Swimming | StretchingStretching

Swimming

For the correct swimming technique a special flexibility in shoulder and hip area is necessary. For this reason, static stretching should be used in the long term to develop or maintain this flexibility. Also immediately before swimming, one can and should stretch especially the shoulder muscles after a loose warm up.

Squash/Badminton

These sports involve very fast sprints and abrupt changes of direction. The demands on muscles, tendons and joints are therefore very high and must be prepared for the strain. This should be done by dynamic stretching of the leg muscles. Note: Always warm up before stretching.

Gymnastics and dance

In these and similar sports, where mobility plays a major role, stretching exercises are part of the training plan. Especially before training and as an isolated training unit, the exercises should be performed to increase the range of motion of the joints. Therefore, stretching also plays an important role here.

The topic of stretching/stretching is always being discussed in a new and controversial way and is still in its infancy in research. In order to be able to provide clear, factual information on this topic, investigations would have to be carried out on the exposed muscle. However, sports science is quite unanimous at this stage that stretching exercises do not involve stretching the muscle, but surrounding organic structures such as ligaments, tendons or cell tissue.

The muscle is not stretched. Electromyographic (EMG) examinations showed that when a muscle is stretched, there are changes in tension, which causes hypertrophy. Consequently, stretching causes muscle growth.

Interesting example: An athlete swings back and forth in the shoulder joint with his arm stretched out. It is to be expected that different states of tension in the arm flexor and arm extensor are measured during oscillation. However, this was not the case in recent studies. Both biceps and triceps showed no change in tension. More about fitness with our partner

Exercises

Stretching exercises for targeted stretching of different muscle groups are effective to maintain and improve the stretchability of limbs and body. The first exercise deals with the back thigh muscles. The starting position is lying backwards with both hands on the thigh of the left leg.Now the knee is stretched slowly until a certain pull can be felt on the back thigh.

This position is now held for up to 30 seconds and then returned to the starting position. Please note that the hip flexion angle must remain stable and the unstretched leg must remain stretched. This exercise is performed with 5 repetitions per leg.

When stretching the buttock muscles while sitting, sit upright on a chair and place the foot of one leg over the thigh of the other leg. Now the straight upper part of the body is bent forward over the legs and the overturned leg is pressed down. The spine always remains straight and the head in its extension.

Only press down firmly until the muscle is pulled again. This position is held for up to 30 seconds and then loosened again and the leg is changed. Here too, five repetitions can be performed per leg.

The stretching of the front thigh muscles requires a trained sense of balance or trains this at the same time. Starting position is standing with both legs slightly bent. Now the foot of one leg is grasped with one hand behind the buttocks.

Now pull the foot towards the buttocks so far that you can feel the pull. Again, the holding time is 30 seconds and the exercise is performed five times per leg. When doing the exercise, you should remember to avoid a hollow back, keep your hips extended and keep the leg axis stable.

In order to stretch the chest muscles, you should stand on the floor in a quadruped position with one arm stretched to the side. The upper body is now inclined towards the floor and in the opposite direction of the outstretched arm, until there is a slight pull in the sideways stretched arm. Hold this position for 30 seconds and then return to the starting position.

The head should always be kept straight throughout the whole procedure and the hand should remain on the floor. A whole-body stretching exercise begins with the legs in a lying position. One arm is extended outwards and the other arm grabs the knee of the opposite leg next to the body.

The knee is now actively pushed towards the floor until a pull is created. Hold the position for 30 seconds and then go to the starting position and change the leg and arms. Repeat the exercise five times on each side, keeping the lying leg stretched and looking in the direction of the arm stretched upwards.