Stretch – What, When, Why, How!?

Mobility is defined as the ability to voluntarily move a joint through its full range of motion (ROM). Your mobility depends on individual anatomical and physiological components such as: (1, 2)

• Muscles and tendons
• The states of ligaments, bones and cartilages that form the joint 
• Spinal reflex activity
• Stretch tolerance

It is important to understand the right way to structure your stretching routine around your resistance training and cardiovascular activities. We suggest allocating 3-5 minutes to each of the following pre workout in this specific sequence for best results.

• Self-Myofascial Release (Foam Rolling)
• Dynamic Stretching (Movement Short/ No Hold Stretching)
• Muscular Activation (Isolated Muscle Stimulation)

Stretching your muscles is an effective way to increase mobility. (1, 2)

In order to improve mobility with stretching: (1-4)

• Hold each stretch for 2-5min
• Intensity of 30-40% of maximal tolerable stretch
• Frequency of 5 days minimum per week

It’s important to note that stretching has just been shown to improve mobility. Stretching will NOT help to: (5-7)

• Enhance sports performance
• Improve health
• Prevent sports injuries 
• Reduce muscle soreness after physical activity 

What are other fundamentals of recovery? When you work out you’re actually breaking down your muscles. When challenged enough microfibre tears occur only to be repaired within the next 24-72 hours after training. This is why we advise against training the same muscles every day, without having a chance to fully recover and grow back stronger first. Training consistently is incredibly important, but if you don’t listen to your body and give yourself a chance to recover between workouts, your performance and results will suffer. However, there is more to recovery than kicking your feet up on the couch and watching TV, such as:

• Nutrition
• Supplementation
• Hydration
• Sleep
• Low Impact Aerobic Conditioning
• Self Myo-Fascial Release
• Active Recovery (gentle movement or training)
• Clinical treatments such as Massage Therapy, acupuncture, chiropractic or other.