The Subtle Art of Stretching

Stretching doesn’t mean moving your body beyond the range and feeling the stretch –sometimes the pain–.

It’s more like an art you need to learn in order to get the most benefit out of it.

Being a personal trainer in Hackney, I’ve seen a countless number of people stretching the wrong way.

If you think you might be one of them, read on to find out the correct way to stretch your muscles.

Stretching is purpose-oriented.

Before you stretch, you need to determine what you’re expecting from your stretching exercises. In general, the stretch technique varies according to the aim.

Here is more details..

1- Warm up/cool down

Stretch your muscle gently to the point where it still feels comfortable, hold for 15 seconds.

This stretch aims for gradually elevating tissue temperature to minimize injury and soreness.

2- Improve performance (Plyo-exercise)

A sudden stretch done fast on a muscle gives you a more powerful contraction.

Stretch your muscles by kicking hard before a sprint to run faster or swinging your arms before a throw to throw further.

3- Relax a muscle (Prolonger stretch)

As in yoga and bed-time stretching, stretch gently and hold for more than 30 seconds.

It is optimal to hold the stretch for 45-60 seconds for the muscle to relax.

4- Increasing the Range (Ballistic stretch)

As we see in gymnastics, stretching to increase the range of movement means stretching as much as tolerated and then oscillating to force the joint towards more range.

This works the best in young ones when the tissues are more elastic.

To conclude, your stretch technique has a huge impact on your training. Jazz Alessi, the expert personal trainer Canary Wharf recommends you find the best technique to reach your fitness goals even faster.