Stretching or stretching exercises are used in many sports. In popular sports, stretching is usually part of a sport-specific warm-up programme. When stretching exercises are most sensibly used, and whether stretching exercises before or after a training or a load are more meaningful is to be clarified in the following lines.
The active and passive stretching
In general, a distinction is made between active and passive stretching. Active stretching has two subgroups, active-static stretching and active-dynamic stretching. With active-static stretching, the target muscle (muscle to be stretched) is brought into the stretching position by a tension in the antagonist (opponent) and remains in this position for a few seconds.
If, for example, the triceps is to be stretched, the biceps is tensed. The active-dynamic stretching happens from a slight pre-stretching. The antagonist is contracted rhythmically and the target muscle is stretched by rebounding in very small movements.
If you want to stretch the inner sides of the thigh muscles, a more than shoulder-wide stance is recommended, in which the body’s centre of gravity is shifted from one foot to the other. The legs are stretched and the leg that is not stretched is bent, the leg that is to be stretched is stretched. Both variants of active stretching are used to prepare for training and competition and are therefore performed before a load is applied.
The goal is to prepare the muscles for the upcoming load. The passive stretching is divided into a passive-dynamic and a passive-static stretching. With passive-dynamic stretching, the procedure is identical to active-dynamic stretching except for one point.
In passive-dynamic stretching, one partner helps stretch the target muscles, not the antagonistic muscles. The area of application of passive-dynamic stretching is the preparation for training and competition. Passive-static stretching is divided into held stretching, also called stretching, tension-relaxation stretching (AED/CHRS) and static stretching with antagonist contraction. CHRS stands for contract, hold, relax and stretch.
The held stretching
While stretching, a position is taken in which a slight “pull” can be felt in the target muscles. This position is held for about 20-30 seconds. Use of the held stretching is the follow-up of a training or a competition.
With tension-relaxation-stretching (AED), the tension is applied at a medium intensity and the subsequent stretching is somewhat shorter, as with passive-dynamic stretching. The four elements C, H, R and S (Contract, Hold, Relax and Stretch) result in a stretching cycle that should be repeated three to five times. The following stretching should be done from the previous stretching position.
The area of application of AED is physiotherapy. Static stretching with antagonist contraction is also used in physiotherapy. From the stretching position, the stretching is additionally increased by tensioning the antagonist and held for about eight to 15 seconds.
