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STRETCHING AWAY YOUR STRESS
By, Dr. Rob Morgan

Twenty years ago, leaders of sports medicine told us the way to a healthy body is to get the heart pumping and the muscles moving. Ten years ago, we were told that we need to bulk up and pump that iron also. Today, these same leaders in health and exercise physiology have added another tenant of health to their fitness guidelines; get flexible.

Getting flexible is not a replacement for good old fashioned cardiovascular exercise and weight lifting, but it certainly is more doable in a busy day-to-day routine. Even if it just to obtain a better golf swing, or to maintain loose limbs, you can do some simple stretches while in the car or watching TV.

As we get older, some of the changes we notice are decreased range of motion of our bodies, and "creakiness" in our bones and joints. Along with this decreased range of motion come orthopedic problems such as neck pain and low back pain. We also become more susceptible to injuries. More often than not these injuries are avoidable if we had good flexibility and readiness to counter any stresses that may perhaps result in an injury.

Everyday in our lives we go about experiencing all sorts of stressors. Some of these are in the form of physical stress, while others are experiences as mental stress. Stress, in general, is like the word "luck", there are good stresses and bad stresses. What we need to do is find a way to handle the bad stresses and adapt to them so that they do the least physical harm to our bodies. Some simple bad stressors would include bending over to pick up a pen off the floor suddenly straining our lower back, or reaching up to get something out of the closet and straining our neck or shoulder. These injuries could have been avoided if we just adhered to some simple stretching routines on a daily basis.

Health is defined as not merely the freedom of disease, but a state of complete physical, mental, and social well being. It is demoralizing when we cannot put on our socks or comb our hair because of some neck / shoulder muscle strain. It is even more regretful when we realize that it could have been avoided the whole time if we stuck to the prevention model of health instead of waiting until something goes wrong or goes "out of whack" before we do something about it. One such solution: stretching and flexibility training.

It is clear that the connective tissue in the body benefits from stretching. The same tissue also suffers from the lack of flexibility. We see many times in nature animals stretching to maintain their flexibility. When we stretch our muscles we are triggering growth factors that in turn increase the number of tiny, contractile proteins, filaments, actin and myosin, inside each muscle cell. Muscle fibers have sensory fibers within each muscle called muscle spindles. Tendons that attach muscle to bone have sensory fibers within them called golgi tendons sensory fibers that respond to tension and stretch. Ultimately, these sensory fibers are responsible for the tension a muscle has. When you stretch a muscle too far, these receptors send out a signal, telling the muscle to contract or relax immediately to protect itself against injury. However, when these fibers are overly stimulated leading to over contractibility, it does not allow for good stretching. This over excitability of the muscles sets our bodies up for aches and pains due to tension. On the flip side, when you stretch carefully, you can train these receptors to pause before firing, allowing the muscle to get longer before contraction. This will also allow a muscle to grow and gain stability throughout the body, thereby avoiding injury.

Muscle physiologists have identified several types of muscle stretches: static, ballistic, and PNF (proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation) stretching. Ballistic stretches are the kind of repetitive "bobbing" one usually does when they reach to touch their toes, bouncing repetitively. This type of stretching is generally not recommended because they can cause muscle injury. Static stretching is the most common stretches where one holds a stretch for a period of time, usually 10 to 30 seconds. These static stretches are safe for the muscles.

Finally, PNF stretches are a more complicated stretch that often requires a second person to administer. For example, as you sit on the floor with your legs extended, your partner may take one leg and facilitate a flexion stretch on one leg (stretching the hamstrings) while you push back with a mild resistance for about 6 to 10 seconds. This is then followed by you completely relaxing while your partner stretches your leg further into flexion and holds a static stretch for 10 to 30 seconds.

It is also ideal to stretch after weight lifting or exercising. Studies have shown that people who stretch prior to exercise or cardiovascular workouts do not have any more benefit than those who do not. However, those that stretch after a workout period show significant benefits from preventing muscle and connective tissue injury.

Some simple stretches a person can do while watching TV or in the car while idling at a stoplight include neck exercises that utilize all of the ranges of motion; flexion, extension, lateral flexion, and rotation. In addition, not all these stretches need to be done at the same time. You can break up the stretches throughout the day. For example, when you wake up in the morning you can do just low back stretches to activate muscles that have been at rest all night. Throughout the day you can do neck and shoulder stretches to ease the tension you may experience at work, especially if your job entails you sitting at a desk all day. When you get home you can re-do some of the lower back stretches with leg stretches. All in all, these stretches on all parts of the body should take no more than 20 minutes a day, most of which can be broken up into different sections throughout the day. Unlike exercise, which is mostly beneficial if done for a period of time, no less than twenty minutes, stretching takes at most 20 minutes a day and does not need to be all 20 minutes at the same time.

Stretching on a daily basis not only reduces your general aches and pains, but has been shown to reduce headaches and tensions experiences from mental stresses. Tension headaches are often felt in the back of the head. This is the location where key muscles that are attached at the base of the head are also attached to the upper extremities. Reducing the tension to these muscles will reduce the tension to the base of your head, which will limit tension headaches. Stretching can reduce your overall daily stress.

Touch of Health
985 S Buffalo Grove Rd
Buffalo Grove, Illinois 60089
Phone: 847-541-HURT (847-541-4878)
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