Stretching Research Paper

Injuries are something that you don't want to happen. They are the number one leading cause of a career ending. An injury can happen at any moment at any time you just have to use preventive measures them from happening. The NBA is the number one leading sport for injuries. In basketball history there has been a total or 409,799 injuries in the league. That is why it is important for you to stretch before and after you play. If you don't stretch that can result in many different injuries like ankle sprains, groin pull, hamstring strains, shin splints, and many more. Some of them can end a career. I wouldn't want my career to end just because I wasn't safe. I know stretching may seem boring and pointless but, in life you going to be thankful

Have you ever experience a hamstring strain? Do you know how unsafe it can be? One of the common groups of people to go through hamstring injuries, are athletes who indulge in sports that involve jumping and explosive sprinting. In addition of hamstring injuries, they can be very frustrating to deal and treat with. The hamstrings are composing of tendons that attach three large muscles, the biceps femoris, semitendinosus, and semimembranosus. These three muscles helps one knee to bend and extend to his or her hip; however, when one or more of these muscles gets stretched too far and starts to tear, it may cause plenty of pain due to the pulled hamstring.

Hamstring Strains (HS) are identified by acute pain in the thigh with disruption of the muscle fibres, with 47% of all HS studies stating that the BF muscle is affected (3). This can be explained because the BF muscle tendon and muscle fibres are where the most common distribution of the ground force produced during running (3). Eccentric contraction is explained by a study from Guex (4) stating that between 75-85% of the running cycle the hamstrings are undergoing an active lengthening contraction. Having this amount of eccentric contraction upon the muscles has the potential to cause an overuse injury (4). At 85% of the running cycle, the SM, ST, and BF are stretched by 8.7-12.0% which is beyond their optimum lengths (4).

What is a hamstring strain? According to Mayo Clinic, "A hamstring strain is a sharp pain that occurs up the back of your leg, also known as your hamstring." Swelling and tenderness will begin to appear within a few hours, however, bruising is a common experience within a strain, additionally not being able to apply weight onto the injured leg. You can treat a strain at home. Nevertheless, you should visit a doctor when if it grows unbearable to walk on your injured leg.

Hamstring will be very active when doing activities that demand a person to bend the legs, such as running, jumping, and climbing. Doing these activities will increase the risk of a pulled hamstring. To minimize the risk of a pulled hamstring, muscle stretching

Hamstring strains have been one of the most common injuries around the world. Unfortunately, there has been a limited amount of success reducing the rate of this injury (Schmit, 2012). Although many researchers and doctors have studied the cause of hamstring strains, there are still many theories as to why they occur. One theory includes that there is an imbalance between the medial and lateral hamstring muscle that leads to hamstring muscle fatigue (Prentice, 2015). Hamstring strains are painful and prevalent in different types of activities. Most commonly these strains can be found in athletes that engage in running, skating, jumping sliding, kicking, and quick/fast motions (Valle, 2015).

The number one component in the treatment of a strain is time and rest. The athlete must be prepared and patient to take the necessary time and rest to let the hamstring heal correctly for the long-term. Immediately after the injury occurs the athlete should focus on the R.I.C.E protocol. R.IC.E. stands for rest, ice, compression, and elevation. For the first day or two depending on the severity of the strain, the muscle should be iced for 10 to 15 minutes every hour then wrapped in compression. In the first few days, ibuprofen may be taken to help reduce the pain and the swelling. The ice and compression will help control swelling and bleeding if present. If more action is needed, elevation can be used to also help reduce swelling. After this stage is complete, the athlete can then began to apply heat to the muscle for up to twenty minutes. The heat will help to relax the biceps femoris, and will also increase blood flow. Another option at this time of the recovery is massaging the

Many people have stronger quadriceps than hamstrings because they are easier to work than hamstrings (Zirm). The best way for athletes to avoid pulling or tearing a hamstring is to balance everything. Make sure everything is working the same amount. If someone works legs today they are not just going to work their quads because their calves, glutes, and hamstrings will not have the same amount of strength. That will then cause the other muscles to work harder than the quads. That will then eventually lead to an injury that will take someone out of their sport for about six to eight weeks.

The Effects of Different Stretching Techniques on Myosin and Actin Fibers and How it Affects Athletic Performance

As you begin to gently stretch the hamstring muscle it will become more supple. This will result in tension being taken from the lower back, sacro-iliac joint and hamstring muscles, which in turn will encourage correct function of these areas, therefore healing will take place. As a result, your pain will also begin to resolve.

It is an exceptionally regular confusion that if hamstrings feel tight, they should be short and needing extending .The individual will then continue in extending them, and ask why they continue feeling tight notwithstanding their earnest attempts.

Is stretching a positive or negative thing for athletes? I readed two passages that tells you that if stretching is a positive or negative thing to do. The first passage opinion in“Stretching: The Right Way’’ uses a way to think that stretching is a positive way because it said that a “rubber band are like muscles’’. The author shows how stretching is the best if you don’t want injuries, in the passage it said that ‘‘muscles are like a rubber band if you slowly stretch the rubber band until it can go not further and then hold it for a few seconds the rubber band will not become looser and it will snap’’.

- Adding trunk stability exercises to the rehablitation programe of hamestring injury seems to improve the recovery periode of injured hamestring. In addition, it has better valu to reduce the time of return to sport than the classic programe that include just strengthing and streching exercises.

     Before going right into a stretching routine, it is good to know exactly what you are doing to your muscles fibers and tendons. First of all, our muscles are made up of many little fibers called myofilaments. As a muscle contracts, the area of overlap between the different sizes of myofilaments increases. As it stretches, this area of overlap decreases, allowing the muscle fibers to lengthen. Once the muscle is stretched to its limit, additional length is gained through the surrounding tissues. As the tension increases, the fibers in this tissue align themselves along the same line of force as the tension. Hence when you stretch, the muscle fiber is pulled out to its full length, and the connective tissue takes up the remaining slack. When this occurs, it helps to realign any disorganized fibers in the direction of the tension. Doing this not only increases the range of motion, but it also helps to heal damaged tissue in the muscles and tendons. When a muscle is stretched, some of its fibers lengthen, but others do not. The length of the entire muscle depends on the number of stretched fibers. This is also true when a muscle is

Almost every athlete from amateur to professional stretches before exercise, and coaches and trainers have recommended static stretching as an essential part of a warm up routine for years. But why do we stretch? What do we gain from this routine? Stretching increases flexibility, but many people stretch specifically before exercise to gain additional benefits, mainly enhanced athletic performance, reduced muscle soreness, and injury prevention. However, research suggests that stretching does not provide these additional benefits in any significant amount. There is very little evidence that supports the claims people make about the benefits of stretching before exercise, but there is no evidence that it is harmful. It is simply overrated because it does not provide the benefits people think it does. Static stretching before exercise is unnecessary because it does not improve athletic performance, prevent muscle soreness or reduce the risk of injury.