Why Do We Need To Stretch?

Stretching seems to be the most commonly neglected part of our workout, even though it is crucial to our wellbeing. Stretching affects our muscles more than just when we exercise, but also in our daily movements and positions. After we exercise our muscles have been “shortened” are what we like to call “tight”. They have been contracting and relaxing much more than they normally would, hence why they become this way post workout. This can also occur from some of the daily movements and tasks we perform, as well as the positions we are in, a common one being sitting. Regular stretching helps increase your range of motion, improves and posture and relieves muscular tension throughout the body. For those of you who may sit at a desk during the day, you are probably tight throughout the neck and shoulders, and possibly the hips. Stretching here and there throughout the day even just for a few minutes can help relieve tension in these areas and bring temporary relief. That being said, that really is the only catch when it comes to stretching and maintaining flexibility, it most be done frequently. If we stretch the muscles we tighten on a regular basis, this will keep them from being permanently shortened all the tine, which is what can bring us pain and poor mobility.

Our muscles have 2 parts that are important when it comes to flexibility, and those are “The Golgi Tendon Organ” and “Muscle Spindles”. The GTO is a nerve receptor located at the junction of a muscle and tendon. During a stretch, the GTO senses tension in the muscle/tendon and sends a signal to the spinal cord. Muscle spindles rather are located deep within a muscle. Muscle spindles sense change in muscle length and the range of change in length, then sending a signal to the spine. The GTO exists to regulate muscle tension so that injury does not occur to a muscle and its connective tissues. Muscle Spindle’s primary function are to protect the body from injury due to over-stretching.

So when should we stretch?

After our workout!

Stretching before a workout can actually be dangerous, lengthening the muscles before they are going to be working can lead to injury, as we want our muscles “warmed up” but not completely stretched. Dynamic movements are best for before our workouts, and static stretched saved for after. Dynamic stretching meaning we are still moving but focusing on opening up the joints, loosening the muscles slightly and mimicking some of the exercises we will be doing. Static stretching being where we hold for 30 seconds or more in a certain pose, focusing on lengthening a specific muscle.

Save yourself 5 minutes, and you’ll feel 5x better!