Types of stretches
There are three main types of stretches:
Static Stretching
Facilitated Stretching
Dynamic Stretching
Static Stretching
There are two categories of static stretching
Active Static Stretching where you contract the antagonist muscle (a muscle that opposes the action of another), resulting in a phenomenon called “reciprocal inhibition” where the central nervous system signals the target muscle to relax.
Passive Static Stretching is when we relax into a stretch using our body weight to stretch the muscles, such as when practicing Yin or restorative Yoga.
Facilitated Stretching
This type of stretching contracts the muscle being stretched during an active static stretch. This stretch is known as a PNF stretch (proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation).
When doing this type of stretch it’s important to remember to gently contract the stretched muscle to avoid any excessive joint reaction. You contract the target muscle with resistance in the targeted joint, holding the resistance with about 30% of your strength for 10 seconds and then you release it and bring it closer , you can do up to 3 rounds.
After this type of stretch, the muscle fibers will get longer and there will be an increase of the range of motion within the targeted joint.
Dynamic Stretching
As vinyasa practitioners we use this type of stretching while performing repetitive movements of the body into increasingly deeper stretches such as when we practice Sun A and B.
When you do this type of stretch in the morning it “resets” the resting muscle length for the day!