Written by Caroline Collins, M.S. Ed
This article will discuss the benefits of stretching and explore the scientific reasons behind the importance of stretching in a comprehensible, reader friendly manner so that understanding can be easily grasped and applied to your routine.
Along with the information listed previously, this article will highlight:
- How your skeletal muscles get energy to move
- Why lactic acid occurs and how to rid your body of this waste
- How your skeletal muscle fibers recover from the natural phenomena of tearing that occurs during physical stresses of a workout
- Why we need protein for proper recovery
- How stretching is part of injury prevention
Many of these bulleted points you may have heard of, after reading this article you will get the explanation and now you can spread the word and teach others!
Previous scientific thought and athletic practice was that stretching before exercise was the most important time to stretch. Although stretching before exercise is important to get blood flow going and joints open, which help in injury prevention, stretching after exercise is crucial for ultimate overall performance and recovery.
Let’s first delve into what happens to your skeletal muscles during physical activity; whether it may be weight lifting, running, or any sports training. When you apply physical pressure to your skeletal muscles, your muscles require a lot of energy to move, or contract. This energy is obtained by breaking down glucose molecules (sugar or a simple carbohydrate) in the presence of oxygen. The more energy needed, the more glucose is broken down and therefore, the more oxygen is needed. This is why you breathe more heavily when you are under physical pressures, because your lungs take in air which have oxygen and this oxygen travels in your blood to the muscles under physical force.
When you push new limits to your body with more strenuous exercise, the oxygen demands are too high and your skeletal muscles still need to break down glucose for energy. What happens then is your muscles break down the glucose without oxygen present and lactic acid is produced in your muscle cells.
Lactic acid buildup is one phenomena that is the reason for needing to stretch after a workout. The presence of lactic acid in your muscle causes soreness and muscle fatigue. By stretching after a workout, you are bringing more blood to the muscles which then allow the lactic acid to travel out of your muscles and into your blood. Since lactic acid is a waste product, your blood will carry it to your kidneys to be excreted out through urine.
The second phenomena that will be highlighted for the importance of stretching after a workout is proper recovery. During physical stress on skeletal muscles, the individual muscle cell fibers tear. These fibers are made of protein, so to repair themselves, your muscle cells need protein. This is why protein is a main nutrition in post workout meals. However, in order to have efficient and speedy recovery of these ripped fibers, your muscle cells need proper access to the protein in your body. Nutrients broken down in our food go from our digestive system into our blood. Blood travels throughout our whole body and transports gases (oxygen, carbon dioxide), nutrients (protein, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, minerals), wastes.
When you stretch your muscles, your muscles increase their surface area which allow more blood flow to each individual muscle cell. The increased blood flow to these cells gives more protein and easier absorption of protein to the ripped fibers, thus allowing for better recovery. The analogy I like to use with my students for this phenomena is the practice of properly air drying your clothes after you wash them. When you take your wet clothes out of the washer, they are twisted and folded together. You do not keep them this way. You stretch them out, giving as much surface area to the open air as possible. Think of your clothes as your muscles and the air as the blood. The more stretched your muscles are, the more blood flow and the better recovery.
The last phenomena to be discussed on the importance of stretching is for injury prevention. Stretching before and after working out allows better flexibility and mobility, thus giving more motion for your joints.
Health & Happiness,
CC