What you should know about stretching.

How is stretching beneficial? Many people believe stretching increases your flexibility, loosens tight muscles, and prepares your muscles for a high intensity workout. This isn’t entirely true, maybe a little, but not really. If you stretch your muscles for a couple of seconds a day in hopes of achieving any of the previously stated claims, you’re in for a rude awakening. Your muscles don’t change, stretch, or grow in the course of a couple of seconds. Flexibility is determined by your nervous system’s tolerance to that range.

If you’re confined behind a desk all day then you may have short hamstrings. This is due to continuous contraction of the hamstring muscle. A result of this is experiencing tightness in that area. And No, the general ten second stretch a day doesn’t help solve your problem. Melissa recommends that you loosen those muscles up as often as you can. Instead of being trapped behind your desk all day you can sit with your legs straightened on the floor to give those muscles a break.

Is stretching pointless? No, you can still do short, frequent stretches that are within your range. This assists your body into exploring your movement ranges and then, very gradually, helps you become more mobile.