What is happening to your muscles internally when you stretch them? Why do you feel it?
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Your muscles are full of sensory neurons to detect changes in length and force going through them. When you stretch you are forcibly lengthening the muscle fibers which provides the stimulus you feel during a stretch. It’s basically just like you’re pulling on the end of a rope, causing the threads to stretch lengthwise
I think the best way to visualize the answer to your question is to think of the old timey pirate telescopes, the ones you pull out and extend. The sleeve of the telescope when closed has all the parts on top of each other and when extended they seperate from one another. This is kinda how your skeletal muscles work. Skeletal muscle is striated and have two seperate bands, I and A, which overlap when contracted, or shortened. This is the closed telescope. When the muscle is strectched its like pulling the telescope all the way open and continuing to pull. Theres a lot more to it but thats bout as simple as i can make it.
If you want to know more, watch this short video on the sliding filament theory.
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