CHAPTER 3
STRETCHING What’s in a good stretch? It can feel good when you get up in the morning and have a good yawn, pushing your arms out to welcome the day. Or, it can feel slightly painful when you’re desperately reaching up to the top shelf for a can of beans. It’s just a matter of degree. Stretching is simply extending a muscle beyond its customary range of motion (ROM), which is determined by what that muscle does and how flexible it is – how far we can reach, bend or turn. Stretching, as it will be described in this book, is the process of placing limbs in a particular position that will optimise the available length of the muscle and associated soft tissues. There are many benefits to stretching, including reducing tension in the muscles, enhancing muscular co-ordination and increasing blood circulation around the body, but its capacity to increase the ROM in the joints is central to our conditioning as runners. Stretching is centred around the muscles as they are the most important factor in ROM. Bones and joints have some impact on flexibility, but there is little we can do to affect them, whereas ligaments, tendons, skin and scar tissue do also react to the stretching process. The crucial factor for achieving a greater ROM is the elongation of the muscle and connective tissue. Each muscle fibre is made up of lots of cell sections called sarcomeres. The aim of stretching is to release any tension in each of these segments of muscle. The science explaining what is happening in your body when you stretch is complex, with some areas still a matter of debate by experts. For our requirements, just some basic facts will suffice. By stretching, we are developing the relationship between our muscles and our nervous system. Nerve endings are dispersed throughout the muscle and tendon. When the muscle is put under stress, it is these nerves that sound the alarm through discomfort, pain and resistance. By stretching, we are reassuring the nervous system that it can tolerate a greater degree of muscle extension without having to fire off these signals. Through a regular stretching routine a number of other changes can be induced within the muscles and associated tissues. Muscular tension is reduced and the
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