TYPES OF STRETCHING & THE BENEFITS

Stretching can actually be in many forms for example Dynamic Stretching, Static Stretching, PNF Stretching, Ballistic Stretching,  and Neural Stretching. But i would love to cover the 3 most common stretching method used by athlete around the world. And you can definitely benefit from this simple routine and improve your overall performance.

Types of Stretching

Dynamic Stretching(Pre-Exercise)

Is the kind of stretching that involve movement of your muscles, joints, and tendons or some named it active stretching. It is used during a warm up session before beginning of any exercises and normally replicates the kind of movements which are common in most sports, and can be adapted to suit the sport and individual. This involved putting your body through certain range of motion, starting with small movement and progress to higher speed, and movement range. Some of the examples include high knees,on the spot jog, lateral steps, jumping jack,  and many more

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Static Stretching(Post-Exercise)

Is the most common type of stretching performed by people around the world due to it being the safest method of stretching and the amount of tension developed is relatively low. Practically, it is performed by taking the muscle to a certain range until you can feel a gentle stretch in the core of the muscle and hold it at that point. Stretches should be held around 10- 60 second without feeling any pain. Static stretching is normally used after your workout session. This is to make sure that all the muscle contraction occurs during your exercise will be back to its normal state. When we exercise, the muscle will contract especially if we focus on using that particular body parts or muscle group to function. Therefore, the role of stretching is to make sure the tension on the muscle is released.

PNF Stretching

Stand for (Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation) or some even say partner stretching. It can be in several form such as contract-relax, hold-relax and rhythmic initiation. The movement involved in this kind of stretching can be totally passive, meaning (where the therapist moves the limb through its ranges of motion) or active assisted, (in which the athlete plays a role in the treatment.) In this case, the therapist, trainer or partner provides resistance as the athlete isometrically contracts the muscles for a minimum of 6 seconds. When a muscle isometrically contracted for a period of time, this results in an inhibition of the muscle, thus resulting in relaxation. PNF stretching also can be used in muscle strengthening or even in rehabilitation process.

Benefits of Stretching

Increased flexibility and range of motion.

Obviously, this is why people are putting stretching as part of their routine. However it is much more than this. With the increase in flexibility and range of motion, you are able to improve your sporting performance, posture, and prevent injury.

Injury prevention.

Being flexible helps to prevent possible injuries. The most common injuries relating to, is acute injuries, such as a hamstring strain and overuse injuries such as plantar fasciitis or IT band syndrome. Stretching has been used in the warm-up process for decades. It is proven that having flexible muscles can prevent acute injuries by gently stretching the muscle through its range of motion before exercise. That is why dynamic stretching are now recommended for warm-ups, over the traditional static stretch due to its scientific benefits.

Improved posture.

In many cases of poor posture which has developed over time due to muscle imbalances. This occur as a result of lack of stretching routine in athletic programme. A good example is the chest muscles becoming shortened in people who slouch over a computer for long periods. Stretching these muscles can help to improve posture. Aesthetic athletes such as bodybuilder often facing this problem as they neglect this simple & harmless stretches.

Improvements in sports performance.

No matter what kind of sports you are in, obviously it require high levels of flexibility, for example athletics and gymnastics. But even athletes in sports such as Rugby, football or basketball, where flexibility is not immediately thought of as a key component, they are totally wrong. Stretching can improve their sports performance by becoming more flexible. In order to have healthy muscles, they must be flexible. This will help to prevent injuries discussed earlier, but it will also allow you to develop strength, agility, speed and reflex through the full range of motion at the joint. This gives an advantage over someone who has a limited range.

Preventing DOMS. (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness)

Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) normally occurs 24-48 hours after exercise. In other words muscle soreness. It is thought to be due to microscopic tears in the muscle after an intense workout session. Stretching before and after training is thought to minimise this damage. This also allow oxygen & nutrients to be supply to our muscle through good flow of blood circulation.

Stress relief.

Muscle tightness is often associated with stress - we tend to tighten up when stressed. For example the neck muscles. Stretching relaxes these muscles and you at the same time!

I hope you guys will practice various kind of stretching to explore and implementing in your daily workout routine. This will help in many ways. Thank you for your time. i will see you again in the next post.

Izwan Yusop

Advanced Personal Trainer

Fitness First SCM