The importance of muscle stretching in strength training

Author: Timko Ilya - master of the whole project and fitness trainer.
2012-03-03

To begin with, a little physiology. It has long been known to physiologists that the strength of a muscle directly depends on the amplitude of its contraction. This means that the greater the difference between its length in the stretched and contracted states, the greater its strength potential.

This means that you can increase the strength of your muscles simply by increasing the amplitude of their contraction.

It is logical to assume that such an amplitude can increase either by enhancing its contraction or by increasing its stretching. While the contraction of a muscle directly depends on the power of the signal sent to the muscle from the brain through the motor neurons (this is a topic for a separate article), the amount of stretching of the muscle depends on its elasticity. Here, simple stretching can help increase the elasticity of the muscles. That is, the more elastic your muscles are, the stronger they are.

I have tried to briefly and simply explain the influence of muscle elasticity on their strength. Now let's talk about why and when people stretch during workouts.

Stretching Before a Workout

It prepares your muscles for work. It increases their strength and reduces the risk of injury since more elastic muscles are less prone to tears. Additionally, stretching makes your body more flexible, enabling you to perform certain exercises requiring specific joint mobility more effectively, and it improves your intermuscular coordination. In short, your movements become more coordinated.

Stretching Between Sets

It is mainly needed for your muscles to recover faster and more completely between sets. The thing is, stretching is akin to a massage – it increases blood flow to your muscles. More blood flow means faster recovery. Additionally, under the effects of loads and as the muscle's energy resources are depleted, it temporarily begins to lose its elasticity, which also affects its strength qualities. Therefore, stretching between sets helps the muscles maintain the necessary elasticity throughout the entire workout.

Note that you should stretch your muscles before heavy sets at half strength. Otherwise, instead of reducing the risk of injury, you may get the opposite effect!

Stretching After a Workout

So, the workout is done, the muscles are pumped, and it’s time to rest. “Why stretch then?” you may ask. Well, in principle, if you don’t stretch after a workout, nothing terrible will happen. But generally, stretching after a workout will allow your muscles to recover a bit faster, again due to improved blood flow. Additionally, this will help reduce the pain from workouts the next day.

Conclusion

Stretching helps not only in reducing the risk of injuries and improving recovery but also allows you to maintain your body’s flexibility over time (as the years go by). This flexibility will be beneficial not only when performing physical exercises but also in everyday life.