The Best Way to Stretch…

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To follow along my previous post of some of my favorite stretches I am going to provide you with more stretches that involve the whole body. This post may seem very dense to some so if you want to just get to the meat and potatoes skim to the end. For the others read on.

Many fitness buffs advocate stretching and you always hear that it is so good for you. Traditional stretching where you hold a stretch for 20-30 seconds, does not always produce the best results. This is why I take a multi pronged approach towards achieving good flexibility. I use static stretching, foam rolling, massage, and dynamic exercises in big ranges of motion to keep the body moving properly. Regular static stretching puts the muscle in its end range of motion and forces a passive stretch. Great for recovery, not the best in other situations. The problem is, this is not applicable to life or sports because we want to achieve an active stretch, where there is control of movement in a multi-plane environment. Take a typical passive stretch of the hamstrings which looks like this…

compared to an active straight leg raise which looks like this…

The active leg raise demonstrates control of range of motion and adequate hamstring flexibility. The passive stretch I cannot tell if that muscle has control because she is using the band to pull herself into a stretch and also the bottom leg is not straight. First picture shows loose, weak, hyper-flexibility, second  picture shows me usable flexibility, control, and strength.

Static stretching can also be dangerous because it inhibits the stretch reflex , which is a protective mechanism, and teaches weakness in the end ranges of motion. You can’t force a muscle to stretch; If your muscles sense a stretch it will resist that stretch even more to prevent injury to the joint. I also don’t find more advanced stretching like PNF (proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation) stretching to be that applicable. It requires a partner, takes a long time, and again it is still forcing a muscle to stretch. The best way to stretch is to do exercises under load in full ranges of motion.

The way I tend to incorporate stretching is to add movement to the stretch and use the antagonist muscle to help relax the muscle into a stretch by reciprocal inhibition. In other words, you use the contraction of the opposing muscle group to help the agonist relax. For example, if your stretching the hip flexors, you forcefully contract the glutes (antagonist) to help inhibit the tension of the hip flexors. This tends to work well, and is the basis for Active Isolated Stretching (AIS). For example, when stretching the hamstrings, it sometimes helps to relax and use a  hip flexor/quad contraction to pull the leg into flexion and pull the toes toward you to stretch the gastrotroc/calf complex along with the hamstrings. Adding slight movement to the stretch allows the joint to be mobilized and sense what ranges it can allow movement in. This is similar to 3D stretching Michael Boyle uses. Muscle fibers are of different lengths and orientation (direction) in the whole muscle and may not cover the whole distance from origin to insertion; Adding movement allows you to hit all different muscle lengths and orientations.

Once you stretch the muscles in “isolation” you can start to integrate whole body stretches. This is based off the concept that the body works as one, and we are connected by fascial lines front head to toe. This is illustrated in the book “Anatomy Trains,” which I feel is a must read for people interested. Fascia is like a seran wrap covering our muscles and can limit the amount of stretch a muscle receives. The superficial back line for example connects the plantar fascia in the feet to the aponeurosis of the skull as shown to the left. If any one of those muscles are tight they will exhibit a pull along that line and disrupt smooth movement. This demonstrates the concept of relative stiffness. This concept shows how muscles of different density/stiffness interact with one another. The hamstrings in the fourth picture below look very tight, so much so that they won’t allow themselves to be stretched and will end up pulling the low back (which is not as tight) into a rounded position. So I teach this movement to only go as far as your back will allow a neutral spine (like in picture 3). Only work in the ranges of motion your body will allow. So now, the best way to stretch is to do exercises under load in full ranges of motion that your body will allow.

For my stretching warm up routines, I tend to favor more isolated stretching in the beginning of a warm up and then see how the body moves in a whole body stretch. For example, stretch the hamstrings and calves independently then integrate both into a total body stretch and see how the joints and muscles respond. So it would looks like this….

1. Isolated Calf stretch

Focus on calf stretch only so knee can be bent or straight to get different muscles of calf. Pull toes toward shin to help relax the posterior calf.

2. Isolated Hamstring Stretch

keep back straight! Bend at the hip to make sure your stretching the hamstring muscles. Knee can be bent or straight.

3.  Inchworm

Hamstring & calf stretch.  This is stretching the superficial back line, and we are stretching both hamstrsings and calves in tandem.  legs and back stay straight! Like this….

not like this…

Notice rounded back and bent legs, so we are actually stretching more back and less hamstring, which is NOT what I am looking for. This is what most trainers would advocate, and I see it all the time. I teach it differently and  I want to see a “V” like shape so I can see the Superficial Back Line being put into a stretch, while maintaining a flat back.

Another favorite total body stretch of mine is what I call The Worlds Greatest Stretch.

4. Worlds Greatest Stretch

This is a fairly advanced stretch and most people don’t understand the complexities of it at their first try. I stole this from Nick Winklemen of Athletes Performance. This is the first part of the stretch, notice flat back, and fairly straight line from the ankle, knee, hip, shoulder, ear. This is a neutral posture exhibiting pillar strength. You should get a strong glute contraction on the leg that is straight behind, because glutes extend(straighten) your hip. There is no hyper extension of neck, and feet are straight, not turned out, and knee is locked out.

Once again here are the three movement progressions for a client with tight legs…

1 Isolate  stretches (calf & hamstring)

2 whole body integrating stretch (inchworm & world’s greatest)

3 whole body dynamic stretch (jumping jacks)

If you continue to work on your range of motion in lifts like squats, deadlifts, push ups, and chin ups, your muscles should be of good length and good strength. Remember, the best way to stretch is to do exercises under load in full ranges of motion that your body will allow. Strength work is flexibility work.