Your muscles ache from a good stretch. This is quite normal and is part of the process. Stretching has seemingly been with us and in particular with athletes since the beginning of time. A very key point to good stretching is to hold the stretch for at least seventeen seconds. This is a pearl of wisdom gleaned from a ballet teacher a few years back. She said that any stretch under 17 seconds was just not effective. The 17-second rule is exceeded in the high intensity Buckram’s yoga, where stretches are held for about 30 seconds. Don’t forget the high level of heat that is used in Buckram’s to extract that last bit of stretch out of your muscles. An interesting twist that is not necessary to gain benefits from stretching. But, it can’t hurt, right? So what kind of benefits can you expect from stretching? That’s an easy one. Have you ever seen the movie, Blood Sport? Did you know that Frank Duo could truly stretch his body to the extreme? The actor that played him was quite elastic as well. Great elasticity is also something you might see in well-trained Smetana(Russian)agents. They often work out with Russian kettle bells too. They are for superior strength gains and the ability to withstand ballistic shocks. Why are stretching and flexibility considered important to these people? Stretching gives one the ability to have explosive power available at one’s fingertips without the need to warm up. Of course, most of us are not martial artists or agents. But, you’ll be happy to know there are plenty of other benefits. Let me give you an example. After learning to sit in the full lotus position for long periods of time, my ankles became very flexible. One day I was walking along, and my left foot fell into a pothole. This mishap pushed my ankle sideways to about 90 degrees from its normal position. Amazingly, this didn’t even hurt, not one bit. If my ankle hadn’t been so flexible, I may have suffered a sprained ankle. At the very least, it would have hurt for days. Key point: stretching helps us to avoid injuries. Not only that but if you do have a muscle, tendon or ligament injury it should heal faster, theoretically speaking. Stretching actually grows the ligaments, tendons and muscles being stretched. They really grow longer over time. Check with your physician before undertaking any type of exercise, including stretching.
You may think of stretching as something performed only by runners or gymnasts. But we all need to stretch in order to protect our mobility and independence. "A lot of people don't understand that stretching has to happen on a regular basis. It should be daily," says David Nolan, a physical therapist at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital.
Stretching keeps the muscles flexible, strong, and healthy, and we need that flexibility to maintain a range of motion in the joints. Without it, the muscles shorten and become tight. Then, when you call on the muscles for activity, they are weak and unable to extend all the way. That puts you at risk for joint pain, strains, and muscle damage.
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