Fitness Book

For people who exercise, stretching should always be done before and after to prevent injury.  With this, you are warming up the muscles so they can perform.  Without proper stretches, the muscles and ligaments are tight, which means they could be strained or even torn.  As you will discover, in addition to stretches used with exercise, there are other benefits and many forms.  Interestingly, you will find some medical professionals who disagree with the injury theory.  Many believe that there is no reduction in injury but to be safe, we still recommend it.

Regardless of what others think, stretching before and after exercise will not do any harm.  We do know that using stretch exercises improves flexibility, which is great for athletes, as well as people who suffer from restricting type of disease such as arthritis.  We have done research for you, providing information about the different options when it comes to stretching out the body.

Ballistic

With ballistic stretching, the movement of the body or an arm/leg is used to create momentum, forcing it to move beyond its normal range of motion.  Often referred to as warm up stretches, these incorporate small bouncing movements to loosen up muscles.  Unfortunately, while stretches such as this are good, you should always avoid bouncing movements.  The reason is that you could easily pull tight muscles and cause injury.

Dynamic

With this type of stretching, all of the body parts are used, gradually increasing speed, reach, or a combination of both.  The benefits associated with dynamic stretches include better flexibility and exercise warm-up.  If you love to spend time in the gym, you could do these stretch exercises in sets of eight to twelve repetitions for the best results.

Active

Stretching of this type, which is also called static active stretching, is when a person assumes the position and holds it there without resistance other than natural muscle strength.  If you think of a ballerina who holds his/her leg high and holds it, this is much the same.  The tension against the agonists that is created actually helps to relax muscles.  The benefits include not just relaxation but also strengthening and flexibility.  For the best results, we recommend that positions be held no more than 15 seconds.

Passive

With passive stretching, also called relaxed stretching, a position would be assumed and held using another part of the body, a person, or piece of workout equipment.  To accomplish stretches in this category, you would need to hold onto something while holding a position, but in this case, up to 30 seconds.

Static

As mentioned, static stretching is also called Active.

Isometric

In this case, you would use the resistance of various muscle groups involved.  One of the quickest ways of developing better flexibility and strength is with isometrics.  For this to be done, resistance of a person or object is needed.   For instance, you could use a wall, workout partner, bench, or even the floor to complete isometrics.  To do this type of stretch exercise, choose a position focusing on a specific muscle, tense that muscle for about 10 to 15 seconds while using resistance, and then relax the muscle for 20 seconds.  Three sets of 10 to 20 repetitions will get results.

Keep in mind, while some types of stretches are find for children and teenagers, isometrics is not one of them.  The reason is that in this age group, the body is still growing.  Therefore, you do not want to cause muscles to contract more than they should for the age, which could cause significant damage to connective tissue and/or tendons.

Other great forms of stretching include yoga, Tai Chi, etc.  In most cases, stretches are great for the body.  When added to a daily workout schedule, will help you reach your goal of weight loss or muscle mass.  The most important thing is to first talk to your doctor to make sure you have been cleared for stretches.

Remember, stretching is something from which the entire family can benefit.  In addition to preparing the body for a good workout such as running or walking, stretching also helps with lengthening the body, which helps with flexibility.  Pilates is one particular form of exercise that uses stretching to strengthen and tone and the results people have seen are remarkable.  Now, if you are pregnant, before getting into any stretching exercises, be sure to talk to your doctor first.  Then, once you are given the nod of approval, start slowly and listen to your body.  If you feel pulling, then you are doing too much.