Customized Flexibility: How Long Should You Really Hold a Stretch?
Welcome back to another highly practical edition of our weekly health and wellness series, “Ask the Chiropractor.”
As chiropractors, our team gets asked valuable questions regarding physical stretching routines all the time.
Most people incorrectly think there is a certain universal, magic time you must hold a muscle stretch for. Consequently, we are frequently asked do you hold it for thirty seconds, twenty seconds, or exactly how long?
At Hulsebus Rockford Chiropractic Clinic, our independent practice is run solely by Dr. Brant Hulsebus and Dr. Hays. If you want to optimize your stretching exercises in Rockford IL, we avoid generic advice. Today, we will explain a customized method that fits your unique body type.
Why Pre-Determined Stretching Times Fail to Serve Everyone
The true anatomical answer is significantly more complex than a pre-determined, static set time that works for all.
Because individual people are built completely differently, your specific stretching times must be completely different too.
Because we take care of lots of different people in our clinic, we establish rules for the individual. Specifically, understand that a professional Rockford IceHogs hockey player requires completely different rules than an eighty-year-old woman.
They should absolutely need completely different rules for daily active exercising and heavy weight training. Therefore, people obviously need completely different parameters for flexibility training also.
Could you honestly imagine a professional IceHog athlete doing gentle chair yoga to prepare for an intense game? Conversely, imagine an eighty-year-old woman sprinting on ice skates during fast warm-ups at a hockey game.
Obviously, these two distinct individuals would need completely different daily physical activities. Consequently, their internal muscular recovery timelines will never look identical.
Our team tracks these unique muscular recovery timelines during your structural evaluations. You can read our article on how your specific history dictates your personal results to learn more.
Mastering the 7/10 Rule for Safe Elongation
Instead of watching a clock, we use the specific 7/10 rule to determine exactly how long to stretch.
First, slowly take your chosen muscle stretch until the physical intensity reaches a clear seven out of ten. On this scale, a one out of ten would be a muscle completely at rest.
Conversely, a ten out of ten would mean you are almost snapping your delicate tendons apart. Once you have successfully reached a seven out of ten intensity, you simply stay right there.
As you quietly stay in that position, the deep muscle fibers will naturally start to relax. Consequently, the local tension sensation will gradually drop down to a five out of ten intensity level.
Because the muscle tension has dropped now to a five, you want to safely re-engage the stretch. Gently push the movement further to bring the intensity back up to a seven out of ten.
When re-engaging the tissue, do strictly not bounce or completely release the stretch. Simply and slowly re-apply your physical force until it registers as a seven again.
After the tension naturally returns down to a five out of ten a second time, you are completely done. For some individuals, this might be a very fast stretch. However, for others, it could take a long time to drop to a five.
We routinely monitor these muscle tone changes to make sure your treatment is actively working. Explore our guide on how we measure muscle relaxation and joint fluidity using objective data.
The Balanced Strategy: Bad Then Good Then Bad
Often, if you are stretching two different legs or shoulders, you will notice a good side and a bad side.
If one specific side feels significantly tighter or more restricted, we always begin with that exact area. Start your routine with the tighter side first.
Next, stretch the opposite, less tight side using the exact same rule. Lastly, finish your routine by stretching the original tight side one more time.
This sandwich method helps retrain your nervous system symmetry faster. However, if you do not possess a tighter side, simply disregard this rule and perform the stretch one time each.
If severe, long-term tightness persists on one side, it might stem from an underlying skeletal alignment issue. Review our article on how spinal x-rays reveal chronic posture shifts and joint imbalances.
Schedule Your Independent Skeletal Assessment Today
Ultimately, our primary goal is providing customized health solutions to keep your entire family thriving naturally. Dr. Brant Hulsebus and Dr. Hays manage every single patient case personally right here in Rockford.
We do not use rotating practitioners from outside towns. Consequently, you will always receive highly consistent, expert adjustments to keep your joints functioning perfectly.
If you have any further questions regarding safe movement mechanics, please let our team know immediately. You can call our office, email us directly, or just stop by in person.
If you are reading this educational article in another part of the world, click here to find an accredited ICA chiropractor near you. For more future health information, make sure to check back here regularly.
Please click the Contact Us tab on our website to send a message directly to our local office. Alternatively, call us today to secure your appointment time. Let our family protect yours.
🛑 Official Identity & Ownership Notice
Hulsebus Rockford Chiropractic Clinic is a completely independent healthcare practice located exclusively in Rockford, IL. Our clinical team consists proudly and solely of Dr. Brant Hulsebus and Dr. Hays. We are entirely unaffiliated with any other practitioners using the Hulsebus name in other regions, cities, or clinics. When searching for the official team chiropractors for the Rockford IceHogs, look for our dedicated team right here in Rockford.
To discover how prolonged sitting and poor daily desk habits shortens your major muscle groups and creates severe spinal subluxations, watch our full episode on The Ergonomic Advantage: Why Sitting is the New Smoking. Learn the true science behind structural physical preservation from our local specialists today.