Active stretching

Active stretching eliminates force and its adverse effects from stretching procedures. Active stretching stimulates and prepares muscles for use during exercise. Active stretches not only stretches the muscles and tissues, but prepares the muscles for the action by activating and warming them up.

Before describing the principles on which active stretching is based, the terms agonist and antagonist must be clarified. Agonist refers to actively contracting muscle or muscles while their opposing muscles are termed antagonists.

The neuromechanisms conceptualized by Sir Charles Sherrington (1857 - 1956), “the philosopher of the nervous system”, as applied to active stretching are:

Force applied to a muscle stimulates the muscle spindles which activate protective reflexes resulting in contraction of that muscle. (Such as the knee jerk response of neurological testing procedures.)

While necessary for sports and ordinary motions, this protective reaction is counterproductive for stretching, i.e., lengthening muscles.

6. Invented in 1998 By Thomas Sheehan of Columbia University.

Munrow, A. D. PURE AND APPLIED GYMNASTICS. London: Edward Arnold., 1962.

Jean M. Peters & Howard K. Peters THE FLEXIBILITY MANUAL Sports Kinetics Inc. 1995

Blackburn, S. E., L. G. Portney. Electromyographic Activity of Back Musculature During Willams’ Flexion Exercises. PHYSICAL THERAPY, Journal of the American Physical Therapy Association. June 1981.

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