How necessary is stretching?

Check it out even Sarah Palin stretches!

Click here to read an article by The New York Times about stretching.

Researching on stretching keeps giving us different results on when to stretch and when not to stretch. When you stretch you usually feel better. And when you do it regularly you do notice a difference in how your joints move. So why does reasearch keep changing when and when not to stretch? Basically we are going to keep hearing different theories on stretching, but the most important thing to remember is to warm up first. Get the blood moving into your muscles and joints. Without a doubt there are sports out there that flexibility is required to execute the sport effectively. Think about a runners stride, comparing a tight hip flexor to a not so tight hip flexor.

Notice the back leg has the ability to stretch out and have a longer stride, this is because his hip flexor is not tight. Someone with a tight hip flexor will have shorter strides, which is less efficient. This picture demonstrates a long runners stride.

Here is a very interesting article on stride angle. It compares different Olympic runner’s stride angles.  In this series of different athletes pictures guess who won? The guy with the stride angle of 106 degrees, and when his legs turns over to left leg forward his angle  is still the same 106 degrees. Most people have different flexibility on different sides.

Here is another article on stretching.

From a massage therapists perspective I notice when people have increased their amount of stretching. Stretching is not only to prevent injury, but also to improve performance.