We all know that stretching is a important part of keeping our body healthy for athletic activities but some people do not yet know how beneficial stretching everyday can be for our bodies. For every muscle in our body we have a antagonistic muscle. This means whenever we slouch or have bad posture of any form we are stretching one muscle while we are allowing another one to shorten. When we are doing varying activities this is not a big issue however since most of us have jobs that require a similar sitting position or motion on a daily basis we must take measures to counteract the negative effects of holding these positions for long periods of time. One easy way to do this is to stretch. For example when you are spending a lot of time at you desk it will be important to stretch your upper back and neck as well as your pectoral muscles. Stretching these muscles regularly by doing something called a posture break can help to relieve stress on your body and your spine. When allow our body to get used to this misalignment it can cause our joints to not function properly and they will start to wear on each other. 

        Stretching has more benefits than just keeping our muscle groups balanced. Stretching helps us to maintain mobility, blood flow, and muscle mass. When we stretch before exercising it helps prepare the muscles for the activity. Stretching will increase blood flow to the muscle as well as elasticity. Proper elasticity helps prevent injury during exercise because it you can stretch your hamstring 2 inches before stretching and 4 inches posted stretching then when a force is applied to the muscle that causes the muscle to stretch 3 inches it will no longer cause a injury in that muscle. So remember to stretch regularly with exercise. 

         There are several different types of stretches and each has its own benefits and risks. The first rule of thumb I like to follow is if there is pain after stretching you stretched to hard. Though it is okay to feel the stretch and it may even be necessary if the pain persists after the stretch is over then damage has occurred to the muscles and that is not our goal when we are stretching. The safest form of stretching is going to be static stretching. This is a very common form of stretching and it is when you make slow movements to stretch your own muscles. This is safe because you are in constant control of how much force is put into the stretch. Next is Active stretching in which you use the antagonistic muscle in order to stretch a muscle. This is also safe when done slowly because again you are in complete control and most antagonistic muscle are not strong enough to damage the muscle. Now we will talk about passive stretches where someone does a stretch on you. This can be dangerous since you are no longer in control and the person performing the stretch can force the stretch to much damaging the muscle so make sure you trust the person stretching you. The last one we will cover is dynamic stretches where the stretch is done with a faster movement. This form of stretching offer the benefit of more blood flow during the stretch and allows a deep stretch without help from another person but with the speed of the stretch it can cause damage to the muscle as there is less control of the action. Though there is more forms of stretching these four give a general description of the safety of stretches. If you have further questions you can always call us at Lake State Chiropractic at 616-277-4024.

         So remember to stretch regularly and safely. It will not only help your flexibility but your cardiovascular system, skeletal system and your posture.