Safe and Effective Stretching- Practice

Describe a potential risk that distinguishes hurdle stretches performed with the leg pointed back from hurdle stretches with the leg inside.

Both types of hurdle stretches loosen up the hamstring in the same way. But the hurdle stretch with the leg pointed back puts sideways torque on the back knee and can result in injury. So while the potential benefit of the exercises are the same, one risks serious injury to the knee.

The FITT principle stands for __________.

A. frequency, intensity, time, and type

The chest-and-arm stretch squeezes __________.

D. the shoulder blades together

The standing toe touch is most likely to result in __________.

D. a hyperextended knee

Why should you allow a minimum of 24 hours of rest between intense stretching activities?

As with any exercise, stretching stresses the muscles of the body. In order to avoid muscle fatigue or injury, sufficient rest is needed between workouts. For moderate to intense stretching, 24 hours of rest is generally sufficient, but for more intense workouts, 48 hours of rest between workouts may be necessary.

Explain why it is important to stretch slowly and why bouncing during stretching is very dangerous.

Stretching a muscle slowly prevents it from overextending and being damaged. When stretches occur too quickly, such as with bouncing, the muscle can be seriously damaged during the uncontrolled motions.

Explain why head circles and arm circles are considered dangerous exercises.

Both head circles and arm circles involve stretching with motion. These stretching exercises risk serious injury to the muscles of the neck and shoulders if the motions are not trictly controlled. When the head goes back, it hyperextends the neck, which is dangerous; despite not involving bouncing, arm circles are a ballistic exercise and should not be performed.

A full stretching session should take between __________.

D. ten and twenty minutes

Which of the following is a ballistic stretching exercise?

B. arm circles

Explain what is meant by balance stretching.

Balanced stretching refers to performing stretching exercises across the entire body. Stretching the entire body balances the fitness benefits across all muscle groups instead of limiting the benefits to a single or limited number of muscle groups.