Top 5 Things To Avoid When Stretching

To say that I often get asked about stretches is an understatement. About half of my patients are already stretching, and they want more. But should they be? Do they need more? Here are the most common things to avoid.

1. DON'T stretch a muscle that doesn't need stretching. How do you know if it needs stretching? In reality, it takes a trained eye. The best method is to find out which, if any, muscles are shortened. Is the range of motion in the associated joint less than what it should be? Is it less than the other side? If you have a muscle that is overused, it may feel tight. But daily stretching of a chronically overused muscle does not solve the problem. Its best to figure out why its overused, and to try to change your behaviors in some way to allow it to heal. 2. DON'T assume that if a muscle feels tight or taught, it should be stretched. Just because a muscle FEELS tight, does not automatically mean that it is SHORT. You also need to compare this to the overall genetics of the person. Are they flexible overall? Is there right hamstring worse than their left? What about compared to hp flexors? There is a wide range of normal for how flexible someone is overall. Not everyone needs to stretch everything all of the time. 3. DON'T hold your breath while stretching. I don't have much research to back this up. But I do have personal and professional observation. In my observations, stretching never seems to improve muscle length if the person is holding their breath. I suspect it is because when you hold your breath, you are telling your body "this is an extreme position, don't bother getting used to it". By breathing through the entire stretch, you are signalling to your body that the new muscle length position is OK, and it will not cause harm. 4. DON'T stretch a muscle 10 times a day or more. I see this mostly with patients with neck an upper back pain. Especially if the pain is one sided. The patient is stretching their neck to one side only numerous times a day, in an effort to stretch an overused, but not shortened, muscle. This patient usually asks for more stretches. But more stretching will not solve the problem that is causing their pain. 5. DON'T bounce. This was a thing. I think in the 1970's it was common. I see it rarely, but It still concerns me when I do see it. Technically it's called ballistic stretching and their is research to suggest it increased your chancs for straining the muscle. I don't think you want that. www.schaferchiropractic.com