Basics of Stretching

​TGIF and welcome to the long weekend. Here is the weekly post. Hope you enjoy reading.
Let’s delve into stretches and how important they are by drawing a parallel between exercise and music or art. For example, just as you hold your notes prior to singing, or recognize lines, edges, angles and various shades/tones prior to drawing, stretches are a must prior to exercise, a prerequisite to any exercise program for the best possible movement pattern. I will cover only general stretch principles in this post. 
You probably have noticed how you begin your day with a stretch, as you get out of bed, stretching simply feels good: stretching arms up overhead, or stretching the torso, even leg and foot stretches feel good. How about yawning? It stretches the muscles around the mouth and chest cavity. These are what I call the “informal” or “spontaneous” stretches. After a period of restful sleep, these stretches gently guide your awareness towards the body and allow you to safely navigate in your surroundings. Then there are the “deliberate” stretches we perform to achieve a certain effect. The stretches we are looking into fall in this category. One key to stretches, whatever category they belong to is that when done correctly, they feel good. 
With some of the popular forms of exercise to stay fit these days such as walking, running, hiking, bicycling, or participating in specific sports or dance forms, muscles tend to tighten in certain patterns, slowly decreasing available range of motion and creating new movement patterns unbeknownst to the exerciser. Yoga, gymnastics, and such forms of fitness methods on the other end of the spectrum, come with probability of increased flexibility, sometimes to the point of hypermobility, which needs a different solution: one of stabilization. The point I am making here is moderation is important in any activity. 
Putting the aforementioned points together, it now makes a lot more sense that, done in moderation, stretches feel good. Underdone stretches on one hand are ineffective and may lead to pain and injury by persisting on improper movement patterns due to stressing some joints to limit of available movement and then compensating demand for remaining movement at other joints which may be needed to provide stability. On the other hand, overdone stretches may become a source of pain and injury for lack of proper movement patterns as well, recruiting the increased range available from joints that are meant to provide stability.
Now that we have some basic information, let’s consider techniques in stretching. Simple stretches involve acquiring certain body positions and holding the muscle in stretched position, progressively increasing the time from a few seconds to minutes. This ability differs from person to person and hence it becomes important to establish an ideal individualized stretching program. During stretches, physiologically, muscle tissue, due to elastic properties, lengthens according to its tensile strength. There are mechanisms in our body which tell us the appropriateness of stretch: done slowly it allows muscle tissue to adapt and lengthen in healthy fashion. When done quickly and with large amplitude, stretches may lead to pain/injury by causing micro-tears in the muscle fibers. Eventually the body heals the micro-tears by laying down collagen tissue (which is not as elastic as original muscle tissue) and increasing the tightness. Hence, technique of stretch is important in achieving flexibility goals.
As I mentioned in a previous post, our bodies are a gateway to knowing ourselves better, and stretches are a valuable tool in that respect. Increasing awareness may help in mastering the skill of gradual and progressive stretches based on your goals. After a certain period of stretching and performing activity to take the muscle through that newly acquired range of motion, it becomes a “way of life” so to speak, and further stretches may not be needed for that activity. For the achievers amongst us, the next goal awaits, and for those content, you have arrived at your desired lifestyle, at least for the moment.