• Question: why do we stretch

    Asked by 242bdya43 to Duane, Andy on 12 Nov 2014.
    • Photo: Duane Mellor

      Duane Mellor answered on 12 Nov 2014:

      I am not a great person for stretching, too many years of playing as a prop forward in rugby.
      Stretching has been thought to reduce risk of injury although the research is not 100% clear on its benefits. Why we can stretch is to avoid damage to muscles and joints when our body needs to move quickly.

    • Photo: Andrew Philp

      Andrew Philp answered on 12 Nov 2014:

      So the general idea around stretching is that during exercise our muscles lengthen and shorten as they contract whilst the tendons and ligaments absorb the impact and transmit the energy from muscle contraction in order to move the skeleton. So a lot of the theory behind stretching is to either prepare the muscle/tendons for this activity, or to try and help it recover afterwards. It’s a bit like the idea of a warm up, a gentle way of getting the body ready for the exercise it is about to do without going from rest (nothing) to sprinting (maximal activity).

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