How to Stretch for Increased Flexibility
Welcome to Today’s Blog On Stretching for Flexibility!
In this post I’ll share with you how most of us “think we should stretch” how to stretch properly as well as some of the benefits of stretching regularly!
The Stretching Myth
When it comes to stretching, there is only one universal truth. You must stretch until it hurts! Of course I’m just joking, however this is the approach that many of us take to stretching. We push our stretches to the point where our muscles are in pain and thats the way we “know that we are getting a good stretch”. Maybe one of the reasons we believe we need to use this approach is because we stretch so infrequently that we try to make up for lost time! Unfortunately this form of stretching is often highly unsuccessful. Our bodies are incredibly intelligent and when it sends a pain signal it’s for a purpose and that purpose is to warn you of danger. So If the body thinks its in danger, what are the odds that it’s going to actually become more relaxed and flexible for you? You guessed it…about zero!
How to Stretch Properly
So if taking our stretches into pain doesn’t work, then how should we go about stretching? To understand the answer we want to think about flexibility being less about stretching the muscles and more about training our nervous system. A lot of flexibility improvements are actually not the muscle getting longer, but the nervous system allowing the muscle to lengthen to more of its full capability! When we lengthen our muscles consistently not to a point of pain but instead to a point where we can feel mild to moderate tension without pain - our nervous system starts to feel safer at greater muscle lengths and it responds by allowing increased range of motion/flexibility. Here are some tips to help you get started!
Focus on finding a point of mild to moderate tension with no pain
Hold each stretch for 1 minute. If you are working on two sides - do 1 minute for each side.
Practice long and slow breathing with each stretch. If your stretch is too intense to breathe slowly then reduce the intensity
Take your stretches slightly deeper only when your body allows it to go deeper with the same mild to moderate tension. Your body will let you know when its ready - don’t push it.
It’s better to do a little stretching a lot versus a lot of stretching a little so be consistent in your stretching practice. I’d recommend starting at 3x/week and Daily will give you the best results
So now that you know stretching is hugely about training the nervous system and needs to be done in a calm, thoughtful manner without pain, get out there and give it a try consistently and let me know how it goes for you! If you want some support to get started You can always Join Me in Stretch & Relax Class Online Mondays at 4:30 PST (6:30 CST) or email me at joel@heartcenterwellness.com with your thoughts and comments.
With Intention,
Joel
