Physiotherapist Trip Afterthoughts (Stretching is Good)

There were several things that were stuck in my mind after leaving the physiotherapist last Wednesday, in order:

1. How in the world did he know I sit a lot?
2. How in the world did he know I don't stretch THAT long during my exercises?
3. My legs feel a whole lot better. That's just amazing.
4. He sure is good. It would be nice to be a physiotherapist... its almost like having deductive reasoning much like Sherlock Holmes. I want to be Sherlock Holmes.
5. "During normal state, muscle tissues are parallel to each other. During jumps and landings (like aerobics), muscle tissues become compressed together, and normally they're aligned parallel, so during contractions, they align perfectly and decontract ok. But on occasions, the muscle tissues get mixed and tangled with each other. It seems this like your case. So we need to fix that. Stretching helps."


***** If you are bored as hell to read my comments and ramblings, at least JUST MAKE SURE you scroll down to "To cap it off" at the end of this entry and read THEM. *****


Curious about what the role of stretching actually plays in athletic activities, (I mean, its just stretching right? what's so great about stretching?) I resolved to research about this. It doesn't really bode well that the probable cause (and solution) to my knee problem would be stretches, because I've always never ever stretched "properly" and thought they were just something younger people do not do because they're usually fit. (Of course, I should've known otherwise, since all my aero classes ALWAYS start and end with stretching. That should've given me some sort of idea... but then I was always dense and ignorant this way.)

I came across this nice article while searching the net, that gives a nice overview of what muscles really are and what exactly happens during stretching. The document is a bit scientific in its format, but they're explained clearly, so it shouldn't be too difficult a read if you're really interested and curious. (I usually tend to veer toward more scientific and in-depth explanations, it helps me to understand better when it comes to medical stuff, rather than the usual analogies and metaphors. Of course, analogies always help, but most mainstream news-type documents don't elaborate further than simplistic explanations.) Take note that the author is not actually a physiotherapist, but someone who has taken an interest on the physiological human make up, but all the content are backed by scientific sources.

The article did confirm my physiotherapist's statement, and gave me also an enlightening view of how muscles, ligaments and tendons work. And how stretching is important and beneficial to health and safety of the athlete. (Similarly, during my net searches, I came across numerous instances of "try this stretch and it just made me fly during my competition marathon" type of comments, which were also interesting benefits to stretching pre-workout)

In fact, I was talking to a friend yesterday, and he was surprised I don't take my time stretching out before any actual exercise. He said that on an average, he stretches 15 minutes for an hour's worth of workout like weightlifting (and at his rate, that's only BEFORE the actual exercise, not counting the stretches AFTER exercise) It seems that his Physical Ed class used to time them for stretches (15 minutes actually) and the habit stuck.

Its a good habit to adopt, after what I've been through. I dont think my high school's physical ed (the friend I mentioned studied in a different school) class did try to put their student's health and safety in mind by trying to make sure the students knew the importance of stretching, but then, I may have been NOT paying attention, and besides, I spent almost 90% of my gradeschool and highschool out of PE classes anyway, so who knows. (I was in the school choir, and choir participants were exempted from taking any Physical Ed classes.)

So, the general consensus seems to be more of stretching before actual exercise is VERY, VERY important and not just "do it" or "important" (I should've taken that seriously when someone told me before) and it does not merely make you feel and perform better, but also prevents any damaging injuries, REGARDLESS of the fact that exercise is good for you.

I'm sure a lot of my readers probably know this, but off chance that someone didn't, I hope I can help them out this way. I didn't know about it until now, and fortunately, nothing really extremely serious happened, but it was a bad experience altogether.


To cap it off, here's a summary:

1. Stretching is EXTREMELY important (Unless you have plans to disable yourself)
2. Do it BEFORE and AFTER you do any exercise (and that includes swimming)
3. It's a proper stretch when you feel a pull in the area being stretched (If you're not feeling anything, you're doing it wrong)
4. It's NOT A STRETCH unless you do (and hold) it for at least 20 seconds.
5. One rep is fine, as long as you make SURE its at least 20 seconds.

Good luck, and happy stretching!