The Science Behind The Stretch
STRETCHING, THE TRUTH
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By Loretta Lynn
Multiple Choice Question: Which one of these does not belong?
a. Big arms,
b. Wide back,
c. Good flexibility
d. Thick legs
e. Big round delts
If your answer is C, you’d be right…(in line with other bodybuilders that is). Asking a bodybuilder to focus on flexibility is like asking a gnat to wrestle a walrus. But keep reading, cause we’re not here to tell you that flexibility will help improve your everyday activities (yawn), but rather that having good flexibility and stretching techniques will absolutely help you in the gym! Yeah, thought that would get your attention.
Flexibility: What’s the core issue?
If you have trouble getting deep in the squat or you can’t seem to reach deep enough on your bent-over rows, chances are you could use some flexibility as well as core training. And not just for performance--having poor flexibility coupled with a weak core is a pre-cursor to injury.
First off, stretching helps bring blood and oxygen to the joints, which keep them supple and healthy. The blood carries nutrients and vitamins that will help build, heal and keep your muscles and joints healthy. Stretching also flushes the body of toxins and lactic acid that can create trigger points (knots) that bind muscle fibers together preventing the muscle from functioning at its maximum potential.
Moreover, a strong core will help you maintain intra-abdominal pressure during bent over moves as well as squatting exercises. Without sufficient pressure, you allow your spine to be at risk of serious issues, not to mention nagging muscle strains in your back. And by not having sufficient flexibility in your back, hips and glutes, you might resort to poor form, compensating elsewhere for that inadequacy, which can ultimately lead to injury.
So this month, the key is to strengthen your lower back and core, while also working on flexibility to allow the muscle to grow and remain flexible to help your lifts. Below are a few simple exercises to incorporate into your weekly routine. Do these after a sufficient warm up and only after you’ve trained your major body parts. While these exercises will ultimately stretch and strengthen your lower back and deep abdominal muscles, they’ll be fatigued immediately afterwards, so you don’t want to be lifting right after.
EXERCISES
Supine Low Back Stretch
Lie on the floor and bring your knees to your chest slowly, hold for 10 seconds then repeat 3 times. Put your legs down, feet flat on the floor, with your knees bent. Then allow your knees to fall to each side. This opens up the back, allowing blood to flow and nourish the weak muscles.
Swimmers
Lie facedown, with your legs straight and your arms above your head and parallel to the ground. Perform a swimmers movement, raising your arms and feet gently off the ground. You’ll feel this in your low back immediately. This exercise will stretch your low back, while strengthening your core and lower back muscles.
CORE/STRETCH ROUTINE
Plank 3 30 sec hold
Swimmers 3 30 sec
Supine Low Back Stretch 3 10 sec hold
Loretta Lynn is an L.A based personal trainer and professional assisted stretcher and professional assisted stretcher
For more tips on stretching you can reach Loretta at www.FitnessStretching.com
First of all, can stretching really improve fitness performance? Many athletes stretch immediately before athletic events or competitions. Several recent articles from the Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research have focused on dynamic stretching.[1],[2],[3] They tested athletes immediately after dynamic stretching routines and found results such as improved 20 meter sprint times in rugby players, faster sprint times and agility performance in soccer players, and improved vertical jump in Division 1 collegiate football players.
Regarding long term effects of stretching programs, improved flexibility is a known benefit but evidence also exists on improved performance over time. For example, a study of military cadets applied a 15-day hamstring stretching program to one leg on each of the subjects.[4] After the program, testing found significant improvements in the stretched leg over the non-stretched leg in not only flexibility but also the single hop for distance test. In 2004, the Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine published a systematic review article compiling 23 studies that focused on stretching and performance.[5] They collectively concluded that regular stretching improves force, jump height, and speed.
Secondly, let us address what is likely the most common practice of stretching: injury prevention. A thorough review written by Woods, Bishop, and Jones in Sports Medicine, detailed the benefits of stretching with focus on preventing muscle and tendon injury.[6] The article presented research on the physiologic effects of stretching such as increasing temperature leading to improved blood flow and oxygen delivery to muscle tissue. It presented evidence of improved nerve transmission and communication to muscle, which lead to improved reaction time and proprioception, both important in injury prevention. Furthermore, improved flexibility has been shown to directly increase the length of muscle and thus the threshold for tearing mechanisms of injury.
Although commonly practiced in the arena of injury prevention, the role of stretching in injury rehabilitation has also been addressed in medical research. One example of evidence for stretching in treatment of injuries is a prospective study that followed 80 athletes that had suffered second-degree hamstring strains.[7] The study divided athletes into 2 different groups of treatment regimens and found that those athletes treated with the more intense stretching program had a statistically significant shorter total rehabilitation period and quicker regain of full range-of-motion.
We also must recognize that the benefits of stretching are not limited to young athletes. For example, a recent study found that a single bout of stretching in elderly females improved gait velocity, increased step length, and reduced double support time during stance.[8] The improved stability and mobility afforded by stretching indicates reduced fall risk in those subjects that were stretched.
In addition to rehabilitation of acute injuries, stretching has also been studied in its application to chronic medical conditions. In one such study, researchers tested ankle function in patients with hemiplegia after a specific stretching program.[9] Results found improved plantar-flexion strength, reduced stiffness of spastic muscles, and increased range-of-motion after strenuous dynamic stretching.
In summary, there are multiple beneficial roles of stretching, from preventing injuries, to rehabilitating both acute and chronic conditions, to improving athletic performance. Debate does exist in the literature regarding how significant the potential benefits of stretching actually are; however, the source of this controversy is often a result of how “stretching” is actually defined and subsequently applied, in terms of “static vs. dynamic”, and “active vs. passive” stretching. Although stretching in general can presumably be a healthy practice for you, the benefits of stretching may be optimized by appropriately applying different stretching principles to you. Loretta McGrath’s passive stretching techniques utilize both static and dynamic aspects that can be tailored specifically to your fitness needs and athletic goals.
Daniel Ruggles is an Orthopaedic Surgeon and former Certified Athletic Trainer in Los Angeles, California.
[1] Holt BW, Lambourne K. The impact of different warm-up protocols on vertical jump performance
in male collegiate athletes. J Strength Cond Res. 2008 Jan;22(1):226-9.[2] Little T, Williams AG. Effects of differential stretching protocols during warm-ups on
high-speed motor capacities in professional soccer players.
J Strength Cond Res. 2006 Feb;20(1):203-7.[3] Fletcher IM, Jones B. The effect of different warm-up stretch protocols on 20 meter sprint
performance in trained rugby union players.J Strength Cond Res. 2004 Nov;18(4):885-8.[4] Ross MD. Effect of a 15-day pragmatic hamstring stretching program on hamstring flexibility and
single hop for distance test performance. Res Sports Med. 2007 Oct-Dec;15(4):271-81.
[5] Shrier I. Does stretching improve performance? A systematic and critical review of the literature.
Clin J Sport Med. 2004 Sep;14(5):267-73. Review.
[6] Woods K, Bishop P, Jones E. Warm-up and stretching in the prevention of muscular injury.
Sports Med. 2007;37(12):1089-99. Review.
[7] Malliaropoulos N, Papalexandris S, Papalada A, Papacostas E. The role of stretching in rehabilitation
of hamstring injuries: 80 athletes follow-up. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2004 May;36(5):756-9.
[8] Rodacki AL, Souza RM, Ugrinowitsch C, Cristopoliski F, Fowler NE. Transient effects of stretching
exercises on gait parameters of elderly women. Man Ther. 2008 Mar 1. [Epub ahead of print]
[9] Chung S, Bai Z, Rymer WZ, Zhang LQ. Changes of Reflex, Non-reflex and Torque Generation Properties
of Spastic Ankle Plantar Flexors Induced by Intelligent Stretching.
Conf Proc IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc. 2005;4:3672-5.