Stretching

In an article written by Gretchen Reynolds of the New York Times called “Stretching: The Truth”, she talks about stretching and the true health benefits that it brings the body. The article talks about the proper ways to stretch, warm up, and cool down for whatever activities you are planning to partake in. The article talks about how Duane Knudson, a professor of kinesiology at California State University looked at athletes who warmed up and stretched all over campus. He was discouraged with the poor lack of knowledge the athletes had. He stated that the students were “stretching by touching their toes as a warm up”. He and other researchers got together to talk about informing the public and all people who do physical activities how to properly stretch. The public perception of stretching has been mistaken and it can lead to major injury and pain. The different forms of stretching were described in the article. It talks about how people thing that it is a natural warm up to stretch and hold for 20 to 30 seconds, but that is wrong. There is a difference between stretches. There are static stretches like your normal down and hang, touch your toes, and cross your legs, are to relax and cool the muscles. When most people do static stretching for a warm up, a person can lose up to 30 percent of strength in their muscles and it won’t allow them to perform to their full capability. The other kind of stretching, known as dynamic stretching, is a stretch you do while moving. For example, butt kicks, high knees, fire hydrants, leg raises, scorpions, and roll overs are all different types of dynamic stretches. Dynamic stretches prime the body’s movement and allows it to warm up and get the blood flowing. It also strengthens the muscles that you are going to use and builds up energy in which you can use later during your workout. Knowing the different kinds of stretches is extremely important when you are going to do any type of physical activity. Not only do you want