Why Stretch?
Without regular stretching, muscles tend to lose flexibility so that when called upon to perform an extreme movement, as in an emergency, they are less able to extend to their full range of movement, often resulting in damage to the muscle tissue. Proper stretching, even for short periods, can help in the following ways:
· Prevent injuries: Stretching improves the range of movement of a muscle. Hence if a joint is stretched to its limit, a muscle with a greater capacity to lengthen will allow greater movement.
· Improve biomechanical efficiency: An example is a tight Achilles tendon. It is inefficient because it does not allow a complete and strong push-off for each stride during running.
· Increase extensibility of muscles: Increasing range of movement allows for greater speed and powering actions that require a wide range, e.g. throwing in baseball, bowling in cricket.
· Improve co-ordination between muscle groups: Where variability exists between muscle groups weakness can develop in musculo-tendinous connections.
· Improve relaxation of muscles: This is often an advantage for pre-competition warm-up, helping the athlete feel psychologically prepared for the action to follow.
· Decrease muscle tightening after movement: Stretching after the event can diminish muscle tightening and prevent stiffness (not soreness) developing.
