Active stretching involves contracting the agonist muscle to relax the antagonist muscle and increase flexibility. It is recommended as a progression to passive stretching, which can activate the muscle spindle reflex. Similar methods include PNF and resistance stretching.
Active stretching is an exercise technique intended to increase flexibility in a muscle by activating a reflex known as reciprocal inhibition. In short, reciprocal inhibition is the idea that when one muscle, the agonist, contracts, its opposite or antagonist muscle must relax to allow that contraction. Contracting the quadriceps muscles in the front of the thigh, for example, requires relaxing the hamstrings in the back of the thigh. Therefore, if the goal is to encourage the hamstrings to relax in order to achieve a deeper stretch, then the technique of tensing the quadriceps while holding a hamstring stretch is employed.
This form of stretching is often recommended as a progression to passive stretching, in which a muscle stretch is performed for 20-30 seconds while keeping all involved muscles relaxed. To passively stretch the hamstrings, for example, one might lie on their back on the floor with their left leg extended and their right leg held toward the ceiling and then pull their right leg down using the strength of their arms, keeping the leg relaxed. She would then follow that stretch with an active stretching technique, where she would repeat the same stretch but this time contract her quads to help lower her leg towards her.
The idea behind active stretching is that no matter how hard one tries to relax a muscle during a passive stretch, the muscle being stretched will necessarily contract to protect itself from stretching to the point of injury. Responsible for this reflex is the muscle spindle, a sensory organ found in muscle fibers that perceives changes in muscle length as well as the rate of change in length that occurs. When one puts a muscle into a passive stretch, the muscle spindles signal the nervous system to react reflexively, applying forces to the muscle resisting the stretch. To circumvent this mechanism, then, it is recommended to use an active stretching technique, which eliminates the force on the antagonist muscle, in the previous example, the hamstring, activating reciprocal inhibition.
Methods similar to active stretching include proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) stretching and resistance stretching. The PNF stretch requires a partner and involves contracting the tensed muscle isometrically against resistance, such as the force of the partner’s hand, for 20-30 seconds, then applying a static stretch to lengthen the muscle. Resistance stretching involves contracting the stretched muscle eccentrically as it is brought from a shortened position to a lengthened position, and then repeated, without releasing tension in the muscle as it moves through space. There is no static hold involved in resistance stretching.
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