"Stretching" means "English stretching".

There are two great types of stretching :

1. The Californian stretching

The Californian stretching is usually practised in the rooms of gymnastics. It proposes a segmentary stretching of the muscles, with-statement work one muscle after other. One chooses, for example, strech his legs and then his back. The bases of good quality are as follows :
• The professor must pay attention to the placement of each one, it is necessary, for a certain number of movements, d’être positioned in l’axe of the column, the head slightly behind and the a little sunken belly.

• It is necessary to take account of breathing. To carry out the stretchings on expiration allows amplify strech activity , because the breath lasts longer than inspiration. It is regrettable that in too many rooms of gymnastics breathing either retracted and it is impossible "to work" correctly, and to really slacken.

2. The postural stretching

The postural stretching ® was developed in the Sixties by Jean-Pierre Moreau, kinesitherapist who prepared high level athletes. It makes flexible and tonic. The muscles of posture, with-statement those which make it possible to support the body upright, are located in-depth. The postural stretching ® requests them particularly, in particular the muscles of the back. Its effects are muscular, respiratory (related to the ventilation of the muscles during strain) and circulatory (effect of pump contraction-relaxation of the muscle brews the venous system). To adult, it thus brings muscular tonicity, flexibility, better immunity, balance. It makes it possible to release the nervous tensions. It is also recommended for the scolioses, lordoses, hyperlordoses, kyphoses (even slipped discs) and all the problems of back. Lastly, "the deep-root in the ground the person makes more conscious of her interior life and also more opened to exterior, therefore more communicative". He also concerns child, in particular for the psychological disorders : anguishes, fears… The meetings are then less long. The stretching postural® alternates tonic postures auto-stretching and postures of relaxation "the first are with research a placement of the body by the play stretch, of major muscular contractions, balance, of breathing. The seconds are with research a complete relaxation of the body ". During the posture, the participant practises the "small breathing" which mobilizes a small volume to air. It consists in expiring by pronouncing small "yes" and inspiring in a short way. It is reversed compared to physiological breathing, insofar as expiration is active there and inspiration semi-reflex, passive. This stretching gathers many postures thus (see two examples below). At the course a meeting, the person places herself in axis of the spinal column. Then it engages its "small breathing", she will continue to end of the posture. That starts with a "setting in awakening", for example: decline of the wrists, the feet, lengthening of the nape of the neck. That continues with the posture itself: a push, one slipped, or a traction…In the case of "stretching of toning up", the person carries out a lengthening and a contraction of the deep muscles. In the tonic case of "stretching lenghtening", it carries out a lengthening of the muscles. Then, it blows and is slackened. Lastly, it engages a great breathing to slacken. Compared to the Californian stretching, the postural stretching ® has advantages : "Its stretchings are progressive and not by jolts, which preserves muscle fibres more. Moreover, it is total. Indeed, streching segmentary and by jolts involves sometimes with too requesting a muscle and accidents of the breakdown type can occur ", underlines Lise Dambrin, kinesitherapist mezierist and osteopath.

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