Steve Haywood Health & Fitness

An article by Linda Haywood © 2007 Steve Haywood Health & Fitness

General guidelines for stretching;

• Stretch the major muscles 3-5 times per week.
• Static stretching (no bouncing) is advised following exercise.
• Hold each stretch for 20-30 seconds.

“Flexibility exercises should be incorporated into the overall fitness programme sufficient to develop and maintain range of motion (ROM). These exercises should stretch the major muscle groups and be performed a minimum of 2-3 days a week. Stretching should include appropriate static and/or dynamic techniques… Static techniques should be held for 10 to 30 seconds…” ( American College of Sports Medicine).

• Use dynamic or mobile stretching after a warm up of sufficient intensity to induce light sweating.

A warm up will reduce the strain placed on the heart by vigorous exercise.

Changes in regional blood flow mean shunting blood from the body organs to the exercising muscles. Warm-up makes this process smoother and more graduated.

Warm up enables the body to reach a ‘steady state’ of energy production gradually, and makes tissues more pliable and ready to exercise.

A good warm up will make a person optimally aroused for sport. An anxious individual should be calmed-down and an under-motivated individual should be enthused.

Match your warm-up to your body requirement and exercise type.

Tissues will stretch more effectively when warm. The movements used in the warm-up to take to take the major joints through their range of motion are not stretching exercises as such.
Women

Females are generally more flexible than males, especially around the hip and shoulder. Hormonal changes will also affect flexibility in females. During pregnancy, and to a lesser extent during menstruation, relaxin hormone is released into the bloodstream. making women more flexible.

Suppleness is also dictated by training regime, lifestyle and previous injury. Limitation to range of movement can often be permanent and many individuals who take up exercise late in life will find their range of movement is not as full as it could have been.

However, the correct training program can help some people to achieve greater suppleness than they ever would have without correct instruction. Also, stretching programmes can be used to restore movement, correct posture, and alleviate injuries.