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Topic of the Month Archive
June 2006 - Safe Gardening
July 2006 - Nutritional Approaches to Musculoskeletal Healing
August 2006-Backpack Safety
September 2006-Choosing a Mattress
November 2006-Core Strengthening
December 2006 - Safe Snow Shoveling
January 2007 - Healthy New Year’s Resolutions, from A to Z
February 2007 - Massage and Chiropractic: How They Work Together To Achieve Optimal Health
Topic of The Month
The Benefits of Stretching: Dispelling The Myths And Learning The Truth
 | Recommendations to stretch or not change from year to year and from expert to expert. And there is limited evidence to sort out these conflicting opinions. Stretching has been promoted for years as an essential part of a fitness program as a way to decrease the risk of injury, prevent soreness and improve performance. But what does the evidence support?
Research on Stretching
The current research suggests that stretching can decrease pain and soreness after exercise. There is little support for the theory that stretching immediately before exercise can prevent overuse or acute injuries. |
Warm-up vs. Stretching
Much of this confusion comes from a misinterpretation of research on warm-up. These studies found that warming by itself has no effect on range of motion, but that when the warm-up is followed by stretching there is an increase in range of motion. Many people misinterpreted this finding to mean that stretching before exercise prevents injuries, even though the clinical research suggests otherwise. A better interpretation is that warm up prevents injury, whereas stretching has no effect on injury. If injury prevention is the primary objective the evidence suggests that athletes should limit the stretching before exercise and increase the warm-up time. Studies do support that range of motion can be increased by a single fifteen to thirty second stretch for each muscle group per day. However, some people require a longer duration or more repetitions. Research also supports the idea that the optimal duration and frequency for stretching may vary by muscle group.
The long-term effects of stretching on range of motion show that after six weeks, those who stretch for 30 seconds per muscle each day increased their range of motion much more than those who stretched 15 seconds per muscle each day. No additional increase was seen in the group that stretched for 60 seconds. Another 6 week study conducted found that one hamstring stretch of 30 seconds each day produced the same results as three stretches of 30 seconds. These studies support the use of thirty second stretches as part of general conditioning to improve range of motion.
Guidelines for Stretching
 To get the most from your stretching customize your routine to fit your needs. One way to do this is to stretch until you feel slight pulling but no pain. As you hold the stretch the muscle will relax. As you feel less tension you can increase the stretch again until they feel the same slight pull. Hold this position until you feel no further increase. If you do not seem to gain any range of motion using the above technique, you may consider holding the stretch longer (up to 60 seconds).
What Stretch is Best?
In general, Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF) stretching has resulted in greater increases in range of motion compared with static or ballistic stretching, though some results have not been statistically significant.
Static stretches are a bit easier to do and appear to have good results. Studies indicate that continuous stretching without rest may be better than cyclic stretching (applying a stretch, relaxing, and reapplying the stretch), however some research shows no difference.
Most experts believe ballistic, or bouncing during a stretch, is dangerous because the muscle may reflexively contract if restretched quickly following a short relaxation period. Such eccentric contractions are believed to increase the risk of injury. In addition to improving range of motion, stretching is extremely relaxing and most athletes use stretching exercises to maintain a balance in body mechanics. But one of the biggest benefits of stretching may be something the research can't quantify: it just feels good. |
Source: PubMed
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