How Long to Hold a Stretch?
Simple answer to this question is a long time? Recent research has indicated that it may take up to 2 mins before a typical stretch will effectively beat our innate stretch receptors and allow for some amount of new length in the affected muscle.So the old idea of holding a stretch for a mere 15 to 30 seconds may not actually increase muscle length, however, research shows that holding a stretch for this shorter length of time does help bring blood flow to the affected muscle and may also reduce post exercise muscle soreness.
We should also consider that just doing a static stretch alone (even for 2 mins at a time) may not actually do anything usefull when it actually comes down to controlling your new range of motion or flexibility. Rescent research has revealled that certain types of isometric contraction and relaxation exercises maybe required to allow proper training of the nervous system to make the newly gained range of motion and flexibilty actually usable.
I will be posting some videos on this type of exercise and stretching in the near future.
