What is Stretching?

The stretching are a type of exercise that consists of carrying out stretching of the various muscles either in isolation or as part of a training plan. training.

Benefits of stretching

Stretching the muscles is an important part of any physical routine, as it allows them to remain flexible and release tension. Likewise, these routines improve aspects such as the ranges of movement of the joints, the coordination Y Balance.

Stretching is also an important part of rehabilitation programs to release muscle contractures, adhesions, fibrosis or inflammatory processes that affect the joint capsule or soft tissues producing rigidity and limitation for the mobility of the joints in disorders such as osteoarthritis, arthritis, capsulitis, frozen shoulder, plantar fasciitis, muscle shortening and even fibromyalgia.

How to integrate stretching into your training plan

Every exercise routine should start with a warm-up phase that helps prepare the muscle for exercise, this consists of carrying out aerobic activity such as walking,

jogging, bike or swim for 15 to 20 minutes or until you begin to sweat. After this, the exercise or physical activity and finally a muscle stretching phase must be performed.

The muscles should be stretched smoothly and steadily, as far as the movement can be carried out without pain, in order to avoid contractures or even tear the muscle. After exercise, stretching helps prevent muscle stiffness due to the accumulation of lactic acid between the muscle fibers.

It is also important to control the breathing During stretching, it is advisable to breathe gently while carrying out the movement avoiding stopping the breath.

Can stretching exercises decrease muscle performance?

Although it is always insisted on carrying out muscle stretching prior to physical activity, Athletes may find that these may cause performance to decline as the muscle becomes relaxes.

This phenomenon is more evident with static stretching, in which the muscle is stretched slowly and steadily, keeping it in its maximum position elongation for a few seconds before relaxing.

This has led many athletes to prefer to start with the dynamic modality of stretching, leaving passive stretching for last. The dynamic stretching consist of short and smooth repetitive movements, even joint mobility activities can be carried out, in which the movement is carried out of the whole body and stretching is included as part of this routine, which allows to achieve greater agility, also favoring coordination muscular.

Photos: iStock - skynesher / Andrew Rich

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