Benefits of Stretching?

JTick

I feel kinda ignorant, but bear with me a minute.

I'm not flexible at all. This has caused some problems with my joints because they don't move like should and don't have full range of motion. My physical therapist is currently having me do some stretches to try to get mobility back in my ankle.

HOWEVER...muscles can't be lengthened. I think we all agree on that...there is no way to lengthen muscle without detaching it from the bone. So how does that work with stretching muscles/tendons/etc? Can they become more flexible, although not lengthened? Can the fibers become more elastic?

Of course I'm doing what the PT says, I want this darned ankle healed. But I also want to understand how all this works too.

JTick

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stephinator92

I am in no way, shape, or form an expert on the topic, but what I do know is that being flexible can help prevent future injuries. When I'm doing a workout video and the instructor mentions lengthening muscles, what I sort of envision, is that the muscles are all bunched up from doing a hard workout, so they are lengthening back out. Being flexible is definitely a goal anyone should have and regardless stretching feels good. It's also a great way to warm up/cool down depending on the type of stretching you are doing. Also, my active recovery days involve Yoga which is basically all stretching. It's definitely beneficial to practice stretching, frequently.

ninerbuff

Well first off stretching IS a form of physical exercise. Benefits include : ROM within joints, flexibility, improved posture, improved circulation and help with stress relief.
As for how it "lengthens" muscle, what that really means is that the muscle fibers are just being elongated within ROM.

The stretching of a muscle fiber begins with the sarcomere (see section Muscle Composition), the basic unit of contraction in the muscle fiber. As the sarcomere contracts, the area of overlap between the thick and thin myofilaments increases. As it stretches, this area of overlap decreases, allowing the muscle fiber to elongate. Once the muscle fiber is at its maximum resting length (all the sarcomeres are fully stretched), additional stretching places force on the surrounding connective tissue (see section Connective Tissue). As the tension increases, the collagen fibers in the connective tissue align themselves along the same line of force as the tension. Hence when you stretch, the muscle fiber is pulled out to its full length sarcomere by sarcomere, and then the connective tissue takes up the remaining slack. When this occurs, it helps to realign any disorganized fibers in the direction of the tension. This realignment is what helps to rehabilitate scarred tissue back to health.

http://web.mit.edu/tkd/stretch/stretching_2.html#SEC5

Also cool to read if you have time:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3273886/

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Sam_I_Am77

I feel kinda ignorant, but bear with me a minute.

I'm not flexible at all. This has caused some problems with my joints because they don't move like should and don't have full range of motion. My physical therapist is currently having me do some stretches to try to get mobility back in my ankle.

HOWEVER...muscles can't be lengthened. I think we all agree on that...there is no way to lengthen muscle without detaching it from the bone. So how does that work with stretching muscles/tendons/etc? Can they become more flexible, although not lengthened? Can the fibers become more elastic?

Of course I'm doing what the PT says, I want this darned ankle healed. But I also want to understand how all this works too.

Correct, muscles cannot be lengthened per say but they can definitely stretch or become more elastic. The benefits are that being more flexible helps your overall mobility and basic kinematics. If you lack mobility or even strength in certain muscle groups, it can cause dysfunction in your movement and actually cause injuries to that muscle and even other muscles. Definitely do some self-myofacial release, active stretching, and static stretching.

JTick

Thank you all, this makes much more sense now. I will look at the studies when I get a few minutes. I suppose since I have such poor mobility anyway, I definitely need to make a more concentrated effort on regularly including stretching.

congruns

I was told that stretching before and after workouts helps to soreness the next day due to lactic acid in the muscles. Now when even I have free time during the day, I stretch. I no longer wake up with the achy feeling in the morning.