It’s a nice feeling to wake up in the morning and stretch your arms, back, and legs. It is so soothing and relaxing when we do this. I love to watch my kids wake up in the morning and see them go through their stretching routines. But let me ask you this: when we wake up and perform this almost instinctual ritual, are we really stretching? Not really. What we’re really doing when we wake up and pull our elbows and head back is contracting the muscles of the back and neck. This contraction sends blood into the muscles of the back and neck and causes a soothing and wonderful feeling. It is an active contraction of your muscles, not a passive stretching of the joints, which is what traditional stretching usually is.
We’ve all heard that stretching is good for us so often that it has become gospel. The fact is, however, that there is really no such thing as muscular flexibility. A bold and confusing statement, I realize, but let’s look at the facts.
Muscles are organs that are made up of groups of fibers that shorten and lengthen—or contract and uncontract—as the joint flexes and extends. Joints possess flexibility, while muscles possess contractility. Performing stretching exercises in order to make the muscles more flexible is like pulling on a door to make it open wider. If you pull hard enough all you’ll wind up doing is damaging the hinges (the joint of the door) and perhaps the door itself.
But why is it that when people stretch, after a time they can seemingly move their joints throughout a greater range of motion? Several different studies conducted by various researchers across the globe have come to similar conclusions. When people engage in stretching programs, the contractile properties of the muscle do not change, which means the muscles do not experience any direct benefit. Instead, the subjects in these studies became more tolerant to the discomfort of the stretching.
You can try this out for yourself. Sit on the floor and straighten your legs completely. Sit up as tall as possible and slowly, while keeping your back arched and rigid, try and touch your toes. As you stretch farther and farther, you’ll soon feel a deep discomfort in the back of your thighs—but don’t push past this point! If you did this stretch day in and day out for several weeks, you would eventually get used to the feeling and be able to stretch farther. This is called stretch tolerance and it is simply that—a tolerance of the stretch. You have not created longer or more pliable muscles (this is the little white lie Pilates practitioners tell us). All you have done is become accustomed to the feeling.
Now I know that a lot of coaches and trainers advocate stretching, especially for kids involved in sports, and I know we often use the term stretching in the wrong context.
To use the same example, a child wakes up in the morning and pulls his or her elbows back, thereby stretching the muscles of the chest. But is the child actually doing this? What happens is that by pulling the elbows back, the muscles of the back are contracting and thus the muscles of the chest stretch. What this child (or the adult for that matter) is doing is squeezing and contracting the muscles of the back. So rather than call this stretching, it should be called contracting! Powerfully contracting your muscles through strength training is the best way to increase muscular strength, which will enhance joint flexibility. Things are not always what they seem. It’s one of the reasons we should let exercise science—and not exercise tradition—guide our health and fitness endeavors. A joint should never be made more flexible without a concomitant (simultaneous) increase in the strength of the muscles that surround it. So the bottom line is that there is no need to stretch before or after a strength training program. Furthermore, the act of stretching to increase safety or to improve athletic performance should be heavily considered. Having said all this, I know that a lot of people still like to stretch and feel good when they do. If stretching is something that makes you feel good, then by all means do it—but carefully. Kids, however, do not need to stretch before or after athletic endeavors. it seems as if it is a good thing for kids to do, but there is no scientific evidence or any theoretical basis for stretching.
In fact, if you stretch too much, you can damage the ligaments that attach bones together. Ligaments have little blood flow and when lengthened, they are lengthened permanently. This may be necessary if you are a dancer or a martial artist, but it is not healthy. In fact, several studies have shown that athletes’ power output is decreased when they stretch as it can loosen ligaments and tendons to the point where less force can be developed, like an old and worn-out rubber band. So if your child is involved in a sport that requires explosive power (e.g., football, wrestling, sprinting, and so forth) stretching may very well be counterproductive. When kids become stronger, they are better able to move a joint throughout a greater range of motion. They will be able to perform any joint motion better because the underlying muscles are better able to move the joint and better able to stabilize and protect the joint from injury. Many research papers on the subject bear this out. We know that strength training improves joint range of motion in adults. There is no reason to believe that it will not do the same (if necessary) for kids.
We’ve all heard that stretching is good for us so often that it has become gospel. The fact is, however, that there is really no such thing as muscular flexibility. A bold and confusing statement, I realize, but let’s look at the facts.
Muscles are organs that are made up of groups of fibers that shorten and lengthen—or contract and uncontract—as the joint flexes and extends. Joints possess flexibility, while muscles possess contractility. Performing stretching exercises in order to make the muscles more flexible is like pulling on a door to make it open wider. If you pull hard enough all you’ll wind up doing is damaging the hinges (the joint of the door) and perhaps the door itself.
But why is it that when people stretch, after a time they can seemingly move their joints throughout a greater range of motion? Several different studies conducted by various researchers across the globe have come to similar conclusions. When people engage in stretching programs, the contractile properties of the muscle do not change, which means the muscles do not experience any direct benefit. Instead, the subjects in these studies became more tolerant to the discomfort of the stretching.
You can try this out for yourself. Sit on the floor and straighten your legs completely. Sit up as tall as possible and slowly, while keeping your back arched and rigid, try and touch your toes. As you stretch farther and farther, you’ll soon feel a deep discomfort in the back of your thighs—but don’t push past this point! If you did this stretch day in and day out for several weeks, you would eventually get used to the feeling and be able to stretch farther. This is called stretch tolerance and it is simply that—a tolerance of the stretch. You have not created longer or more pliable muscles (this is the little white lie Pilates practitioners tell us). All you have done is become accustomed to the feeling.
Now I know that a lot of coaches and trainers advocate stretching, especially for kids involved in sports, and I know we often use the term stretching in the wrong context.
To use the same example, a child wakes up in the morning and pulls his or her elbows back, thereby stretching the muscles of the chest. But is the child actually doing this? What happens is that by pulling the elbows back, the muscles of the back are contracting and thus the muscles of the chest stretch. What this child (or the adult for that matter) is doing is squeezing and contracting the muscles of the back. So rather than call this stretching, it should be called contracting! Powerfully contracting your muscles through strength training is the best way to increase muscular strength, which will enhance joint flexibility. Things are not always what they seem. It’s one of the reasons we should let exercise science—and not exercise tradition—guide our health and fitness endeavors. A joint should never be made more flexible without a concomitant (simultaneous) increase in the strength of the muscles that surround it. So the bottom line is that there is no need to stretch before or after a strength training program. Furthermore, the act of stretching to increase safety or to improve athletic performance should be heavily considered. Having said all this, I know that a lot of people still like to stretch and feel good when they do. If stretching is something that makes you feel good, then by all means do it—but carefully. Kids, however, do not need to stretch before or after athletic endeavors. it seems as if it is a good thing for kids to do, but there is no scientific evidence or any theoretical basis for stretching.
In fact, if you stretch too much, you can damage the ligaments that attach bones together. Ligaments have little blood flow and when lengthened, they are lengthened permanently. This may be necessary if you are a dancer or a martial artist, but it is not healthy. In fact, several studies have shown that athletes’ power output is decreased when they stretch as it can loosen ligaments and tendons to the point where less force can be developed, like an old and worn-out rubber band. So if your child is involved in a sport that requires explosive power (e.g., football, wrestling, sprinting, and so forth) stretching may very well be counterproductive. When kids become stronger, they are better able to move a joint throughout a greater range of motion. They will be able to perform any joint motion better because the underlying muscles are better able to move the joint and better able to stabilize and protect the joint from injury. Many research papers on the subject bear this out. We know that strength training improves joint range of motion in adults. There is no reason to believe that it will not do the same (if necessary) for kids.
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