Coming from the culture of American aerobics, stretching has arrived in Europe and in Italy following the typical course of fashion. The etymology of the word comes from the English "To Stretch" which in Italian means lengthening.
Invented by Bob Anderson stretching consists in slowly bringing the affected muscle or muscle areas to the edge of the stretch field.
For several decades it has become part of all training programs, both for power sports and endurance sports, before, during and after the performance.
Recently, however, many scientific evidences are contradictory to international teaching on the subject of a branch of stretching, the "static" one.
The studies refer to the disciplines of strength and power, therefore the results are not reliable for the disciplines of resistance and in the disciplines in which a great articular excursion is required (dance, martial arts, gymnastics).
Scholars have found a decrease in vertical high jump after performing warm-up exercises with stretching. Some authors explain the negative effect of stretching on performance (when performed before heating) by giving it the name " creeping ".
During a long and prolonged stretching exercise the tendon, stretching itself, arranges its fibers in alignment, while they normally have an oblique orientation.
This would explain the gain in elongation, which however is accompanied by a lower ability to store elastic energy.
As for the stretching used to prevent trauma, some authors have shown that passive stretching subject the muscles to stresses similar to those suffered during maximal muscular contractions. During these exercises the passive elastic structures of the sarcomere (titina) are very stressed and increase the possibility of micro-traumas.
Finally, much stretching is used after training to "relax" the muscle, but even on this aspect some researches are contradictory.
According to some studies "Static stretching by compressing the capillaries, obstructs the flow of blood and this leads to a decrease in regeneration in the muscles that most need recovery".
Although with these researches some beneficial influences that the stretching has on the organism are disregarded, this does not mean that from now on we must repudiate in the block the stretching exercises. Indirectly, the importance of a correct execution technique that can be acquired only under the guidance of qualified personnel is underlined once again.
Bibliography
New scientific evidence (Cometti Faculty of Sport Science Dijon, SM Milan, Finland, Germany Sweden) Sds Year XXIII N ° 62-62 Jul.-Dec 2004 Page 33-36 Stretching and sporting performance) Knudson et al. 2001 Church and coll. 2001 Cornwell and coll. 2002 Shier 2004.See also: Stretching? No thanks! Better after
 |  Graduated in physical education and personal trainer |
