Post by Tim Wescott on Apr 11, 2004 8:42:23 GMT -5
How Stretching Can Explode Your Muscle Growth !!
Author: Nick Nilsson
When you think about gaining muscle, stretching is probably not
the first thing that pops into your head. But did you know that
stretching plays a critical role in building muscle?
Every muscle in your body is enclosed in a bag of tough
connective tissue known as fascia. Fascia is important for
holding your muscles in their proper place in your body.
But your fascia may also be holding back your muscle growth.
Think for a moment about your muscles. You train them and feed
them properly. They want to grow and will grow but something is
holding them back. They have no room to grow!
Because fascia is so tough, it doesn't allow the muscle room to
expand. It is like stuffing a large pillow into a small
pillowcase. The size of the muscle won't change regardless of
how hard you train or how well you eat because the connective
tissue around your muscles is constricting the muscles within.
The best example of this is the calf muscle. The lower leg is
riddled with fascia because of its tremendous weight-bearing
duties in the body. It is because of this fascia that many
trainers have great difficulty developing their calves.
The solution: stretching.
Using the pillowcase example from above, imagine you can expand
the size of the pillowcase by stretching it. Suddenly, the
pillow within has more room and will expand to fill that new
space.
By stretching your muscles under specific conditions, you can
actually stretch your fascia and give your muscles more room to
grow.
The key to effective fascial stretching is the pump. The best
time to stretch to expand the bags that are holding in your
muscles is when your muscles are pumped up full of blood.
When your muscles are fully pumped up, they are pressing against
the fascia. By stretching hard at that time, you increase that
pressure on the fascia greatly, which can lead to expansion of
the fascia.
One of the major reasons Arnold Schwarzenegger had such
incredible chest development was that he finished his chest
workouts with dumbell flyes, an exercise that emphasizes the
stretched position of the pectoral muscles. He would pump his
chest up full of blood during the workout then do flyes, holding
the stretch at the bottom of the flye. This gave his chest room
to grow to amazing proportions.
Fascial stretching is more rigorous than regular stretching but
the results can be amazing. When you stretch hard enough to
cause the fascia to expand, you will really feel it! When you
are stretching the fascia, you should feel a powerful pulling
sensation and pressure as the muscle works against the fascia to
expand it.
Be sure you do not stretch so hard that you cause the muscle to
tear or cause injury to yourself. You will rapidly learn to
distinguish the difference between a good stretch and a bad
stretch. You should not feel any sharp pain, just a steady pull.
Hold each stretch for at least 20 to 30 seconds as you must give
your fascia time to be affected by the stretch. Stretch hard
like this only when you have a fully pumped muscle as you must
give your fascia a reason to expand. If your muscles aren't
pumped, just stretch normally.
You can find instructions for stretching at:
www.fitstep.com/Library/Info/Stretching1.htm
One set of hard stretching after each set you do for a muscle
group, besides the obvious benefits of increased flexibility,
can have an incredible effect on the size of your muscles and
their further ability to grow.
About the author:
Nick Nilsson is Vice President of BetterU, Inc., an online
exercise, fitness, and personal training company. Check out his
latest eBook "The Best Exercises You've Never Heard Of" at
www.thebestexercises.com or visit www.fitstep.com.
You can contact him at betteru@fitstep.com or subscribe to
BetterU News, his fitness newsletter at betterunews@fitstep.com.
Author: Nick Nilsson
When you think about gaining muscle, stretching is probably not
the first thing that pops into your head. But did you know that
stretching plays a critical role in building muscle?
Every muscle in your body is enclosed in a bag of tough
connective tissue known as fascia. Fascia is important for
holding your muscles in their proper place in your body.
But your fascia may also be holding back your muscle growth.
Think for a moment about your muscles. You train them and feed
them properly. They want to grow and will grow but something is
holding them back. They have no room to grow!
Because fascia is so tough, it doesn't allow the muscle room to
expand. It is like stuffing a large pillow into a small
pillowcase. The size of the muscle won't change regardless of
how hard you train or how well you eat because the connective
tissue around your muscles is constricting the muscles within.
The best example of this is the calf muscle. The lower leg is
riddled with fascia because of its tremendous weight-bearing
duties in the body. It is because of this fascia that many
trainers have great difficulty developing their calves.
The solution: stretching.
Using the pillowcase example from above, imagine you can expand
the size of the pillowcase by stretching it. Suddenly, the
pillow within has more room and will expand to fill that new
space.
By stretching your muscles under specific conditions, you can
actually stretch your fascia and give your muscles more room to
grow.
The key to effective fascial stretching is the pump. The best
time to stretch to expand the bags that are holding in your
muscles is when your muscles are pumped up full of blood.
When your muscles are fully pumped up, they are pressing against
the fascia. By stretching hard at that time, you increase that
pressure on the fascia greatly, which can lead to expansion of
the fascia.
One of the major reasons Arnold Schwarzenegger had such
incredible chest development was that he finished his chest
workouts with dumbell flyes, an exercise that emphasizes the
stretched position of the pectoral muscles. He would pump his
chest up full of blood during the workout then do flyes, holding
the stretch at the bottom of the flye. This gave his chest room
to grow to amazing proportions.
Fascial stretching is more rigorous than regular stretching but
the results can be amazing. When you stretch hard enough to
cause the fascia to expand, you will really feel it! When you
are stretching the fascia, you should feel a powerful pulling
sensation and pressure as the muscle works against the fascia to
expand it.
Be sure you do not stretch so hard that you cause the muscle to
tear or cause injury to yourself. You will rapidly learn to
distinguish the difference between a good stretch and a bad
stretch. You should not feel any sharp pain, just a steady pull.
Hold each stretch for at least 20 to 30 seconds as you must give
your fascia time to be affected by the stretch. Stretch hard
like this only when you have a fully pumped muscle as you must
give your fascia a reason to expand. If your muscles aren't
pumped, just stretch normally.
You can find instructions for stretching at:
www.fitstep.com/Library/Info/Stretching1.htm
One set of hard stretching after each set you do for a muscle
group, besides the obvious benefits of increased flexibility,
can have an incredible effect on the size of your muscles and
their further ability to grow.
About the author:
Nick Nilsson is Vice President of BetterU, Inc., an online
exercise, fitness, and personal training company. Check out his
latest eBook "The Best Exercises You've Never Heard Of" at
www.thebestexercises.com or visit www.fitstep.com.
You can contact him at betteru@fitstep.com or subscribe to
BetterU News, his fitness newsletter at betterunews@fitstep.com.