Is Active Stretching Better than Passive Stretching?
When you’re feeling unfamiliar pain in your body, your first instinct is probably to Google the issue. You’ll likely stumble across passive stretches that use the force of gravity or another person to move your muscles and joints through their full range of motion.
While passive stretching can sometimes be beneficial for relieving tension, it often does not address the full scope of the problem. Active stretching, however, actively engages the target muscles through their full range of motion. This helps to restore proper function in the body.
Our Muscle Activation Technique experts share why active stretching is often more impactful than passive when dealing with pain or recovering from an injury.
What is Active Stretching?
Active stretching is an effective practice to improve flexibility in the muscles and connective tissue. A standard active stretch involves engaging the muscles to move part of the body through its full range of motion to its end range and completing several repetitions. By contracting one muscle, you can more effectively elongate and stretch the opposite muscle.
An active stretch doesn’t involve the use of straps or bands, as these accessories often make the stretch passive.
Dynamic Active Stretching
These exercises are highly beneficial when warming up for a workout by gently engaging and preparing the target muscles. You actively move through your full ROM several times.
When is Active Stretching More Beneficial than Passive Stretching?
The main difference between passive and active stretching is that passive stretches use an outside force to help with the activity. If you’re stretching your hip flexors, this could involve using your hands or a band for assistance without engaging any muscles in the lower body. It may also involve another person pulling you into a stretch.
Active stretching, however, increases the flexibility of muscles while simultaneously improving the function of antagonistic muscles. The numerous benefits of active stretching include:
It promotes blood and oxygen flow to your muscles
It takes advantage of neurological principles of movement
It retrains the muscles to fully relax and is much more effective over time
It strengthens the opposing muscles
Why is Active Stretching Safer?
Active stretching is unable to force you further than your muscles, tendons, and ligaments can handle, as it only utilizes your own muscle contractions to stretch.
Passive stretching can increase your risk of injury by extending the joint into a hypermobile state that will cause further tension as the stabilizing muscles become inflamed and tense to protect the joint.
Passive stretching should especially be avoided before working out, as it lowers your muscle strength and power temporarily – although this can become a long-term issue if continuously performed improperly.
On the other hand, active stretching is highly beneficial as a workout warmup.
How to Perform an Active Stretch
Performing an active stretch, no matter what muscle group you’re focusing on, involves relaxing one muscle group while relaxing the opposing muscles. You hold the stretch for a much shorter amount of time – typically 2 – 10 seconds – and repeat the movement for several reps.
Some examples of good active stretches to investigate include:
Active straight leg raise
Tall kneeling hip extension
Seated wall angels
Alternating runner’s lunge with rotation
Clamshells with hip lift
Scapular push-ups
Pro Tip: Pilates is a great form of exercise to build into your routine if you want to practice more active stretching.
Can Muscle Activation Technique Help?
Our rehabilitation protocol at Dynamic Fitness and Rehabilitation involves identifying limitations in range of motion to figure out which muscles are not contracting effectively. After these weaknesses are located, our trainers activate each muscle through specific, precise contractions.
Like active stretching, we re-establish the connections between the nervous system and muscular system. Unlike active stretching, when you work with us, you’ll know exactly which muscle groups you need to work on to feel more balanced and move more freely.
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Live Actively with Dynamic Fitness and Rehabilitation
Dealing with chronic pain can make it difficult to live an active lifestyle, but as we always remind our clients, movement really is the best medicine.
If you’re ready to get back to playing catch with your kids or carrying groceries into the house without pain, it’s time you reach out to our M.A.T. experts at Dynamic Fitness and Rehabilitation. You deserve high-quality living, and we’ll show you that it’s still possible.