The Truth about Elongating Muscles

The idea of “elongating” your muscles is baked into certain fitness fads. It’s nonsense – no matter how many low-intensity reps you do, you can’t actually make your muscles any longer. Muscle length is predetermined by genetics, and related to where your muscles attach to your bones. But while elongating muscles may be impossible, increasing elasticity is doable. And the actions are essential the same. Here’s the truth about elongating muscles, and why the general idea is worth pursuing.

It’s About Range of Motion

The goal isn’t longer muscles – it’s improved muscle elasticity. That’s the key to maintaining or improving range of motion. As we age, muscles invariably tighten. Even worse, our sedentary, chained-to-the-desk lifestyles are exacerbating the problem. Tech neck describes the stress and pressure that burden our upper back, shoulders, and neck when we maintain a hunched posture. It’s a hefty strain that trickles down the entire back, creating problems everywhere.

It takes dedicated effort to undo the damage. Consistent work to relax and stretch those muscle fibers helps maintain the muscle’s full length, which brings forth myriad benefits – reduced pain and stiffness in the low back, less joint inflammation, better posture, increased lung capacity, even emotional and mental perks.

What to Do

A regular stretching routine is one way to tackle the issue. Proper technique and focus during strength training sessions is another. Here at Framework Personal Training in Reno, our certified personal trainers can help. They’ll design a personalized fitness plan and guide you through effective training sessions to help you enjoy all of the benefits of fitness – and that includes increased range of motion and stronger muscles.

Here’s the big takeaway – the idea of elongating muscles is little more than a sales ploy. The idea behind it, though, is creating strong, lean muscles, increased range of motion, and improved flexibility. And those are things worth doing. Contact Framework today, and we’ll help you do them.