Most Effective Form of Stretching
By: Venidikt • Research Paper • 2,489 Words • December 2, 2009 • 1,051 Views
Essay title: Most Effective Form of Stretching
The American College of Sports Medicine defined fitness in 1990 by stating that
physical fitness is "a set of attributes that people have or achieve." (Cited in Dalgleish
et al 2001)
This set of attributes can be further defined as cardiovascular fitness, muscular
endurance, muscle strength, muscle endurance, motor skills and flexibility.
Cardiovascular fitness involves the heart and lungs supplying the required
volume of oxygen to the working muscles.
Muscular endurance is the number of contractions or the length of time a
muscle can contract before fatigue occurs.
Muscle strength is the maximum amount of force a muscle can generate in one
contraction.
Motor skills is a general term, which covers co-ordination, speed, balance and power.
Flexibility is the range of motion (ROM) in a joint or in a series of joints.
Flexibility is improved by stretching connective tissues, muscles and other soft tissue
around a joint. Stretching exercises can be divided into different categories depending
on the way the muscles and surrounding tissues are stretched. These forms of
stretching are static stretching, dynamic stretching, ballistic stretching and
proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF). This report will define why athletes
stretch and review current literature on each form of stretching and conclude from
research which form is the most effective form of stretching.
BENEFITS OF STRETCHING
Stretching in sport was only used to warm athletes up before an event and cool
them down after the event. Stretching was not used as a part of an athletes training
programme until the benefits of stretching were recognised. Sigerseth (1971 cited in
Elliot & Mester 1999) suggested that skilled performances could be improved by
increasing the ROM around various joints. Performance can be improved due to
stretching in three ways.
If range of motion is increased especially in throwing and racquet sports, more
force or velocity can be produced. This is possible as this increases in ROM allows
the throwing distance to increase and longer period of time in which force can be
produced. This results in the speed of the racquet, bat or object being increased, which
allows a more powerful, throw, kick or hit to occur. Examples of sports where this
occurs is tennis, cricket, baseball and golf. Jobe and Moynes (1986 cited in Elliot and
Mester 1999) Studied golfers and found that the higher skilled golfers had twice the
range of trunk rotation compared to golfers of lesser skill.
Athletes who compete in sports where performance is judged on the aesthetics
of their performance will benefit from a long term stretching programme. If an athlete
has a greater ROM, compared to another athlete, they can place themselves in a
position or perform a more complex movement, which will denote a higher technical
value, which will result on a higher score being awarded.
A stretched muscle can produce a greater contractile force compared to a
muscle, which is not stretched. Rapid stretching