Just How Long?!

[Nidan Melbourne]

This is the kind of question that some empirical data should help you answer. Do perhaps 6 months of stretching, and hold it only for a prescribed amount of time, say, the 10 second hold. Record your progress. Next set of 6 months, hold the stretches for longer, and record the progress.

Always helpful to have proof of progress. Many of my clients record what they do and how long for.

But when training it can actually inhibit your ability to 'tell' when a movement starts becoming excessive. Even if you stretch and you feel like you can move further in your movements but in reality there is a little further movement but even pushing say 2-3 cm past that point prior to stretching will be damaged.

With data out in the public you need to take with a pinch of salt because you don't know who was used in that research. So when you want to look at stretching you should really look at family history because it is more reliable as family generally have a similar amount of flexibility.

[Hawkmoon]

Consider a piece of plastic, a ruler for example!

Flex it one way then the other, it returns to its original form, a straight edge of the same length that it started out with.

Think of your tendons as the ruler, they are flexible, just as that ruler is, they return to there original state when you relax (when you stop flexing the ruler one then the other). The ruler has strength it didn't actually want to flex at all, and it resisted you when you flexed it.

Your tendons did the same, and like the ruler resisted the movement, so how to reduce that resistance to get a better stretch....

Get the ruler and flex it more than last time and keep doing that, over time the ruler offers less resistance, and its movement becomes more pronounced and easier.

Your tendons will do just the same, BUT ... a few things to consider.

1. As you stretch, breath it will ease the stretch. If it hurts you are already to far relax, work up to that level/point.

2. Over work it and like the ruler something might snap, see point 1.

3. Reach a point that no matter what you do to go further hurts? You are at your range, maintain that else the tendon (if not worked for a long time) will return to its normal state but be that much more stronger to resist the stretch it again

How many of us have stretched regularly then stopped or relaxed on the stretching regime (what ever the reason) and one day decided lets do that again ...and failed! maybe even painfully so?

Had to work harder at getting it back didn't you (we)?

Set a level reach a level, but what ever else maintain that level.