Stretch Like A Pro

Like everything in life, people often seek the silver bullet or “magic” stretch to ease tension or musculoskeletal pain. Unfortunately for us, there usually isn’t one, says Bryce Hastings, Les Mills Head of Research. Having spent 20 years as a rehabilitative physiotherapist, Hastings has seen a wealth of stretching trends come and go – so we sought his expert advice on which tips will stand the test of time.

What are the best types of stretches for your body?

Choosing the best way to stretch comes down to the purpose of the stretch. If your aim is to mobilize before exercise or sport, then dynamic stretches (like backward stepping lunges with a trunk twist or arm swings) are often best. These types of stretches are best-suited to preparing the muscles for the dynamic nature of what lies ahead. If your aim is to address postural imbalances, then long, static stretching is more appropriate.

Which are the best muscles to stretch?

If you're adding a stretch routine into your week, or stretching after class to assist recovery, a general approach is fine. However, if you’re stretching an area due to ongoing pain or tension, it starts to become a little tricky to identify the best target. Working out what muscles to stretch is not always clear cut.

For example, if your shoulders are rounded, it can create discomfort across the upper back. A lot of people try to alleviate this tension by stretching, perhaps clasping the hands in front of the body and pushing the arms forward while rounding the upper back. Intuitively this feels like it’s doing something to address the discomfort, but it’s just stretching tissues that are already lengthened. Often when we assess these people, we find a shortened muscle in the opposing muscle group (in these cases often within the pecs). Stretching these short muscles which are usually not associated with the discomfort is often more effective.

There are many different stretch strategies. What’s your preferred approach?

I like the CRAC approach to stretching, which stands for Contract Relax, Antagonist Contract. This type of stretching is when you use a PNF (Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation) contract-relax to lengthen the shortened muscle followed by a contraction of the opposing muscle. For example, when applying this to the psoas at the front of the hip, you take the hip flexors into a stretch position, contract the hip flexors against resistance to build tension for three seconds, then relax and contract the glute max (the antagonist to psoas) for 10 seconds. This will take the hip into further hip extension, increasing the stretch on the psoas. The reason this is so beneficial is that the opposing muscle is often dominated by the shortened muscle, so not only are you stretching the short group – you’re also reactivating the less dominant muscle and helping to restore balance.