Post workout stretching for a better recovery

Stretching has always been a real strong topic of discussions and disagreement between specialists and trainers regarding its utility in performance. 

However, while in the warming up process, stretching can be useful only for specific kind of activities, at the moment of cooling down for recovery after a competition or a work out, it is a very good habit to apply in order to recover faster and better and also to prevent injuries. 

The advantage given by completing activities of stretching excercizes after practice is proven by several trials followed by researchers as clinical trials. Infact, it has been proven that stretching after a activity helps in recovery by increasing the blood flow and as a consequence this improve oxigeneation, nutrition and releasing of toxins for the muscle. 

Streatching firstly causes a vascular constriction due to the stretch of fibers in blood vessels walls. once the muscle is released again, they observed a compensatory vascular dilatation and an increased blood flow.

Therfore, we can say it’s a good idea doing some stretching exercizes at the end of an intense workout or a competition, especially for muscles mostly stressed by our activities – triceps and biceps for runners -. Usually we can keep the position for 20 to 40 seconds without feeling any kind of fatigue,by letting the muscle relax during the process of stretching. 

Stretching, however, is not a way to recover immediately after an exercise, the effects are very light and very slow, they need perceverance and patience every day to be seen, a good habit to learn after practice for everybody.