Posted by Brassola on 12/8/2006, 10:28 pm, in reply to "Re: Stretching" -Bras
Elongating muscle tissue and the surrounding myofascia for durations of longer than 2 seconds defeat the purpose of stretching. When the tissue is stretched longer than 2 seconds, the muscle begins to contract, causing shortening and tension to occur. This is the polar opposite of the desired effect. The few exceptions are athletes (often from Eastern bloc or Far East descent) who have been engaging in static stretching from a very young age. For these individuals, maintaining muscular elasticity is a result of early exposure to and continuation of the specific stretching method. Still, it is absolutely arguable that even these individuals would benefit from limiting the stretch duration to 1.5-2 seconds. I thank you for adding to the post and providing the link, HOWEVER, the article DOES NOT discuss static, prolonged stretching with respect to Active Isolated Stretching, as developed by Aaron Mattes ( www.stretchingusa.com ) Furthermore, there are numerous studies on the benefits or lackthereof for certain stretching methodologies. The article you link suggests that some athletes can be too flexible, which is true, though this is an extremely small minority of both non- and pro athletes. Hyperflexibility is primarily an issue when the individual does not possess the strength to control a dynamic movement (for example, any number of kicks). Hyperflexibilty in this case compromises the athlete due to a lack of stability. Please feel free to discuss.
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