Flexibility Prevents Injury Pt.1

Anyone that's ever played a sport, or even went to gym class in high school knows,  flexibility prevents injury. So touch your toes and do arm circles and your good right? Wrong. Its a little more in depth than that. Stretching, when done correctly, works muscles tendons and joints though the full range of motion. Understanding how to do so, and what its benefits are, might make you think twice before you just jump into your routine.

So in this part im going to explain some of the benefits of stretching and being flexible.

Results not typical. 

Although there are several benefits to stretching, Mayo Clinic lists the two primary benefits as,
      - Reduced risk of exercise based injury. (Duh)
      - Increased Athletic Performance.
Stretching increases blood flow to muscles and loosens tendons by working them through the entire range of motion, even though only part of it may be used. By doing this your muscles are able to handle working under a load better, and can prevent trauma such as sprains and tearing. Ill give you an example. John and Jim Work out together at the same gym, do the same routine and are similar in strength and aerobic capacity. One day while running, John pulls his hamstring and Jim laughed at him until he pissed all over himself. So what happened? Jim takes 15 minutes to stretch while John looks at himself in the mirror. Although you can still pull a hammy if you stretch, the chances of it happening are much less

Stretching didnt help him.

In 2007, a study at Louisiana State University was conducted to show the benefits of stretching. Thirty eight sedentary (lazy) people. Half stretched for ten weeks the other half didn't. Not surprisingly the ones that stretched increased how far they could reach by 18%. Also, there one rep max improved by 32%. Can you believe that? Just from stretching! But wait, there is more! Increased reps at 60% of their max went up 29%! They saw gains in other areas also. (Vertical leap, knee and hip flexion and extension) (Stenson MSNBC 2007)


Still think its pointless? So next time Ill get into how to stretch properly and break down a few good ones, and how often you should do it. GO STRETCH!

Think I'm full of crap? Like what you read? Want to share something? Anything? Let me hear it!