Stop Stretching Pt. 3 or Start Stretching Pt. 1
In my last two articles, you learned about the problems with stretching. If you missed either one of those articles, drop me an email, and I’ll get them to you Post-Haste!
Today, we’ll reverse course a tad and talk about the right reasons and ways to stretch.
The most important reason to stretch is this:
To release tight muscles.
Mainly due to issues with posture and movement, some muscles get tight, which can cause pain. In some cases, it can be helpful to stretch the muscles that are actually causing the pain.
It’s important to understand, however, that the muscles feeling the pain are NOT ALWAYS THE ONES CAUSING IT!
Two examples are your lower back, where the muscles causing lower back pain are rarely in your lower back, and your hamstrings, where tight hamstrings are usually caused by excessive anterior pelvic tilt.
Now that we’ve cleared that up, here are a few hints on how to get more out of stretching the right way.
1. Breathe. We’ve got to let our muscles know if we want them to release, and the best way is with long, deep breaths. When stretching, our muscles naturally tighten up for protection. We need to consciously let our muscles know that things are OK and that it’s alright to let go. That’s what breathing does.
2. Don’t overstretch. When stretching, we want to go just a tiny little bit past our natural range of motion (ROM). That’s it. Stretching much past that will cause our muscles to, again, tighten up again for protection. You want to go just beyond your natural ROM and breathe deeply to help the muscles release. If they do, you can then very slightly increase the stretch.
Once again, I know that this may run counter to the things you may have about stretching, so if you have any questions or comments, I’d love to hear them. Thanks for reading!
Mitch is the owner and head trainer at Castro Valley Fitness. He loves answering questions at the dog park with Penny, Max, and Tex most afternoons or at Mitch@CastroValleyFitness.com.
