If I had a nickel every time someone asked me about Neuromuscular Stretching I would have…no money. That’s because no one asks and maybe that’s because nobody has heard of it…until now. Let me introduce you to a wonderful new way to stretch.
Most people know about static stretching. That’s when you put a muscle into its lengthened position (the stretch) and hold for 30 seconds. Static stretching is only one form of stretching and is quite good at increasing your range of motion---or making you more flexible. This type of stretching has been shown to increase you range of motion if performed consistently over time. For instance if you were to start a stretching routine and performed it 3-5 times a week over 4-6 weeks, you would notice improvements in your flexibility…so that’s good. An increased range of motion can increase your strength, performance and decrease your chance at injury…so that’s good too! Given the benefits, there really is no reason to not be doing this regularly.
Enter the new tool in your toolbox…the neuromuscular stretch. It’s as effective as static stretching and some studies show it to be more effective at increasing ROM, increasing performance and decreasing injury. So what is neuromuscular stretching? Ok...thanks for asking and I have now earned my first nickel. Sit down on the ground with your legs out in front and wrap a towel around your foot. Now pull back on the towel so that you are stretching your calf muscle. So far so good…now contract your calf muscle by pushing against the towel with about 20% of your force and hold that contraction for 10 seconds. Now release the contraction (that is, stop pushing against the towel) and perform a static stretch by pulling back on the towel and hold the stretch for 30 seconds…repeat 2 more times. There you have it…a neuromuscular stretch!
To summarize, this type of stretch is characterized by taking the muscle to its end ROM, contraction of the muscle to be stretched for 10 seconds, release the contraction and take your muscle to its new ROM and then statically holding the new position for 20–30 seconds and repeating 3 times.
So when should you use this stretch? Well, static and neuromuscular stretching (I think I’ll call it NMS stretching from now on because, well, that’s the name and it’s too hard on my fingers to keep typing that word) should be used in specific circumstances. Its common belief that you should stretch before a workout or activity…please suspend that belief. It has been shown that pre-exercise stretching doesn’t really lower your chances of injury and it can actually negatively affect your strength and performance (there is an exception to this which you’ll see in the next paragraph---there always has to be an exception doesn’t there?). Only a long-term, consistent stretching protocol has the positive effects not pre-exercise stretching. Ideally, static and NMS should be done after exercise or just on its own.
Now for the why…Stati
c and NMS should really only be used to increase ROM in joints where it has been shown that you have less than optimal movement. For instance women who wear high heels have been shown to have shortened calf muscles…office workers who sit for long periods of time have been shown to have shortened hip flexor muscles. In these cases, static and NMS is the prescription and these stretches can also be done before a workout…this is the exception to no-pre-workout-stretching-allowed rule. Other than that, there really is no need to do static or NMS stretching. Once you have optimal ROM in your joints then you can graduate to what is called dynamic stretching before your workouts…oh, if I had a nickel every time someone asked me about dynamic stretching….
Oh, one more thing before I go…static and NMS stretching isn’t recommended for those with a recent joint injury, those with rheumatoid arthritis or with osteoporosis. That’s it.