Hitch Fit Living Magazine Volume 6 - May/June 2016 | Page 39

Conclusions

Hopefully you feel far more educated on the topic of stretching . Let us review some key points :

• Don ’ t stretch before your workout , unless you want to be weak and slow .

• Stretch daily ( but after or hours before a workout ) to improve performance .

• If you want to stretch to reduce injury , go ahead . If you don ’ t want to stretch to prevent injury , go ahead and don ’ t stretch , because nobody really knows what ’ s best .

• If preventing injury is a priority , then become leaner , younger , only run / bike the appropriate mileage , and don ’ t have a history of pain ( some of those are harder to do than others ).

• Many times a seemingly tight muscle is often due to a problem somewhere else in the body . If stretching doesn ’ t help , it may be time to see a good manual therapist ( chiropractor or physical therapist ).

That ’ s it for this article . As always , if you have any questions , comments or ideas for future articles please contact us !

Drs . Jeff Remsburg and Thomas Cotter are chiropractors at Active Health Solutions : Chiropractic & Rehab , located in Prairie Village , Kansas . Their clinic focuses on combining cutting edge chiropractic care with the latest in exercise and rehabilitation for pain treatment and performance enhancement . You can find more information about their clinic by visiting their website at www . activehealthKC . com or by calling 913-341-1200 .

References 1 . Journal of Sports Sciences , 2005 ; 23 ( 5 ): 449-454 . 2 . Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine , 2004 ; 14 ( 5 ) 267-273 . 3 . Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research , 2005 ; 19 ( 2 ): 338-343 . 4 . Journal of American College of Sports Medicine , 2007 ; 39 ( 10 ): 1825-1831 . 5 . Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise , 2004 ; 36 ( 3 ): 371 – 378 . 6 . www . usatf . org / stretchstudy / StretchStudyReport . pdf 7 . Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics , 2009 ; 32 ( 4 ): 262-269 . 8 . Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics , 2010 ; 33 ( 1 ): 42-47 . 9 . Pain , 1996 ; 68 : 69-74 .