7 Benefits of Assisted Stretching – Cycle – Run – Swim
by: llsnow
Posted on: Thursday, March 18th, 2010 at 1:58 pm by: llsnow
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Are you a regular swimmer, cyclist, runner or triathlete? Looking for ways to prevent injury and enhance performance? Want to get more out of your stretching routine? How about incorporating assisted stretching into your training regime?
As an active soul who exercises or trains regularly you will have no doubt already bought into the benefits of flexibility work and appreciate the many benefits it can bring – even if you don’t do it as much as you should!
Assisted stretching involves you working with a partner to carry out the stretch, where one person performs or ‘assists’ in the stretch on the other person who is passively receiving and feeling the stretch.
The benefits of effective stretching are many including decreased muscle stiffness, increased range of motion creating more energy efficient movements and increased blood supply to muscles and joints, all of which contribute to injury prevention and enhanced performance.
Additional benefits that assisted stretching offers are:
A Deeper Stretch
A deeper stretch and increased range of motion can be achieved than self stretch. These flexibility gains mean that muscles will work more efficiently as they will use less energy to produce force – a muscle that can generate a contraction through the full stretch length is more powerful. This will help improve your performance both in training and competition. Functionally, the body performs better when able to carry out physical activity with agility and speed.
Increased Range of Stretched Muscles
You are able to effectively stretch a greater number of muscles as there are many muscles that are difficult to self stretch effectively, if at all. The benefits of this is twofold – if you detect an area of tightness and are able to perform assisted stretch on the target area to relieve tension, you are helping prevent a potential injury before it occurs. Secondly, if you have an injury, you can use assisted stretching on related muscles to help you manage your recovery and prevent further injury.
Valuable Skill
Once you have learnt correct assisted stretching techniques from a qualified professional, you can then teach a training partner and carry out the stretching on eachother. No need to rely on a coach or trainer to do this for you. By carrying out and receiving assisted stretching, you will learn more about your own body and may be able to identify imbalances and misalignments and do something about them before they become an injury.
Greater Relaxation
Assisted stretching induces significantly greater relaxation in the person being stretched. Self stretch requires effort in the form of muscle contractions in order to achieve its opposite muscle lengthening. Assisted stretching requires no effort on behalf of the person receiving the stretch, allowing them to fully relax and focus on feeling, positioning and depth of the stretch, provide feedback to their partner and deep breathing, making the stretch to be more effective.
Social and Interactive
An effective assisted stretch takes a little time and will ensure you avoid the temptation to rush through those last 5 minutes of training, only paying lip service to flexibility. This allows more time for cooling down slowly, an important factor in quick recovery. It also offers a chance to catch up with training partner or club members. A great way to end a training session or race!
Anywhere, Anytime
Once stretch methods are learned, they can be applied anywhere, anytime – in the clubrooms after running club training sessions, after a long cycle with a training partner or poolside with a coach after a race, for example.
Depending on the muscle being targeted, some assisted stretches lend themselves to the use of equipment such as a massage couch or swissball and are better done in the gym or clinic.
Compliments Sports Massage Therapy
Using assisted stretching in between sports massage therapy sessions can help prolong the positive effects of a deep tissue massage and is a useful way for you to keep soft tissue tension at bay until your next session. Assisted stretching may also be carried out by your therapist as part of your sessions.
Assisted stretching is an excellent tool to use as part of injury prevention and performance enhancement as well as adding variety to your training routine.
If you’d like more information or to sign up for my monthly Pilates for Injury Prevention email, contact me on the details below.
Laura Kelly
Email: laura@secondnaturefitness.co.uk
www.secondnaturefitness.co.uk
