," she says. "But you have to work at it; you have to relax and let your muscles relax. It starts from your head and goes through your body."

Alter also believes stretching on a regular basis can help develop discipline, since you have to plan it into each day. It helps to improve fitness, posture and symmetry as well, which tend to deteriorate with age, often resulting in a hunched-over "dowager" appearance.

"Suppose somebody's got rounded shoulders," he posits. "Usually either the pecs are too tight or the back muscles are too lax. Or both. So you'd want to stretch the pecs and strengthen the traps and rhomboids."

Whether increasing your flexibility reduces the chance of injury is debatable, Alter notes. But in theory, stretching elongates tight muscle fibers, which can help reduce the chance of injury, relieve muscle cramps - possibly even those associated with painful menstruation - and alleviate the typical postworkout muscle soreness.

Although a possible reduction in injury risk and improved posture are ample testimony to the benefits of stretching, one additional advantage might concern most fitness enthusiasts and other athletes even more: A greater range of motion can improve performance in the gym, on the court, on the field or just about anywhere.

Timing is everything
No matter why you want to begin a stretching regimen, no such program should begin with cold muscles. For that reason, a warm-up of 5-10 minutes on a bike or treadmill is strongly advised. "What you want to do is elevate your body temperature," Alter says. "Doing so will make your tissues more elastic and pliable. If you're cold and you stretch, you increase the risk of tearing or pulling a muscle, tendon or ligament."

Libby warms up for 20-40 minutes before stretching. "I have such thick muscle tissue, it takes me a little longer to warm up and get into a stretching mode," she explains. Hudy, the associate head strength and conditioning coach at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, prefers warm-ups that are more tailored to her athletes' individual activities. "We'll use a lot of agility activities or form running, walking lunges, things like that," she says. "As long as you increase your body temperature and start to sweat lightly, it's a proper warm-up."

In a perfect world, gym-goers would stretch immediately after their warm-ups, between sets and again at the end of their workouts. "I encourage people to do all three," Libby notes.

Brandy, who earned her pro card at the '99 Team Universe contest, advocates stretching between sets. "It helps prevent injury and keeps the joints loose," she explains. "You don't have to do it for a really long time; stretch for 30 seconds and go on to the next set."

Alter, too, stretches between sets as a matter of expediency and practicality. "I do a general warm-up to raise body temperature and then, if I start with quads, I'll perform a quad stretch, hold it for 10-12 seconds, do my exercise, then stretch my quads again. If I stretch before I work out, the effect may be lost on the muscle groups trained toward the end of my workout. Besides, I find I can lift more weight or do an extra rep or two when I stretch between sets."

A stretching session at the end of a workout also has its advantages, says Brandy. It might alleviate postworkout stiffness, she states, "especially if you've had a particularly tough leg workout." Stretching after you train - while the muscles are still warm - can facilitate the flow of blood and nutrients to tired muscles.

Brandy believes that stretching can improve appearance as well: "Your body will look better if you stretch. If you just train with weights, I think over time your body doesn't look as aesthetically pleasing. I like to stretch to keep my muscles long and pretty." Both Libby and Brandy have found that deep breathing enhances stretching. Brandy credits a coach with enlightening her. "When I stretched, it would be so painful, so I'd take short, shallow breaths," she recalls. "He would say, `Brandy, slow down, breathe deep and slow.' And when you do that, your muscles relax."

Stretching systems
If flexibility is your destination, stretching is the road to take. But as is often the case in any journey, you have several routes from which to choose.

Static stretching, which is Brandy's choice, means stretching a muscle to its farthest pain-free point and holding the position for 15-20 seconds without bouncing. The most traditional method, static stretching is recommended for most fitness enthusiasts because it's the easiest to learn and execute (see 12 Essential Stretches for Fitness at bottom).

Libby practices proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF), often used in injury rehabilitation. Essentially, PNF involves stretching the targeted muscle, contracting it isometrically for 5-15 seconds, then stretching it again. "You stretch to a certain point, and when you think you can't stretch any more, you work against that stretch for 10 seconds, release, and you'll be able to stretch farther," Libby says.

The theory behind PNF is that the isometric contraction initiates a relaxation reflex in the muscle, making it easier to stretch. Although often performed with partner assistance, it can be done alone. For example, to stretch your quadriceps, bend one knee and grasp that ankle behind you, then bring your foot back toward your glutes. This is the stretch. For the isometric contraction, try to push your foot down against the resistance of your hand as though you're trying to straighten your leg. Doing this should allow a greater range of motion in a subsequent stretch.

Another form of PNF involves stretching, contracting and relaxing a muscle, then contracting the antagonist, or opposite, muscle (in our example, the hamstrings). Because of a phenomenon known as reciprocal inhibition, the contraction of the opposing muscle triggers a greater relaxation in the target muscle and should allow a better stretch. To do this, follow the procedure described above for a quadriceps stretch, but instead of ending with another stretch, contract the hamstrings by reversing the position of your hand so it's near your heel, then pushing your foot against your hand.

Although it can promote greater flexibility, PNF stretching requires more time and understanding. Also, anyone with hypertension or heart disease is cautioned against this method because complications can occur if not executed properly.

Athletes need action
Hudy points out that her athletes rarely stand still or hold poses in their sports endeavors. That's why she favors a more active, dynamic form of stretching to develop a functional range of motion that more closely approximates the action on the field or court.

"You'd never see a basketball player sitting on the floor and stretching in the middle of a game, so why do it before?" she asks. Instead, her athletes use movement-oriented dynamic flexibility exercises that resemble the actions they perform during a game or competition.

The dynamic-flexibility exercises Hudy uses with her athletes include form running, like high knees with a skip, butt kicks with a skip and toy soldiers, where you keep your legs straight and try to touch your left foot to your right hand in front of you while walking. Walking lunges and reverse lunges might also figure into the mix. The activities start slowly and increase in range and intensity but should only be attempted under the guidance of a certified strength coach.

Although this type of stretching - sometimes called ballistic - is often preferred by professional strength coaches, this terminology is often associated with bouncing, which is discouraged for average athletes because of the risk of injury. As Alter notes in his book Sports Stretch, any form of stretching that involves bounding, bouncing or bobbing fails to provide adequate time for the tissues to adapt to the stretch.

Another form of stretching, called passive, requires no action on the part of the person being stretched. It's somewhat similar to static stretching, but the action is performed by a partner. Obviously, the partner should be aware of how fast and how far to go, which is why passive stretching is usually performed by a physical therapist or experienced trainer.

Of all the ways to improve flexibility, static stretching is probably the best place for you to start. Incorporate the stretches in our pullout poster into your workout routine, and before long you'll see and feel results you'll like.

The Flexible Female
True or false: Women are naturally more flexible than men. "It depends upon what part of the body you're talking about," answers Michael Alter, author of two books on stretching. "However, most people care more about the hip region. Women can generally do splits and high-kicks better than men. The key here is that in most cases, a woman's pelvis is shallower than a man's, which allows for greater range of motion in the hip joints."

The difference becomes even more pronounced during pregnancy as joint laxity increases in anticipation of childbirth. Alter indicates that much of the research into this phenomenon centers around biomechanical and hormonal factors.

Biomechanical factors include increases in body mass, including the weight of the fetus, fluid retention and swelling breasts. The added weight, most of which is in the front of the body, changes a woman's center of gravity and puts a strain on the lower-back muscles. For that reason, most experts caution against stretches that may increase the workload on the back during pregnancy. Stretching should therefore be performed in a seated rather than standing position.

Joint stability during pregnancy may also be altered by the hormones estrogen, progesterone and relaxin, which are believed to play a role in the loosening of connective tissue. Coupled with biomechanical changes, additional pressure is placed on the sacroiliac and hip joints. For that reason, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists advises against ballistic movements, deep flexion and extension of joints during pregnancy. In other words, stretches shouldn't be taken to the point of maximum resistance. Alter cautions that each woman is different and no program should be undertaken without a doctor's advice.