"What Happens When You Stretch" Relate and Review

"What Happens When You Stretch" from people.bath.ac.uk/masrjb/Stretch/stretching_2.html#SEC13

"The golgi tendon organ records the change in tension, and the rate of change of the tension, and sends signals to the spine to convey this information. When this tension exceeds a certain threshold, it triggers the lengthening reaction which inhibits the muscles from contracting and causes them to contract"
- Our bodies are constantly reacting to the environment to maintain homeostasis and protect our internal organs. An example of this would be the lengthening reaction which prevents overstretching or "pulling" muscles. The pain you might feel in a deep stretch is an indication from your body to not push much further.

"You also want to relax any muscles used as synergists by the muscle you are trying to stretch. For example, when you stretch your calf, you want to contract the shin muscles by flexing your foot."
- Stretching contracted muscles is ineffective as the fibers cannot lengthen, and in order to do this you need to encourage the antagonist muscles to relax because of the contraction that occurs in the agonists. For example, when performing a splits stretch, you must contract the glutes in order to allow the groin muscles to relax and lengthen.

"One of the reasons for holding a stretch for a prolonged period of time is that as you hold the muscle in a stretched position, the muscle spindle habituates and reduces its signaling. Gradually, you can train your stretch receptors to allow greater lengthening of the muscles."
- Flexibility can be improved, and it is evident through forms of exercise like yoga which encourages isometric positions that become much easier with practice. Over time, you will not feel the pain that once held you back from reaching a deeper stretch.

Relate and Review
Sarcomeres are the basic unit of muscle contraction, and cause area to increase/decrease overlap with contraction/relaxation. At maximum resting length the sarcomeres have stretched out fully, and collagen fibers within muscle fibers align with each other and straighten themselves out; scar tissue and disorganized fibers can heal with physical therapy and stretching. To prevent excessive stretching, the muscles react in order to relax/ contract fibers that are overly strained. This is the basic function of the golgi tendon organ.