Do You Stretch?

The pros do it. We should, too.

Stretching can keep us loose and limber, able to do more. It can relax us, which is a boon to sleep and stress reduction. And it can release muscle tension, easing headache or back pain. Although stretching is an easy way to exercise, exercise tapes often give it lip service or skip it entirely. So do many joggers and other weekend warriors - until muscle pulls send them to a doctor.

Why stretch?

Youngsters are naturally limber, but as muscles age and become taut with daily stress, stretching becomes a path to soothing both body and mind. Some find this quiet muscle work, descended from centuries-old yoga positions, becomes a day's most serene moment. Athletes have much to gain, but benefits are clear-cut for those pulling yard duty or washing windows, even for sedentary people. Physiologists say everyday movements are harmless to flexible bodies but hurtful to stiff ones. For example, twisting to exit a car can strain, or "pull," a muscle in the back. Such an injury could be prevented by daily stretching.

Just the stress of daily life sets up chronic, energy-draining contractions in many of our bodies' 600-plus skeletal muscles.

Both laughing and crying release that tension by stretching muscles from head to groin. But exercising does it better, because we tailor the stretches to our needs. Today's fitness experts nix some familiar stretches, including old-fashioned deep knee bends (squats), toe touches, the classic hurdler's stretch and the yoga plow. Each can create dangerous stress on ligaments or joints.

Individuals soon learn the stretches they prefer and the ones that address their needs, depending in part on their activities and injury history. People unused to stretching will be stiff and creaky at first. Two weeks of daily sessions, however, even as brief as five minutes each, can spark a more supple body. In stretching, regularity is far more important than intensity, coaches advise. Don't strain while you stretch. Coaches and physiologists advise putting tension on a muscle, then
holding for 10 seconds as you relax and breathe rhythmically. And then, the experts say, stretch slightly farther and hold another 20 seconds or so, for optimal gains in flexibility.

For non-athletes, holding a stretch for the count of three is less boring, and fine if you repeat the move five times, says physical therapist Carol Greenberg, author of the newly published Pretend Your Nose is a Crayon And Other Strategies for Staying Younger.

When to stretch

Some experts say we should stretch anytime, anywhere. "I know people who stretch in bed while they're still waking up. I call that the continuation of a yawn," says Bob Anderson, author of the million-plus seller Stretching (Random House, $9.95), a 1975 classic among fitness buffs. Others say that only when done after exercise - or a thorough, heart-pounding workout - is stretching effective for preventing injury. The idea there is that you stretch after exercise to avoid pulling muscles at your next workout.