Short Functional Stretching Guidance

When I say functional stretching I mean the correct way to stretch your muscles to gain greater necessary length. It is good to understand the optimal ROM (range of motion) of the joints. This will keep you away from stretching things for the sake of stretching, which many times is just a waste of time. If you don't have this knowledge and are unwilling to learn it, I would suggest keeping all stretching to a "slight" stretch position (not to be confused with attempting to rip the muscle from the bone stretch). Stay clear of rigorous stretching programs. They do more harm than good. The muscles adapt quickly to stretching BUT can be easily weakened and damaged from overstretching and compensating. Unless you are an athlete in need of extreme flexibility that only has use for a specific sport and is worthless to just about everything else, you should stay clear of adding excessive flexibility just to have it (athletes such as gymnast, ballerina, certain martial artist, extreme yoga practitioners and contortionist).

  Stretching muscles within the limits is very beneficial and will keep the muscle and surrounding tissues safe from damage and instability. There are many articles and books out there that illustrate stretches and techniques. This is a guide to help you decipher what is correct and what is a waste:

 - Positions to stretch a muscle or set of muscles should not cause problems for any other muscles. By default keep the other muscles "fixed" (synergist) that are not directly shortening or stretch, will be more beneficial. A good example is stretching of the hamstring muscles. First, it is far better to have the hip flexor muscles (muscles in front of the hip) shortened (think hips hinged to create an angle between upper and lower body). Second, the lower back is better in a shortened or close to flat position to avoid compensating with lower back muscles. For beginners of this stretch the best position would be supine (on your back) on the floor, with one or both legs raised. This will give the correct position for stretching the hamstrings. A very important detail is keeping the lower back from rounding.

- As touched on above keeping other muscles in a fixed position is ideal for stretching. It is also highly beneficial to be able to keep abdominals "braced" (coined from Dr McGill) or draw the navel towards the spinal cord directly (not the same as "sucking it in"). Being able to hold this position while stretching every other muscle (exception lower back muscles)  is the correct form. This basic form should keep you from compensating while stretching and help to maintain functional ROM over excessive flexibility.

- Frequent and controlled passive stretching is better than a rigorous stretching session. Using the guides above, finding a position where the slight stretch can be maintain for over 5 minutes will allow for the muscles to properly stretch without the interference of compensating muscles that are not purposely being stretched. It also eliminates the damaging problems from overstretching. Gray Cook has a great example of this type of stretching for the adductors (inner thigh muscles). A person sits with a flat back against a wall. Bends knees and places sole of feet together. Place and stack towels under the knees until the position where a comfortable slight stretch is met and simple hold the position. Very functional, simple and quick.

  Hopefully this short guide will help you filter good stretching from wasteful ones.