Stretching is GOOD!

 

Try this Salute the Sun Stretch. Do just one or two breaths per position and repeat several times. Do not worry if you cannot do it like the pictures. You’ll improve with each repetition and before long you will look (more) like the picture

Stretching – Something people know they “should” do. Most people don’t like it and try to get it over as fast as possible.

The fact is stretching before an activity is the best and most proven way of preventing injuries. Keep in mind that the word “activity” really means “life” and “injury” in slow motion is “getting old”. For that matter we could equate life with flexibility and age with stiffness.

The purpose of this talk is to show you that the benefits of daily stretching for outweigh the reasons not to. You do not have to stretch and it will not kill you. That is the problem because there is almost never an urgency to do so. By not stretching we get even tighter and less likely to want to stretch.

So… what does stretching do? The bones that make up our arms, legs, back, neck, shoulders, and pelvis are held together with:

1.      Muscles – they do the work.

2.      Tendons – they connect the muscles to the bones.

3.      Ligaments – they connect bones with other bones.

Muscles act in pairs; one pulls a bone in one direction, while the other of the pair pulls it in the other direction. The tension on each side should be even so that our bodies are balanced. Stretching will help “re-set” this balance.

Here is how that works. Muscles have stretch receptors in them. When a muscle feels some stretch, it automatically relaxes. If the muscle being stretched does not relax it will pull or strain which is a polite way of saying that it rips.

Healthy muscles are able to tighten when called on to do so and then when done they should relax into a normal tone (which by the way should not be completely limp). With an overload of work, muscles will stay tight and pull back against a stretch causing stiffness in motion and potential injury. By having a regiment of stretches that are done regularly the muscles move in a balanced and uninhibited fashion.

When moving the body feels good. We want more of it and this helps our heart, lungs, digestion and many other seemingly unrelated areas of our health.

Ligaments – In general we do not want much stretch to occur in the ligaments as they hold the bones together. For instance, a whiplash injury will overstretch the ligaments holding the bones of the neck in proper alignment. With the ligament too loose the bones do not move well together and there will be grinding, lack of normal motion, and pain. An overstretched ligament is called a sprain.

Tendons – They attach muscle to bones and work together with muscles. Tendons have their own stretch receptors similar to muscles. When we stretch muscles the tendons get stretched too. The stretched tendon relaxes which will reset the tension on it so that it is in balance with the muscle and tendon whose job it is to pull in the other direction.

When I lift my right leg to walk, dozens of muscles (not in that leg) engage in order to support the raised leg, the leg on the ground and to stabilize the spine so that balance is maintained. That is just one leg raised and we do this with alternating legs hundreds or thousands of times each day without a single thought. However with just one muscle not working well in conjunction with all the others and we have stiffness, pain, and dysfunction.

So given that stretching is the best and most proven way to prevent injuries, would you agree that it is time to add stretching to your daily routine? Fortunately I have a great stretching routine. In less than five minutes per day you can stretch the main muscle groups while improving your breathing, digestion, circulation and balance.

You can do it! Stretch today!

Dr. Jeff Levine, D.C.