I would argue that stretching is one of the most researched and debated areas in fitness, to this day.

After all, its applications are endless. Stretching is used in warm ups, cool downs, rehabilitation protocols, therapeutically to improve daily function; it’s everywhere.

No matter who you are, I guarantee you’ve stretched at least once in your life. If you did, why? What kind of stretching did you do? Did it accomplish what you needed it to?

 

Stretching, despite how common it is, can still be a big head scratcher for most people. It’s hard, particularly if you’re just starting your fitness or rehabilitation journey, to know what’s what.

So here’s the low down. Hopefully this helps clear up some things so that you feel confident stretching on your own!

 

Benefits of Stretching (you’ve probably seen this list before, but here we go again anyways):

• increased flexibility
• improved coordination + balance
• improved mobility
• improved joint health
• reduced pain
• reduced stress (physical + mental)
• reduced risk of injury
• many more, we’re sure!

 

The Physiology of a Stretch

So we’ve all stretched before. We know it feels good and we feel better after we do it but what’s actually happening to our muscles when we stretch?

Two important proprioceptive parts of our muscles that we need to mention off the hop are:

• Muscle Spindle
• The Golgi Tendon Organ (GTO)

These guys are essentially the main communicators between your muscles and your brain.

The muscle spindle is a receptor that exists deep within your muscle. This guy senses both the change in muscle length as well as the range of that change (ie. how far from home is everything going–too far? Just far enough?). The muscle spindle communicates with the spinal cord to send messages to the brain. This information highway is called the stretch reflex. The muscle spindle tells the brain that things are happening. Specifically, it resists the increase in muscle lengthening by causing the muscle to contract; thereby, protecting the muscle from being overstretched and injured (Leon, 2017). The more aggressive a stretch and the more quickly the change in length, the harder that muscle will contract.

The GTO is another nerve receptor. It exists at the junction of a muscle and tendon. Its job is to send a signal to your spinal cord that things are happening. In the case of a stretch, it tells the spinal cord that the muscle is lengthening and tension and increasing. The spinal cord sends that message to your brain and a signal is sent back to the GTO to tell the muscle it needs to relax. This is the Golgi tendon reflex (Leon, 2017).

So the goal of stretching, at its core, is to activate the Golgi tendon reflex and minimize the stretch reflex so that the muscle can be lengthened.

To do that we hold a stretch for a period of time, giving the muscle spindle time to relax and lessen the stretch reflex (Static Stretching). Or by contracting and relaxing a muscle enough that the Golgi tendon reflex is activated multiple times (PNF Stretching). Just two of many examples.

 

Types of Stretching

Static Stretching

Static stretching is the most popular form of stretching for increasing flexibility and has worn that crown for decades. This type of stretching involves gently extending a muscle to the furthest point in its Range of Motion (ROM) and holding it in that position. Typically the stretch is held between 20 to 45 seconds (depending on the resource).

 

 

Dynamic Stretching

Dynamic stretching has, in recent years, overtaken static stretching as the more popular stretch for warm ups. More on that to come. This type of stretching is considered a movement-based style of stretching, where joints go through their full ROM without being held in one position for any period of time. These movements are often sport/exercise specific, readying the exact muscles you are about to engage.

 

Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF Stretching)

“PNF was initially developed by physiotherapists as a method of rehabilitating stroke victims and refers to any of the several post-isometric relaxation stretching techniques. These are when a muscle group is passively stretched and then contracted isometrically against resistance, whilst it is in a stretched position. The technique calls for the muscle to be stretched again, passively throughout the increased range of motion gained on each repetition.” (Mediphysio, 2019)

For a deeper look into PNF stretching and its benefits, check out our blog “PNF Stretching: A Better Way to Get Flexible and Mobile”

 

Passive/Assisted Stretching

A luxurious form of stretching where your only job is to relax. This type of stretching is typically performed by a trained professional who will guide joints through their full range of motion. It will often incorporate aspects of static and dynamic stretching, as well as involving pre-contracting/PNF stretching techniques.

A popular form of assisted stretching is Fascial Stretch Therapy. You can learn more about FST and how it works here.

What type of stretching should you do? 

It depends. What are you looking to accomplish?

 

Increasing Flexibility + Range of Motion

Research has repeatedly shown that all forms of stretching are effective at increasing ROM/improving flexibility with negligible differences in success rates over time.

So if your goal is to increase flexibility it really doesn’t matter what style of stretching you do so long as it is done consistently.

 

Improving Athletic/Fitness Performance

Numerous studies on athletes at all levels have been done that suggest a negative relationship between static stretching and performance. Perhaps it is because static stretching has a relaxing effect, as well as an elongating result on the muscles. Specifically, static stretching prior to athletic performance has shown decreases in power, reaction time and increase in risk of injury.

Therefore, dynamic stretching, which increases blood flow and warmth to muscles and tendons, has become the popular choice for pre-performance stretching. “Dynamic stretching has been a popular choice to replace static stretching because the acute effects have been shown to improve performance parameters such as agility, endurance, strength, power, and anaerobic capacity” (Coons et al., 2017).

 

Improving Mobility

For anyone with mobility issues, assisted stretching allows you to achieve ranges of motion that would be otherwise inaccessible. Each joint can, in fact, be taken carefully through its full range without risk of injury or strain to you. Additionally, with the assistance of a professional, other stretching modalities can be incorporated into your routine to achieve faster results.

Once mobility has been sufficiently improved, any self-stretching routine can be implemented to help maintain results, so long as it is done consistently and with intention.

 

Reducing Pain

Studies have shown that all forms of stretching have a positive impact on pain reduction, particularly in the joints. Stretching improves the the overall health of joints “by reducing the resistance of tissue structures surrounding the joint. The decrease in resistance in turn allows the joint to work more efficiently by reducing the energy needed to contract the muscle” (Wicke et al., 2014).

The caveat here is that most studies that report a positive correlation between stretching and pain reduction, particularly instances of acute pain, were done where stretching was performed in combination with another type of physical therapy. It’s impossible to say whether the relationship between stretching and pain reduction was causal or coincidence. Either way, adding stretching, in any form, to pain management routines did not appear to make pain worse.

 

Reducing Stress

Static stretching and passive stretching are all about relaxing. If you’re going through periods of high stress, or if you’re someone who experiences a lot of stress in general, then this is the way to go.

In fact, Fascial Stretch Therapy is specifically designed to help down regulate the nervous system so that tissues relax and are more susceptible to manipulation and elongation. This has the added benefit of helping you reduce overall stress.

Dynamic and Ballistic stretching are geared more towards amping you up and preparing you for activity. So if you’re looking to cool or calm down, skip these types of stretching altogether.

 

Ultimately

Any stretch is better than no stretch. No matter what kind of stretching you choose to do, you will see the benefits. The primary exception to the rule is, as we have noted, surrounds athletic performance. Dynamic stretching has been shown in studies to improve athletic performance over all other forms of stretching when done prior to the activity.

The key things to keep in mind when stretching are:

1. Be consistent
2. Never hold a stretch that feels unsafe (ie. feels too intense like something might pop, tear or snap)
3. Breathe

 

For more information on stretching or Fascial Stretch Therapy, don’t hesitate to reach out! We’re happy to answer all of your questions or invite you in for a demo or back for maintenance.

 

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References:

Coons, J. M., Gould, C. E., Kim, J. K., Farley, R. S., & Caputo, J. L. (2017). Dynamic stretching is effective as static stretching at increasing flexibility. Journal of Human Sport and Exercise, 12(4), 1153–1161. https://doi.org/10.14198/jhse.2017.124.0

Leon, M. de. (2017, October 9). “what happens when you stretch?”. Medium. Retrieved March 21, 2023, from https://medium.com/@miriamdeleon/what-happens-when-you-stretch-68a20c22d80c

Maddigan, M. E., Peach, A. A., & Behm, D. G. (2012). A comparison of assisted and unassisted proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation techniques and static stretching. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 26(5), 1238–1244. https://doi.org/10.1519/jsc.0b013e3182510611

Mediphysio. (2019, May 22). What is PNF stretching technique? MediPhysio. Retrieved March 22, 2023, from https://mediphysio.com.au/pnf-stretching-technique/#:~:text=PNF%20was%20initially%20developed%20by,is%20in%20a%20stretched%20position.

Page, P. (2012, February). Current concepts in muscle stretching for exercise and rehabilitation. International journal of sports physical therapy. Retrieved March 21, 2023, from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22319684/