You've probably been told that stretching is good for you.  After all, our pets do it too.  Right?

You'll still see it on TV with professional athletes.

Or at a playground with someone running up to help someone with a calf cramp.

No Real Evidence

Contrary to the popular myth that we need stretching.  There is No Real Evidence that it does what it claims?

Is it good or bad for us?

Shouldn't I stretch to avoid muscle injury?

By the way, this isn't new news...

Don't I Have or Need to Stretch After Exercise?

Nope, not really.

Once again, stretching fails.

You may feel sore after over doing exercise.  Or when you are doing a new physical activity.

DOMS - delayed muscle onset soreness has been an area of concern for many.

Not just athletes.  Many people like myself, who lived with fibromyalgia/chronic pain.  Everyday sore muscles, par for the course.

See more on the myth of stretching.

Should I Stretch a Sore Muscle?

You could end up creating a bigger problem.

You mean I don't have to do this to stretch my back?

Yes. You do not have to stretch your back in this manner.

Look, I get it.  People will swear by it.  They'll tell you it feels good.  Keeps them out of trouble, etc.

Again, look at the claims.

The Stretch Reflex

In fact, if you stretch your back like that, you could turn on what is called the stretch reflex.

Waaay back when, 1936.

Mabel Todd was stretching athletes who were stiff, tight and contracted.  As a result, the athletes got tighter.

What Muscles Do & Where the Message is Coming From

Here's the thing.

Last I checked, muscles receive information from the brain or spinal cord to contract.  Or generate tension.

They don't ever get a message to stretch.

Now I get it that you might feel like you want to stretch.

So if you feel like stretching.  Certain muscles either feel stiff, tensed up.  Or you know you gotta move something some which way to feel a little more comfortable.

The fact remains - a muscle or groups of muscles are designed to contract.

Good Thing Bad Thing

The stretch reflex you see, can be a good thing and a bad thing.

When you quickly pull your hand away from a hot stove.  That's the stretch reflex acting in super fast mode so you don't burn yourself.

You don't have to think about it since it's a spinal cord event.

When you push for range of motion, or move quickly enough or even innocently enough when you reach for a glass... and ouch! you turn on a muscle spasm.

The negative side of the stretch reflex is talkin' to you.

It serves to pull you back most likely due to high tension levels.

Aight?  (Street talk for alright.)

After you stretch your back.  The brain will reset the pre-programmed level of tension you were living with.

That's why it doesn't take much of any movement with high tension levels to turn up the volume to get your attention.

But My Cat and Dog is Stretching. NO!

Contrary to popular belief, they are doing something else.

Animals with a spine actually do this.

Divorce Counselor for Stretching Says Give It Up

Look, I used to stretch for up to 2 hours per day.  Didn't change the pain or help me loosen the stiffness.

Here's my take on it and how we can use our muscles in a different way.

The Movement Information System

The brain-muscles-fascia-bones-tendons-ligaments is a system of movement.  It is intimately coupling the carrier of the information, the nervous system.

This lets you tune into, dial in or feel how much stiffness, tension, and freedom you feel.

Sensing and Feeling

You can become intimately aware of what you feel or notice. How the brain organizes and re-organizes "the act of movement itself".

You can really go down further and deeper down the rabbit hole of the body experienced from within.

It's an awareness, that even Fido knows.