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Stretching to gain vs. stretching to maintain
This may be a silly question but I’ve been confused about this for a while, so here goes. I’ve heard it’s not OK to do flexibility training every day, but it is OK to stretch every day. I understand flexibility training is stretching to gain, and stretching is to maintain, but how can I tell when I’m stretching to gain vs. maintain? Does it feel different? Do I hold the stretches longer when I’m trying to gain? Thanks in advance for help on this one.
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5 Replies
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Yes, it should feel different. To mantain, you should stay in your confort zone, not to push, kind of the stretch you do after a workout. To gain, you should be super warmed up, feel a little discomfort (but no pain), push farther an hold the stretch longer. Veena, please correct me if I’m wrong.
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Yep, Latin said it perfectly!
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Thanks Ladies! 🙂
LatinPoler – that makes perfect sense. Thanks for answering my question. I’ve been struggling to understand this concept for a while but was embarrassed to ask because everyone else seems to get it. I always feel a little stretch when I stretch to maintain, but it is quite different from the discomfort I experience when I work on my splits.
After the invert program I’m going to try Veena’s flexibility program.
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I enjoy a passive stretch after a workout , but i find active stretches really effective when I’m stretching to gain, stuff like downward dog leg lifts, standing splits – they really tire out the muscles because you are working hard, but you are not putting too much undue pressure on any muscles or joints so less risk of injury =)
And it’s a good way to make sure you are increasing mobility (the control you have at any range of motion) rather than just flexibility on its own, which is super helpful for pole =) -
Thanks PoleKat! I’m going to try adding some more active stretching to my routine. I’ve heard that tiring out the muscles is the key if you want to sink lower, and I must admit I’ve had the best results with my flexibility training after a hard work out or a long run. I feel like I get further down when I do passive stretching, however, I can’t imagine a pole routine that consists of me spending 5 mins to sink into my front splits would be really entertaining so I agree it’s better to train for active mobility. XD
I just recently discovered that isometric stretching works well for me, too. 🙂
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