If exercise is tearing our muscles why are we supposed to stretch after exercise-wouldn’t it just tear them more? And if so is it tearing in a different way than exercise is? Also why are we supposed to warm up a muscle before stretching?
In: Biology
Stretching can be a way to warm-up the muscle before exercise (dynamic stretching), and release lactic acid after exercise (static stretching).
When using any form of resistance training, take the bicep curl for example, you have the most muscle-building potential when you utilize a full range of motion (full-ROM). Therefore: stretching your bicep to its fullest length (in a slow, controlled motion) and contracting it quickly to its shortest position results in the best stimulus.
When you use this technique, you recruit as many fibers as possible, which tear (very, very small tears) in response to excess stress. This in turn requires even more fibers to be recruited, resulting in a slower contraction. You often see trainees’ reps slow down during their sets, and this is why! Finally, when the fibers can no longer move the weight you’ve chosen properly (with good form), the result is something called: “mechanical failure.” There’s varying evidence as to how necessary this is for muscle growth and/or strength gains.
In short: it behooves us to stretch our muscles as much as possible during repetitions, without injury of course, to activate as much of that muscle as we can. Hope that helps! 🙂
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