How to Tense Your Muscles Prior to Relaxing & Stretching Them

Tensing your muscles before relaxing or stretching them can increase your range of motion and relaxation. One technique for doing this is called proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation, or PNF, which works by overriding your body's protective response to stretching a muscle. Another technique, called progressive relaxation, involves systematically tensing and releasing all of your muscles. Progressive relaxation relaxes your entire body by shutting off signals from the nervous system that tell your muscles to contract.

  1. Static Stretching

    • Static stretching involves lengthening a muscle and holding it in the lengthened position for at least 30 seconds. This technique isn't always effective and can impair performance. While you can use regular stretching to prevent injury and improve range of motion, according to the National Academy of Sports Medicine, static stretching performed in isolation immediately before tasks requiring maximal effort may result in decreased strength. PNF is a better option for improving range of motion. It is more effective than static stretching, dynamic range of motion and active-isolated stretching.

    Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation

    • PNF is also known as contract-relax-contract stretching. After stretching a muscle to the end of its range of motion, hold an isometric contraction for 10 to 20 seconds and then relax in that position before stretching deeper and holding another isometric contraction. PNF stretching is especially valuable when your muscles are short or overactive. Work with a professional trained in PNF techniques before attempting to do these stretches. The position of your body during the stretches is important, and, in some cases, you need a partner to facilitate the stretch.

    Sample PNF Stretch -- Hamstring

    • Stand behind a step with both feet facing forward. With your knee extended, place the heel of one foot onto the step. Bend the knee of your opposite leg and push your hips backward until you feel a stretch through the back of your lifted leg. While in this position, press your heel downward onto the step to about a 25-percent contraction. Hold this isometric contraction for 10 to 20 seconds and then relax for 10 seconds in the same position. At this point, you should be able to move your hips farther back, taking your hamstring into a deeper stretch. Stretch until you feel resistance from the muscle, hold your body in that new position and push your heel downward onto the step again for 10 to 20 seconds. Relax for 10 seconds in that position. Repeat this move three times.

    Progressive Relaxation

    • Progressive relaxation is based on the theory that a muscle is either contracted or relaxed. The normal state of a muscle is in a relaxed state. Muscles engage when they receive a signal from the nerves to contract. When this signal is stopped, the muscles relax. However, in many cases, the nervous system doesn't stop sending the signal to contract. It's as if the switch gets stuck in the "on" position. To override the nervous system, isometrically contract a muscle for 10 seconds and then relax it. For example, squeeze your hand in a fist and then let it fall open to a relaxed position. To relax your whole body, systematically contract-release all your muscles, working your way from your head down to your toes.