The importance of Stretching

The goal whilst training for endurance sports is to optimise the body’s performance. A number of components of fitness can be trained to get an improvement in performance. These components of fitness can broadly be classified into six categories

• Strength (minimal importance for endurance athletes),
• Stamina (extremely important for endurance athletes),
• Skill (minimal importance for endurance athletes),
• Speed (moderate importance for endurance athletes),
• Suppleness (high importance for endurance athletes), and
• Power (minimal importance for endurance athletes).

A movement pattern that is very repetitive or cyclic in nature such as running, cycling and swimming especially when the muscle is not fully lengthened or fully contracted can lead to a shortening and tightening of the muscle. A muscle that is short and tight can alter a persons posture, normal running technique and/or expose that muscle to future injury. It is for these reasons that various types of stretching are important for the maintenance of health and of optimal performance.

Advantages of stretching
• Increased efficiency and improved performance
o A flexible joint has the ability to move through a great range of motion and utilises less energy to do so. This is an advantage to athletes as it means you can take longer strides, and less effort to travel further qwikker.
• Reduced risk of injury
o As stretching prepares the tissues for the range of movement required to complete an activity, the likelihood of injury from exceeding the maximal range of motion is decreased.
• Increased supply of blood and nutrients to joint structures
o With more blood and other nutrients the tissues are warmer and more elastic
• Improved quality and quantity of joint synovial fluid
o Synovial fluid is like the oil in the joint, decreasing the friction between each side of the joint enabling greater freedom of movement
• Increased neuromuscular co-ordination
o Muscles learn to work more synergistically with other muscles, firing in a co-ordinated manner as flexibility fine tunes the nervous system
• Decreased muscular soreness post exercise
o A tight muscle reduces the ability of the joint to move freely or through full range, therefore placing a stretch on the muscle during normal daily activities
• Improved balance and postural awareness
o When all muscles are in balance (correctly portioned strength and length compared to corresponding muscles) the centre of gravity is over the base of support and good posture is maintained. If some muscle groups are tight and others are weak, poor posture is the result.
• Reduced stress
o Stretching promotes relaxation and recovery from stress. This recovery is important to allow your body to prepare for your next endeavour
• Enhanced enjoyment
o Flexibility training has been found to increase adherence to an exercise programme as it allows for a period of relaxation and generally increasing the person’s sense of wellbeing.

Factors Affecting Flexibility
A number of factors affect how flexible you can become, some can be easily altered and others cannot be altered at all. The type of bones that form the join have a large impact on the range of motion at that joint, and any previous injuries that have affected the bony structures of the join will alter how flexible you are in that joint. The connective tissues such as the ligaments and tendons as well as other anatomical features have a small influence on the range of motion. More importantly the elasticity (ability to return to the original form) and plasticity (inability to return to original form) of the connective tissues has a bigger role in determining range of motion. If you have a large amount of muscle bulk this can restrict the range of motion of the joint and consequently the ability to fully stretch antagonist muscles. This can be advantageous in certain sporting situations but not for endurance athletes. Your age and gender play a significant role, you will find that as you age you loss your flexibility if work isn’t done to maintain your level of flexibility. Young people and females are generally more flexible than older people or males.

Activity level and type of training play an effect on flexibility. Active people tend to be more flexible than non-active and extremely active people can often be inflexible due to the high repetitive motion they repeat on a regular basis for long durations. People that include regular stretching into their training programme, generally reap the rewards from being more flexible than the rest of us. Contrary to popular belief weight training doesn’t shorten muscles. Weight training with poor technique and programme design shortens muscles. A programme that focuses on heavy resistance training with limited range of motion in the exercise will decrease the flexibility of the person performing the programme, conversely an appropriate programme were both t he agonist and antagonist muscles are trained through full range of motion will increase the suppleness of the individual and work on maintaining good posture.

Types of stretching
Static: a safe effective method of stretching especially for endurance athletes. The body is slowly moved into a position of moderate stretch and held for 20-30sec with out bouncing.
Active/Dynamic: involves a rhythmical movement (not a bounce) of the main muscles utilised in the exercise programme. Primarily used for sports with high intensities but runners and duathletes can often be observed doing leg swings prior to a race.
Ballistic: An old school style of stretching where the muscle is taken to end range and then bounced. This is no longer in vogue due to the increased knowledge of the intramuscular damge that occurs during this type of stretch.
Proprioceptive Neruomuscular Facilitation (PNF): A form of stretching that is very effective but also quiet challenging to do correctly and often requiring a partner. PNF stretching combines alternating contraction and relaxation of both agonist and antagonist muscles, creating neural responses that inhibit the contraction of the muscle being stretched. This interaction results in a decrease in resistance and increased range of motion when stretching a muscle.

How to stretch
Stretching should be conducted when the muscles are warm, after a 10min warm up if conducted during a workout or at the conclusion of the work out. For endurance athletes it is recommended that you spend at least 10min at the conclusion of each workout stretching the muscles exercised with either static or PNF stretches. A flexibility session conducted on your Rest Day (a day of no physical training) is also recommended, this can either by complimented by a Yoga or Pilates session. A minimum of 30min on this rest day of working through the body completing stretches held for greater than 30sec and then repeating stretches on area’s that are tight.

Raymond Boardman
PGDipSportMed, PGCertSc, BSc, DipSptSt
Email: ray@qwikkiwi.com
Mobile: 021 FIT-RAY(021 348-729)
Free Phone: 0800 02B QWIK(0800 022 7945)

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