Have you ever wondered if stretching is important? Or why it may be important?
Let’s start with the basics.
- As a general concept, think of how a muscle contracts during exercise. When using a muscle, it naturally contracts and bulks up in order to generate strength during exercise.
- If a muscle stays in a prolonged state of contraction, it may not return to its full natural state of relaxation. This is not always a good thing. We can lose flexibility over time and, as a result, we can lose the maximal power and strength that the muscle is capable of exerting.
- So how do we stay flexible? The answer is to stretch after the muscle has been contracted. In other words, we need to stretch after exercise if we want the muscle to go back to its normal length.
- Muscles don’t tighten and contract only from exercise! For example, think of your work posture at the computer. Your pectoral muscles have a higher chance of contracting and tightening while sitting and reaching for a keyboard, compared to when you are standing straight. Over a prolonged time, it wouldn’t be uncommon to see tight pectoral and chest muscles from computer use. What this means is that stretching after work is usually just as important as after exercise.
- Stretching is a long term activity that should become routine. Doing stretches isn’t difficult – remembering to do them on a regular basis is harder!
At North Adelaide Chiropractic, we make sure to educate our patients on the importance and benefits of stretching. We provide specific home stretches and exercises aimed to help your symptoms.
Looking for modern chiropractic that combines adjustments, soft tissue work and stretching? Visit us at the North Adelaide Medical Centre and let us help you today.