The Science of Stretching

Everybody throughout you whole life has been telling you to stretch more. It’s kind of annoying really. I think that’s because it takes time and effort and generally speaking we live hectic lives and hence want things fast with minimal hassle. So if you’re going to actually commit to stretching you’d want to know why it’s important, how it will specifically help you and the best way to go about it.

This blog is your vessel.

This blog aims to detail the wide reaching positive effects of stretching in order to provide you with a reason to give stretching a go and to make it a regular part of your self maintenance/self care routine.

Fundamentally, the purpose of stretching is to Increase joint range of motion, which is your sense of flexibility. It also helps to decrease the feeling of tightness/tension in your muscles. That description isn’t very sexy. It doesn’t really compel you out of your chair and onto a yoga mat.

Maybe it would help to phrase it like this. If you stretch more often, you will likely experience less muscular tension and discomfort. This could mean that you suffer less headaches, less upper shoulder and neck tension, less low back pain. Less trips to your Osteo with a locked up neck or hunched over in agony with low back pain.

Stretching is also a good for your mental health. It helps quieten your nervous system, decreasing anxiety and lowering your blood pressure. It helps decrease your cortisol levels (stress hormone) to allow your body to perform rest and recovery functions because you’re not always in “fight or flight” mode.

This also means that you’ll generally feel more comfortable at work and then boom, your productivity increases because you’re not being distracted by nagging tension and discomfort. You’re also more comfortable in your chair whilst driving or seeing a movie or whilst out for dinner. You’re more comfortable playing with your kids. Or working out. Whatever it is you enjoy doing.

You can participate in life, without discomfort and pain.

It can also help you sleep better. More sleep equals better weight management, increased mental acuity and ability to focus, more physical energy for exercise and activities of daily living, a more stable and positive mood, along with decreased risk of cardiovascular disease, alzheimer’s disease and cancer. For more on sleep, consult my previous blog “The Importance of Sleep”.

Stretching is getting pretty sexy now isn’t it.

You might want to know what is the best stretching protocol? Is it yoga? Partnered stretching? Static stretching?

The answer is, any kind of stretching that you do routinely will be better than the stretching you’re currently NOT doing. Pick whichever stretching routine you enjoy. Because if you don’t enjoy you wont stick to it and if you don’t stick to it then you wont improve.

Now that I’ve got you hyped about stretching here’s the nitty gritty:

Stretching can increase joint range of motion in the short term and long term. In the short term, the explanation by the increased range of motion is usually a tolerance to stretch. For example you stretch the front of your thigh 3 times and you can bend the knee joint further and further with each set, not because you have increased the muscle length, but because your tolerance to the stretch has increased.

it can actually take approximately 8 weeks to increase a muscles extensibility so if you’re looking for long term increase in joint range of motion (flexibility) and less muscular tension you better be committed.

The scientific literature has determined that a stretch does not need to be held for longer than 30 seconds to increase joint range of motion and no greater benefit is garnered from performing more than 3 repetitions of this stretch.

There are 3 different methods of stretching commonly described:

Static stretching - moving a joint into a range of motion which puts tension through a muscle and holding that position for a predetermined amount of time. This is the most common form of stretching and probably the method you’re most familiar with.

Dynamic stretching - moving a joint through a range of motion toward the end range of motion and trying to increase this range with each repetition.

Pre-contraction stretching - usually performed with the help of a healthcare practitioner/personal trainer this utilises a muscular contraction against resistance before stretching.

Heres a helpful tip for static stretching which the yoga community is acutely aware of - you can use your breath to help muscles release faster. Move into a reasonably strong stretch and slowly take a big breath in and out. You should feel that you’re able to sink into the stretch slightly further with each out breath.

Attention all you athletes out there - Static stretching before exercise can actually prove detrimental to performance. This is termed stretch induced strength loss. You’re better off “limbering up” than stretching. I would describe limbering up as putting your joints through a range of motion, repeatedly to get them used to reaching those ranges in a moderate manner. For example if you’re about to play football, swing your leg forward and backward and side to side to prepare yourself for running and kicking. Other pre-exercise strategies include light cardiovascular activities which increase your blood flow to your muscles such as jumping on the spot, skipping, jogging or cycling

Now, how often should you stretch? This is up to you. The more the better, in my opinion. Ideally, daily. Even if it’s just 15 minutes where you hit some key tight areas. Even 3 times per week of about half an hour would do you wonders. The best bit is, you can do it anywhere. No equipment needed. Just some floorspace.

So, now that you have all the info - go, do yourself a favour and start stretching!

Make sure you’re following the Osteopathic Movement Instagram page (@osteopathicmovement) as I will be posting my favourite stretches over the coming weeks for your reference.