So, situation:
I am standing and reaching for the ceiling. Get on my toes, shift my shoulders, but it’s not enough. Finally I stretch my arm and fingers and I make the tip to the ceiling.
Or I am in bed in the morning and stretch in all the different directions.
Question: how does the stretching part actually work? Our muscles can contract or loosen, right, but not push out to overextend? What does the work of stretching here?
In: Biology
So I don’t fully understand what you’re asking so I’ll answer the title.
When you stretch, the soft tissue of muscle and tendons are lengthened. Muscle stretches further and earlier than tendon as they have slightly different construction and density.
You can increase a joints range of movement by reducing the stiffness in a tendon and muscle through stretching and also not holding a position constantly (sitting). By stiffness I mean that the receptors are less sensitive and there is a small reorganisation of the structure of tendon.
Within this there are stretch receptors and from memory the golgi apparatus that respond to stretch. So they limit how quickly and what range you can go.
The brain limits how far you can go but you could physically go further than you think you can.
Also to increase a joints range you need to hold a stretch for 90 seconds so you stretch the tendon.
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