Over the years, you have asked me when to stretch, what to stretch, and how to stretch. Here is a definitive guide to what stretching does, when to do it, and how to do it.
What is Stretching?
Stretching, for this post, is when you try to elongate and/or loosen muscle or other tissue. The act of stretching can take many forms (which we will visit shortly).
Different types of stretching have been researched over and over. Results of the studies vary, but a few things have proven themselves over time.
Stretching is good for most people (the type may be different than what you are used to). Recommendations have changed over time and are dependent on your activity level, injury status, and overall fitness.
The Types of Stretching
Static Stretching
This is the one most of you are probably familiar with. Static stretching is holding a stretch of a muscle for a fixed amount of time. Most of you have probably held a hamstring stretch for 20-30 seconds.
Dynamic Stretching
This is when you move your joints to get the muscles moving back and forth through a particular range of motion to feel gentle pulls in the muscle (make sure it is not aggressive).
Dynamic stretching is often included in parts of a warm up.
Ballistic Stretching
This is when you "bounce" in and out of a static stretch position trying to go farther and farther each time.
When and How to Stretch
The when and the how to stretch are dependent on each other. Research has shown repeatedly that in order for stretching to positively affect muscle length (make your muscles longer or looser) that the muscles must be "warm."
Warming a muscle means that there must be active blood flow within the area.
If you feel tight when you first get out of bed, or like to stretch before you work out, you should use dynamic stretching. This will speed up the blood flow to your target region. You can use dynamic stretching for most areas of your body.
It is important that when you are using dynamic stretching techniques that you are not pushing range of motion, but just feeling gentle tugs in your muscles.
When you want to stretch after a workout or your muscles are already warmed up (like after a massage, shower, or hot tub) you can proceed with using static stretching.
The trick with static stretching is that most benefits are seen when holding for 30-60 seconds per stretch. I recommend you hold for at least 45 seconds to make sure you are getting the full effect.
You can do static stretching for 3 rounds of 40-45 seconds for each muscle that you want to stretch.
Ballistic stretching should never be used by you if you are a recreational athlete, and only under professional supervision if you are an advanced/professional athlete. (hint: most of you are recreational athletes)
Benefits of Stretching
There are many benefits of stretching. A short list is here:
Lengthen Tissues
Decrease Stress
Work on Breathing
Catch your Breath
Promote Relaxation
Loosen Up Tight Areas
What if Stretching Doesn't Work?
For some of you it may be that stretching doesn't make you feel looser. It may not make any changes at all. I want you to know that this is perfectly normal. This means that you may not only be tight. You may have some other issue causing your muscles to tighten. The two major issues that I see are decreased joint movement and weakness.
If you have joints somewhere in your body, like your ankle, you may not have access to the range of motions necessary to stretch your muscles and tendons fully. Because of this, the muscles and tendons in your affected region may not feel a stretch or may not maintain a stretch due to the decreased ability to go through a full and natural range of motion.
You may have a weakness that is disguising itself as a tight muscle. Because your body is so amazing, it is using this as a protective mechanism. Your body is trying to prevent injury. This is a common issue in things like your hip flexors. Sometimes the body notes the weakness and tightens up the muscles of an area to prevent sprains, strains, or worse. In order to get rid of the tight feeling, you will have to use your muscles.
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