CHEK
By Paul Chek, HHP, NMT
Founder, C.H.E.K Institute

Stretching is an ancient form of exercise that goes deeper into evolution
than man himself. If you wonder what I mean, watch any cat or dog and you
will often see them stretch upon rising after a rest. Birds can often be
seen stretching their wing muscles too.

Most ancient martial arts and athlete conditioning systems incorporate
stretching as an integral part of athlete development. Stretching has also
been part of healing practices for thousands of years. But have we learned
anything recently that will improve our results with stretching?

YES, we have.

In this article, I will share the following tips for getting maximum results
in minimum time with stretching. You will:

Learn about tonic, phasic and mixed muscle types and which ones should be
stretched first
Discover when the best time to stretch is depending on the desired outcome
Learn two basic approaches to lengthening the muscle-tendon unit and which
is best for your situation
Realize that as your body, or your activities change, so too must your
stretching routine if you want the best results

1. Not all Muscles Are The Same

You are likely to have heard the term “postural muscles” before. This term
refers to those muscles ideally suited to hold you up against gravity. The
term “tonic muscles” is often used synonymously with the term “postural
muscles,” yet in actuality, the tonic muscles and postural muscles are
somewhat different.


Let me explain: While postural muscles do hold you up against gravity,
postural muscles are, for the most part, the muscles on the back of your
body, called extensor muscles. Gravity is always trying to push you into the
fetal position so the postural muscles primarily resist motion in that
direction.

Tonic muscles on the other hand, are muscles that react to faulty loading by
shortening and tightening. They tend to become easily facilitated, meaning
they become workaholics very easily and suffer the typical soft tissue
stress that goes with doing more than a muscle should. Now, before we go on,
let me clarify the term “faulty loading.” Faulty loading, as it is used in
this article, means any over-use, under-use, abuse (such as trauma) or
disuse such as not getting adequate exercise.

Tonic muscles also have a lower threshold of stimulation than other skeletal
muscles because their composition is at least 51 percent slow twitch muscle
fiber. Slow twitch muscle fibers have a greater capacity for prolonged work,
such as aerobic activity or holding you up against gravity.

Vladimir Janda, one the original pioneers who identified some of the tonic
and phasic muscles, (see phasic muscles below) also identified that these
muscles tended to shorten and tighten in hospital patients exposed to
prolonged bed rest, such as those in a coma. These patients needed to be
regularly stretched out by physical therapists to avoid problems with joints
and connective tissues later on.

Figure 1

Phasic muscles, on the other hand, contain at least 51 percent fast twitch
muscle (explosive) and react to faulty loading by lengthening and weakening
(relative to their functional antagonists or opposing muscles). This can be
quite a problem since the same event that causes a tonic muscle to shorten
and tighten can and usually does result in lengthening and relative
weakening of any opposing phasic muscle(s). This results in a condition
referred to as a muscle imbalance among those in the field of sports
conditioning and musculoskeletal rehabilitation (see Figure 1).

Mixed muscles are a third classification, identified by the fact that they
don’t show any preference to length or strength changes in response to
faulty loading not including typical fatigue of course. For example, your
deepest abdominal muscle, the transverse abdominis (TVA) and your diaphragm
are mixed muscles.

2. The Problem of Muscle Balance

Above, I stated that “tonic muscles” react to faulty loading by shortening
and tightening, while “phasic muscles” do just the opposite. This creates
quite a problem in the body because, in many instances, tonic and phasic
muscles are directly opposed and/or opposed in their postural actions on
various joints in the body. This can easily be seen in Figure 1, which shows
that as the tonic hip flexor muscles (in red) shorten and tighten, the
phasic abdominal and hamstring muscles are strung taunt, becoming longer.

Over time, the tonic muscles actually physically, or structurally shorten,
while the stretch stimulus created by a shortened tonic muscle will lead to
structural lengthening of a phasic antagonist. This perpetually destabilizes
joint structures throughout the entire body, being most problematic locally
(the site where the imbalance began) in most cases.

You will see a list of commonly recognized tonic and phasic muscles in the
body in Table 1. In short order, you will notice that many of the tonic
muscles (such as the pectoralis minor) have phasic antagonists (such as the
middle trapezius and rhomboids). With this knowledge, you can now get a real
good idea why general stretching rarely helps improve overall
musculoskeletal performance, nor does it offer the kind of injury prevention
that more skillful application of stretching will.

Table 1. Properties of Tonic and Phasic Musculature
(Reference 1 & 2)

Predominantly Tonic Muscles
Predominantly Phasic Muscles

Prone to Hyperactivity
Prone to Inhibition

Function

Posture
Movement

Susceptibility to Fatigue

Late
Early

Reaction to Faulty Loading

Shortening
Weakening

Shoulder Girdle – Arm

Pectoralis Minor
Levator Scapulae
Trapezius (upper)
Biceps Brachii
Scalenes
Subscapularis
Sternocleidomastoids
Masticatory
Forearm Flexors

Rhomboids
Trapezius (middle)
Trapezius (lower)
Triceps Brachii
Deep Neck Flexors
Forearm Extensors
Supraspinatus
Infraspinatus
Serratus lateralis
Deltoid

Trunk

Lumbar and Cervical Erectors
Quadratus Lumborum

Thoracic Erectors
Rectus Abdominis

Pelvis — Thigh

Hamstrings
Iliopsoas
Rectus Femoris
Thigh Adductors
Piriformis
Tensor Fasciae Latae

Vastus Lateralis
Vastus Medialis
Gluteal Muscles

Lower Leg — Foot

Gastrocnemius
Soleus

Anterior Tibialis
Peroneals
Extensors of the toes

You must realize that muscles and their connective tissues act like springs,
creating tension, and thus force on a joint complex even at rest. If a
muscle becomes lengthened or shortened relative to its antagonist, it is
much like having some tight strings and some loose strings on your guitar or
piano … it doesn’t play good music.

If you show up to a tennis match and just stretch all you muscles, “Will you
be balancing the system for improved joint stability, injury prevention and
improved performance?”

The answer is no. No more than if you loosen or tighten all the strings of
an out-of-tune string instrument.

[To stretch most effectively requires that you test each of the tonic
muscles to see which of them are shortened and in need of balancing. This
will automatically improve the function and balance of a phasic antagonist.
While describing all the tests to be done is too much for this article,
those of you interested in accurately assessing your muscle balance can
study my book, The Golf Biomechanic's Manual, which shows you the specific
muscle tests and corrective stretches.]

For those of you wanting a less technical but effective method for
identifying which muscles to stretch so you can balance your body before any
work or exercise activity, or just to improve energy flow in your body, I
suggest investing in my book “How To Eat, Move and Be Healthy!”.

In “How To Eat, Move and Be Healthy!” I show you exactly how to execute the
20 most commonly used stretches as a stretch test. Having completed the 20
stretch tests, you then proceed to only stretch the short-tight muscles, so
you can balance your body like you would tune an out-of-balance string
instrument.

While I do recommend the books cited for the wealth of practical information
in them, you can also balance your body by simply trying any and all the
stretches you know and sticking to the following premise:

“If it’s not tight — don’t stretch it!”

Failing to follow this simple guideline will only result in one of two
responses:

If you complete the typical general stretching routine, you will simply be
loose and out of balance

Not stretching an out of balance body and simply exercising just results in
a progressively tighter, potentially brittle out of balance body

Neither is optimal for your health or performance.

3. When Should I Stretch?

Immediately prior to your exercise warmup, I suggest you stretch only the
tight muscles identified by testing thosethat lack needed flexibility
relative to your chosen activity.

Always test your response to such corrective stretching in a non-competitive
environment for best results because stretching tight muscles can change
your sense of balance and where your limbs are in space (proprioception).
This is not an experience you want to have for the first time just prior to
competition.

If you lack normal or optimal flexibility in any muscle group and wish to
balance the body for injury prevention and/or pain reduction, I suggest
stretching at night as close to bedtime as possible. This is because your
body does most of its tissue healing at night and if you lengthen tight
muscles before bed, they will heal in a lengthened state, progressively
balancing your body.

If you want to stretch to improve energy levels (Chi flow), you can get a
favorable response whenever you are tired. I prefer stretching to improve
Chi flow the first thing in the morning because it helps me feel better in
my body and improves mental clarity.

Regardless of when you stretch, you will find that your results are best if
your body is warm. About the temperature that causes a light sweat is just
right. Remember that tight muscles are like crying babies. If you stretch
too hard, it’s like jostling a crying baby, which makes it cry louder. Yet,
if you ease into the stretch, it is like gently rocking the baby and it will
relax and let go favorably.

Never rush a stretching session. If you are in a hurry, simply start with
the tightest or most problematic muscles and do as many of them as you can
very well.

4. What is the Best Method of Stretching my Muscles?

If you are preparing for an athletic endeavor, I suggest a form of
stretching called “contract — relax.” This method requires that you place
the muscle to be stretched under tension and then activate it against
isometric (immovable) resistance for five seconds followed immediately by
five seconds of relaxed lengthening.

You will find that breathing really influences your stretching. A general
rule of thumb: Inhale as you activate a muscle and exhale as you relax and
stretch it. It is very important that after contracting for five seconds,
you immediately move into the stretch position as you relax and exhale.

You have a very narrow time window during which the contraction will relax
the muscle, facilitating the stretch. Each muscle you stretch with this
method should be exposed to between three and five contract-relax stretch
cycles and you may need to do exceptionally tight muscles two to three times
through such a cycle.

If your muscles are chronically shortened and you need to improve joint
range of motion beyond what can be done with contract-relax stretching, or
if you have shortened connective tissues, prolonged static stretching is
more effective. Again, these are best done at night, warm with a light
sweat, in a steam bath, or even in a hot tub (be careful of the time in the
hot tub though).

I recommend holding each stretch for a minute or more. Again, don’t be
overzealous with your stretching efforts or your body will react against the
stretch to protect you from injury. You can stretch each of the shortened
muscles or muscle groups as many as three or more times. When you no longer
experience a lengthening effect, you have gained all you will gain in that
session and should not force it or you can injure connective tissues.

5. How Long do I Stick With my Stretches?

As your body begins to balance with corrective stretching, you will
eventually find you don’t feel a sense of tightness in the muscle any more.
At that point, you should not stretch it any further unless you have a
specific flexibility requirement for your chosen activity.

For example, many golfers need to improve their range of motion beyond the
point that they naturally reach end range even though their body is
balanced. In such a case, corrective stretching methods should be
continually applied until your flexibility goals are reached unless that
amount of flexibility is beyond your congenital make-up (natural ability).

If your work or sports activities change, so too must your stretching
routine if you want the best results. I suggest you repeat all 20 stretch
tests in How To Eat, Move and Be Healthy! every couple of weeks, remembering
to adjust your stretching routine to include only those muscles in which you
are lacking flexibility. This will keep your body balanced and minimize
unnecessary pain in joints and tissues too.

While the topic of stretching can become very complex, particularly in
rehabilitative situations, I’m sure that if you apply the tips I’ve shared
here and read the suggested resources, you will be rewarded with improved
posture and better energy levels. Pain reduction is also likely and chances
are good your performance will improve. Stretching can be as uplifting as a
cup of coffee or your favorite tea, but with none of the negative side
effects.

If you feel you need specific help with an evaluation, you are welcome to
visit my web page and find a certified CHEK Practitioner, Golf Biomechanic
or CHEK Exercise Coach near you. Many of them are also CHEK Nutrition and
Lifestyle Coaches and can assist you in implementing the foundation health
principles that Dr. Mercola and I both heavily promote.

Enjoy balance!

Paul Chek is a world-renown expert in the fields of corrective and
high-performance exercise kinesiology. He is the founder of the Corrective
High-performance Exercise Kinesiology Institute, based in California and has
developed three certification programs. Paul is a sought-after international
presenter and consultant for organizations such as the Chicago Bulls,
Australia’s Canberra Raiders and the U.S. Air Force Academy. His information
is not only cutting-edge, but also very applicable.

Paul has produced over 50 videos and advanced level home study courses
designed for the fitness and clinical professional, such as his Scientific
Core Conditioning and Back Training series. He is a regular contributor to
several publications and Web sites. His book, The Golf Biomechanics Manual,
has been adopted for use by professional golf schools and was featured on
the Golf Channel.