Is Stretching Necessary?

The simple answer to the question, “is stretching necessary?”, is no. Stretching is not a completely imperative part of physical health. It is, however, extremely beneficial to stretch and maintain flexibility.

Your body is very good at adapting to the various stresses you put on it every day. Whether those stresses require mild exertion like sitting at a desk or great exertion like playing professional sports, your body will adapt to that particular activity in more ways than you might expect ... and in some ways you wish it wouldn’t. Sitting at a desk all day forces parts of your body like your back and your hips to be in a state of constant stress due to the weight of gravity on your body. Over time (maybe a few years) your body will adjust its structure to better suit the stresses of sitting at a desk. Unfortunately, the rigors of sitting at a desk don’t translate well to the rigors of walking or other exercise and, therefore, this new structure your body is creating is causing other activities to become more difficult.

A professional athlete is similarly afflicted with a body that gets very good at one or a series of movements. Because these movements are repeated over and over, the athlete’s body adjusts for those movements and doesn’t account for others not associated with the sport. Look at a tennis player’s arms for instance. The arm they use to swing the racket is going to be much more defined and often larger than the one that doesn’t do the swinging. This sort of imbalance is not going to affect the tennis player that much because they never really need that secondary arm for their daily activity. In contrast, if your body is adjusted to sit at a desk, it may be much less comfortable standing upright - a position which is certainly necessary for every person.

Maintaining flexibility is one way to counteract the affects of your body’s adjustment to your common activities. If your tissues remain flexible, your body will at least have the ability to achieve a task you don’t require of it very often. If you sit at a desk frequently, but enjoy playing golf once in a while for example, the two activities don’t work well together. Stretching and flexibility are imperative for golf even though your body is trying to deny you those traits by adjusting to sitting in a chair.

Essentially stretching helps your body maintain what is called a normal range of motion or ROM relative to your bone and muscle structure. Certainly some people are genetically more flexible than others, but this does not mean that they should not or need not stretch. In terms of health and balance, we can’t easily compare our body to someone else's because they have different genetics and may engage in different activities than we do. The best way to determine our relative flexibility is to compare alternate sides of your own body. If your right leg stretches more easily than the left, we need to spend more time stretching the left. If you can bend your body to the left more easily than the right, you need to work on bending to the right. Keeping your body in a balance of flexibility helps maintain a proper ROM for the activities you plan on pursuing.

Recently, it was also discovered that static stretching after a strength workout actually increases strength gains by as much as 5%. So even if your goal is to have the appearance of large, solid muscles, keeping them flexible will help in your pursuit.

There are three basic types of stretching: static, dynamic, and ballistic. Static stretching is the classic method of lengthening a muscle or group of muscles and holding that position for a period of time. Touching your toes, splits, and hurdler stretches are common versions of static stretching. The static stretch is the one which is most effective at the end of a strength workout. A static stretch should be held for at least 30 seconds to maintain current flexibility and longer if you wish to increase your flexibility. Holding a static stretch for only a few seconds may actually be detrimental to your ROM if you don’t return to that static stretch again several times in succession. Another method for static stretch, therefore, is to hold a position for 5-10 seconds, relieving that position and then repeating the stretch for several bouts of 5-10 seconds each.

Dynamic stretching is the most natural stretch and is the reason that a tennis player’s dominant arm, while larger than the secondary, is often more flexible and has a greater ROM. Dynamic stretch is the result of repeatedly exceeding the traditional range of a muscle structure and then exerting force with that same structure. A good example of a dynamic stretch would be a dancer or martial artist swinging their leg forward and back to the limits of their muscle range many times in a row (about 30 or more). Similarly, swimmers dynamically stretch their shoulders each time they take a stroke. Unless you are well familiar with the function of the human body, it is difficult to create your own dynamic stretches, but there are several publications out on the subject if you want to incorporate this type of stretching into your workout. Dynamic stretching is also an excellent alternative to the traditional warm up for most activity.

Ballistic stretching is very similar to dynamic stretching and often looks the same but the effects are nothing alike. Ballistic stretching involves actively exceeding the natural ROM of a particular body part like dynamic stretching, but it does not include a full contraction of the same muscle group to return to the original un-stretched position. Ballistic stretching is traditionally known as “bouncing” in an otherwise static position. This sort of technique can actually serve to restrict, not enhance the ROM of a structure and often fatigues essential mechanisms in your muscles and tendons which are designed to protect your body from dislocated joints. Regular ballistic stretching practice will often contribute to future injury and may even be the cause of injury. Ballistic stretching is an unnecessary practice and should be avoided.

Whatever type of stretching you engage in, you should incorporate it into your regular exercise routines frequently if not every day. Maintaining ROM not only ensures that your body will be capable of doing tasks other than those you regularly engage in, but also helps keep your tissues young and flexible - helping to stave off afflictions like arthritis and bone growths. Although there is no data showing that stretching is exclusively necessary for health, with all of the ways it does help to improve your body, there is little reason to exclude a good stretch.