Stretching Guide: Types, Benefits, Stretches for Beginners, and More
If stretching isn’t part of your regular health and fitness routine, you may be missing out.
“Stretching is good for everybody and definitely something to do on a regular basis as part of an overall exercise plan,” says Jacque Crockford, a doctor of health science and an ACE-certified personal trainer based in San Diego.
Stretching is a type of exercise that boosts flexibility and mobility by lengthening the muscles, either by extending them or with movement.
Common Questions & Answers
What Are the Different Types of Stretching?
- Passive stretching Think gym class, when you used to bend over and reach down toward your toes. For this type of stretching, an outside force (such as a towel, resistance band, gravity, or another person) helps increase the stretch. Another example is a hamstring stretch with a towel or belt, says Kate Galliett, a NASM-certified personal trainer and Functional Anatomy Seminars–certified functional range conditioning mobility specialist based in Price, Utah. It’s commonly done after a workout, and for relaxation.
- Static stretching Static stretching involves extending a limb to create a stretch sensation and then holding it there — often for 20 to 45 seconds, according to the Hospital for Special Surgery. While the terms "static stretching" and "passive stretching" are often used interchangeably, there’s a subtle difference, Galliett says. Static and passive stretching are similar in that you’re holding a stretch, but unlike passive stretching, with static stretching you’re in some way supporting yourself in the position of the stretch. For example, if you kneel on the floor and hold a position to stretch out your hip flexor (the muscle in the front of your hip), you’re doing a static stretch. But, “if you lie on your side on a massage table and have a physical therapist pull your leg back to stretch the hip flexor, that would be a passive stretch,” Galliett says. Like passive stretching, static stretching is also commonly done after working out and for relaxation.
- Active stretching Active stretching is when you move a limb into a position to stretch a muscle and then hold it there under your own muscular power. For example, you lie on your back and use your leg muscles to lift one straight leg until you feel a stretch in your hamstrings, says Galliett, who is also the author of Becoming Unbreakable: How to Build a Body You Love to Live In. This technique can be helpful for people who are recovering from injuries, because it incorporates gentle strength work, she notes.
- Isometric stretching This method involves adding a static muscle contraction (the muscle doesn’t change length) to a static or active stretch, Galliett explains. There’s some force pushing against the muscle you’re stretching. An example is a calf stretch in which you lunge one foot forward, straighten you back leg with your heel pressing down, and push into a wall in front of you with your arms. Typically, you alternate between contracting the muscle for 10 seconds and stretching the muscle for 30 seconds, and repeat for three to six reps. Isometric stretching can be great for people who want to make reasonably rapid advances in flexibility, because it sends more signals from the nervous system that tell the muscles it’s okay to stretch further.
- Proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) PNF is similar to isometric stretching, except that the contract-relax scheme might be done for a much shorter time (15-second stretch and seven-second contraction), Galliett says. This stretching technique also includes a contraction of the muscle opposite the muscle being stretched. So, a hamstring stretch would look like this, Galliett says: Lie on your back and have someone lift one leg toward the ceiling until you feel a stretch in the back of your lifted leg. Hold there for 15 to 30 seconds. Contract the hamstring for 7 to 15 seconds, and then contract the quadriceps (the muscle in the front of your thigh) for 7 to 15 seconds. Relax and let your hamstring be stretched a little further. Hold for 15 to 30 seconds. Contractions are held for half the time of stretches.
- Dynamic stretching You do controlled exercises to move your muscles through their full range of motion, which helps warm you up for a workout and tells your brain to get ready to move. With dynamic stretching, you’re moving to extend the muscles, Galliett says. Walking lunges, leg swings, and torso twists are just a few examples of dynamic stretches.
- Somatic stretching Unlike the other types, somatic stretching doesn’t require holding a stretch for a set length of time. You release muscular tension through gentle, natural movements, with an emphasis on tuning in to how the muscles feel. You might, for example, let your head hang and pay attention to the sensations that come with it — or arch your back and stretch upon waking.
The Health Benefits of Stretching
What the different types of stretching have in common is that they help lengthen the muscles of the body and keep them (and thus you) mobile, according to ACE.
Some health benefits of stretching are:
- More flexibility
- Improved mobility
- Better range of motion
- Lower injury risk
- Healthy aging
Stretching increases muscle flexibility, which is needed to maintain a healthy range of motion in the joints, according to Harvard Medical School. Flexibility may sound similar to mobility, but they’re different in that flexibility is the ability of the soft tissues (muscles, tendons, ligaments) to stretch without assistance, whereas mobility is the ability of the joint (where two bones connect) to move through its full range of motion, according to the International Sports Sciences Association.