Recovery is an important component of any good training program given the fact that if you can’t recover from the training stress you won’t be able to make any progress (in fact you will more than likely begin to slide backward).
Thus, athletes have sought out various recovery strategies to help improve their ability to adapt to the training load and one such method that has been proposed in the past has been stretching regimens (Siff, 2003).
Of course stretching has come under a lot of fire over the years:
- “Should I stretch before or after training?”
- “Does stretching decrease power?”
- “Does stretching really improve muscle length?”
- “Can stretching really help stave off injuries?”
While these are all good questions, I think one component that is not addressed with any of them is the potential role that stretching may play in relaxation and recovery. Perhaps, instead of focusing on what stretching does or does not do to our power output or our muscles, we can look to various stretching programs as a method to aid the athlete in getting into a more relaxed stated, performing these stretching programs later in the day, maybe several hours after training or near bed time, or on a separate day when the goal of training is to recover from harder training sessions the day(s) prior. Anecdotally, some athletes feel more rested following a short stretching program; however, I will say that the coach should determine what the athlete should be stretching and setting the ground rules for how long each stretch should be held, sets, reps, etc, instead of just letting them do whatever they want.
A recent study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research by Fariatti et al (2011) evaluated the response that stretching had on Heart Rate Variability (HRV) in subjects with low flexibility.
Note: I have talked about HRV in a few previous blog posts – Using Heart Rate Variability to Measure Stress: There’s an app for that! and Massage, Stress, and HRV.
What They Did And What They Found
The authors took 10 male subjects, approximately 23yrs of age, who had at least 1yr of strength training background, and had low flexibility (classified in percentiles 10-40 on the sit-and-reach test according to the ACSM standards).
During the study the subjects performed three stretches – right hurdler stretch, left hurdler stretch, and butterfly stretch – each held for 30sec at maximum end range, with 30sec rest between sets, for 3 sets, and one minute rest between each exercise. The total session lasted approximately 10min.
The heart rate of the subjects was recorded for 30min. before the stretch program, during the stretching program, and for 30min. after the stretching program. To evaluate HRV changes, the last 10min. of each testing period (pre, during, post) were used to for this measurement.
The subjects had increased their heart rate during the stretching session; however, their heart rate did decline during the recovery period to a value significantly lower than their pre-exercise heart rate.
The researchers also found that the 10min. stretching sessionincreased post exercise vagal tone, as evident by a decrease in low frequency to high frequency power during the recovery period following its increase during the stretching session (although it was still higher than it was at rest, during the pre-stretching session). Thus parasympathetic activity improved (HRV improved). This paper was in agreement with a previous paper that the authors cited, showing increases in HRV following a 15min. stretching routine performed by athletes over a 28 day period.
One of the unfortunate things was that the study did not include a control group. For example, what would the HRV and heart rate response been for a group of low-flexibility individuals who lied on a table for 70min. during the entire testing and stretching session period? Additionally, what would have been the results of the study if the subjects had been individuals with adequate flexibility? Would there have been the same changes in heart rate and HRV? What if the subjects were high level athletes? Of course these are all things that will hopefully be looked at in future studies; however, I think this information might be a good start in helping us formulate more ideas to assist athletes in recovering from hard training sessions or competition.
Practical Application
As stated earlier in this post, recovery modalities can be utilized following training (commonly a brief period after training or even later in the day, as a second session) or on the day following a hard training session.
About 6 or 7 years ago, when I realized that I couldn’t kill myself in the gym every single day, I purchased the book Real Men Do Yoga: 21 star athletes reveal their secrets for strength, flexibility, and peak performance by John Capouya. I figured it would be a good idea to supplement my training with some sort of flexibility regimen. Slowly, over the years, the book worked its way to the bottom of a large pile of other books, and I forgot about it, until I read this paper and decided to pull it out. However, one of the limitations of yoga is that taking a large class at a gym/fitness facility usually has some drawbacks.
First, the stretches being performed are not specific to you and your needs. They are just a sequence that teacher tends to favor, so perhaps, specific limitations that you bring to the table may hinder your ability to perform some of these movements or potentially cause you injury.
Second, it is hard to get help or instruction when you are in a large group like that; as the teacher is commonly in the front of the room and the first few rows of the class are dominated by the women who take the class 10 times a week and can perform every pose perfectly. Those of us who are not as flexible or who lack competency in the poses tend to move towards the back of the room where we will be less embarrassed or feel like we are less in the way.
Finally, the teacher dictates the flow of the class and there are many forms of yoga. If you are attempting to recover from hard training, it may be difficult to locate a class or teacher that understands those needs and the class may be more aggressive than what you really need.
What to do?!?!
I think the best thing you can do is find a coach/trainer that can assess your needs, assess your training program, and prescribe some things that you can do to help improve your mobility and in a sequence that is rather slow and controlled so that it can be performed on days in between hard training or later in the day following training to perhaps reap some of the benefits that the above paper is suggesting (improved parasympathetic state, decreased resting heart rate, etc).
One of the things that the book Real Men Do Yoga has is various stretching schemes which flow from one stretch to the next, which may be of value, and of course you can swap some of the stretches in these schemes that don’t fit into your needs for stretches that do. When I look at some of these schemes, I am reminded of some of the mobility schemes that Gray Cook lays out in his book Athletic Body In Balance. There ar a lot of similarities between these two books with regard to the movement sequences. This is one of the reasons why I have often recommended to various yoga practitioners that they take the Functional Movement Screen course, to help drive their stretching routines for their clients.
Conclusion
Recovery is an important component of sports conditioning. Stretching routines may be one aspect that can aid an athlete in getting into a more relaxed/parasympathetic state.
Before just going out and stretching, try and find a training, therapist, or yoga practitioner who understands assessment and can individualize a mobility/flexibility scheme to your needs.