Reach Your Sculpted Potential Through Proper Stretching – A NUBODYZ Publication

Seattle, Washington 11/03/2009

I routinely see people shorting their results by cutting little corners here and there. One area of neglect I see with great regularity is in the lack of proper stretching. Yes, stretching can at times be the most boring part of a workout; well alright, it basically is the most boring part of the workout, which is why it sometimes takes a back seat. Part of the problem is that while many people recognize the benefits of stretching in terms of increased flexibility and injury prevention, what most do not realize, is that stretching your muscles can actually help them develop. This has been a secret that fitness competitors of all varieties have been harnessing for years! If you have the aspirations of toning and sculpting your body, stretching will allow you to reach your full potential through doing two things: increasing nutrient transportation and increased fascia elasticity. I understand those two things probably mean nothing to you right now, but they will!

Firstly, I would like to establish that you don’t have to spend that much time stretching. Don’t let my advice turn you into that person I see at the gym who spends 90% of their… “workout”…stretching and only 10% percent of the time actually moving. My goal is not to help you do the splits or be the Karate Kid, it is simply to help you look and feel better about yourself through applying proven techniques. Alright, let me explain how this all works. When you finish a set of a strength training exercise, your muscles will be filled with blood. It is that same blood that transports nutrients to those muscles to provide them with the necessary building blocks for their development; this is crucial as a stronger muscle is a toner firmer muscle. Now, if we were able to get even more blood, and therefore even more nutrients, into that muscle this would enhance our progress even further. This is exactly what stretching will do for you as it increases tissue temperature which will in turn increase circulation and nutrient distribution.

It's important to understand that the timing of the stretch is important to its effectiveness. Many are used to the conventional stretch during your warm up (pre-workout) and during your cool down (post-workout) approach. Both of these are a good idea; in particular stretching after exercise can help alleviate lactic acid buildup and sore muscles the next day. However, brief stretching (about 25 seconds) of the specific muscles you are training in between sets, or at least in between exercises, is the bread and butter for physical development and offers the aforementioned nutrient transportation to the needed areas.

The second way in which stretching lends to the muscles development is through expanding the fascia around the muscle. Your muscles are encapsulated in a dense casing called fascial tissue which serves as a protective layer. It is an extremely strong material which also limits the ability of your muscles to develop past a certain point. Stretching alleviates the fascias restriction on the muscle through making it more malleable and thereby allowing the muscle to progress beyond its normal limitations. When we are training a body part and the muscle fills with blood the fascia stretches and expands. This is the ideal time to stretch it out even further to increase its elasticity and offer more room for the muscles to develop and reach their full potential.

Clearly, there is much much more to this whole stretching thing than most people realize. Its benefits extend beyond simply making us more limber. Stretching is a great tool in helping us reach that firm sculpted body we aspire to have. It really doesn’t make any sense to workout for 30-45 minutes and then short your progress because you didn’t spend an extra 5 minutes performing some easy stretches in between sets/exercises. I mean really, most people spend that time just standing around, or pacing, or talking in between sets anyway. You might as well put that downtime to use and get some benefits from it; besides if you are really ambitious, you could probably do all those things and stretch at the same time…although the pacing/stretching combo may get a little complicated. Either way, I know that if you incorporate my advice you will experience superior results and reach your full potential.