How Stretching Can Explode Your Muscle Growth
By
Nick Nilsson
Not
only is stretching important for flexibility,
it is CRITICAL for massive, rapid muscle growth.
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:
BetterU
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.
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Nick Nilsson is
Vice-President of the online personal training company BetterU, Inc. He has
a degree in Physical Education and Psychology and has been inventing new
training techniques for more than 16 years. Nick is the author of a number
of bodybuilding eBooks including "Metabolic Surge - Rapid Fat Loss," "The
Best Exercises You've Never Heard Of," "Gluteus to the Maximus - Build a
Bigger Butt NOW!" and "The Best Abdominal Exercises You've Never Heard Of"
all available at (BetterU).
He can be contacted at betteru@fitstep.com.
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