Under 10 years ago, those of us in the sports industry were largely in agreement about how important stretching was, and we made considerable effort to teach everybody to stretch well and regularly. But now as new literature arrives we are not so sure. Should you stretch at all, how long should a stretch be held, when, does it actually reduce your risk of injury?
There are athletes who would not dare to compete without a regular stretching regime, and there are those who never stretch and never get any injuries - so what should you do?
While we don't know all the facts, here are a few things we do know and some of my thoughts on the subject.
- Don't stretch in a sustained position before training or performing - it inhibits the muscle from working and will reduce the amount of power you can recruit in the muscle fibres.
- Mobilise the joints and spine through the range of motion that you will require before exercising - focusing both on range of motion, and "waking up" the muscles you need.
- The results gotten by stretching are temporary - if you want to maintain a certain degree of suppleness, you need to train it every day, otherwise you will return to your pre-stretching state within 1-14 days.
- Range of motion without control of that new range of motion has limited value - you need to be able to actively move the body part into the stretched position using the opposite muscle. For instance to stretch your quads at the front of your thigh, you need to use the hamstrings to bend the knee.
- Following a muscle tear, follow a prescribed stretching regimen of 4-6x daily to allow the muscle to repair at a normal length.
- You should only feel a stretch over one joint at a time - a hamstring stretch for instance should be felt in the hamstrings, not the calf muscles. Broad areas of stretch being felt with one stretch indicates a nerve is being stretched. Nerves liked to be mobilised, but they don't like sustained stretches (it starves them of oxygen and you get pins and needles eventually).
- Correct use of a muscle (loading the right muscle with the right type of force) on a regular basis improves the elasticity in the muscle.
So what should you do?
Before exercising and after getting out of bed, do some mobilisation. Deep breathing exercises, rotating the hips, free active movement like swinging the arms and legs gently or doing a few yoga sun salutes. If you are going for a run, start by walking, speed up into a slow jog, do some jogging on the spot, flick the legs up behind you and in front of you and do some twists.
Use functional daily activities to add to your mobility - sit on the floor,its a fantastic way to stretch - sit cross legged, kneeling and with the legs stretched out in front of you and keep changing position when you get uncomfortable in one position. That should be round about every 15 minutes or less. Wiggling is very good for our bodies. Squat to fetch things from the floor, or to scrub out the shower. Reach for the food on the top shelf or wash the windows. If you want to do a bit more, try climbing a jungle gym or a tree or a climbing wall - great options to gain mobility and strength in the new range of motion at the same time.
If you are a gymnast or a ballet dancer, you need to stretch daily - remember to try and hold the stretch with the opposing muscle group to gain strength in that part of the range of motion.
Move in functional movement patterns the way the body was designed to move (think running, walking, brushing you hair, throwing a ball, theraband) rather than using isolated exercises and move regularly to improve the strength and elasticity of the muscle fibres.