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
Not sure this is a great answer, or actually answers your question. But exercising a muscle is the process of stretching it. There’s concentric contraction or shorting of the muscle, and eccentric contraction or lengthening of the muscle. In a bicep curl your bicep would shorten, and triceps lengthen as you curl up. Then your bicep would lengthen and triceps would shorten as you move down.
There’s dynamic stretching, or active stretching often used before exercise which can be beneficial for increasing mobility, getting blood flowing and increasing efficiency of your muscles. And there’s static stretching, positions held in one position for awhile, which can be used after exercise or on recovery to increase range of motion, and prevent soreness, decrease stiffness. I believe the difference in tearing would depend on the repetition and weight. In the case of exercise you are repeating the process of contracting and relaxing your muscles creating the tears. Hope this helps.
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