Stretching or Strengthening?
It has long been been assumed that stretching is vital to maintain flexibility and prevent injuries. While a good warm up serves to gradually increase heart rate and circulation to tissues and prepares the mind as well as the body for activity, stretching alone has not been shown to be effective in preventing exercise-related injury or reinjury. Multiple studies have repeatedly shown that in order to prevent overall injury or reduce the risk of recurrence of injury, you should prioritize strengthening over stretching. In fact, when comparing stretching to strengthening, head to head, on everything from flexibility, sports performance, injuryprevention,and longevity as we age, strengthening wins every time!
a comprehensive conditioning program should include appropriateelementsofstretching. However, if you have limited time and want to get the most bang for the buck, a few strengthening exercises will reap more rewards. Performing resistance training, particularly eccentric resistance training,hasbeendetermined tobe an effective way to decrease pain, increasemusclestrength,enhance flexibility and increase functional ability. You are better off working on making your muscles stronger, rather than attempting to make them longer. Ultimately, it’s important just to move and move often - do things you enjoy, and change it up once in awhile.Afterall,variety is thespice of life and it’s certainly beneficial to prepare ourselves for whatever life may throw at us!
Now, if you you really enjoy stretching, that certainly doesn’t mean you should stop. Indeed,
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Patient Spotlight “Over the past year I had a fracture in my back from gymnastics, and I was out for three months and not allowed to do much of anything. The staff really helped and went above and beyond for my needs and kept a close check on how I felt with each of the exercises. With my time there, I had three main staff who worked with me and they did a phenomenal job, as well as the others who I observed with other patients. They are personable and really care about you. I would highly recommend to anyone especially if they are recovering from a long term sports injury. Now I am back in the gym, good as new, and I am thankful that I had such a great PT experience.”
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Natalie T. 5 stars
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