I have a question regarding lengthening of muscles.
My chiropractor (applied kinesiologist) tells me that it is impossible to lengthen muscles. He said that most people will reach their maximal length in one week and then it is impossible for them to go past that without tearing the muscle. Now obviously this site shows that this is not so, but how are muscles are elongated?
He says that it is possible to lengthen muscles through stretching, but that the muscle doesn't actually grow longer, rather what is happening is that the collogen in the muscles (which is inelastic) is slightly torn and then any lengthening of muscles is due to scar tissue. Is this true? i must say I am a little confused. Can anyone explain if the muscle actually 'grows' longer, or is it a matter of elongating through scar tissue?
lengthening muscles
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Thomas Kurz
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lengthening muscles
I sense that you are troubled by the discrepancy between what your good doctor tells you and the obvious facts. And here are the facts:
Muscles can grow lengthwise by increasing length of muscle fibers--not through tearing and scarring of the connective tissue. The research on human subjects quoted on page 123 of “Stretching Scientifically” indicates that. In animals this was shown in 60s and 70s--see research papers of G. Goldspink or S. Schiaffino, for example.
As anyone can observe, with proper exercise, flexibility increases from day to day, during *several weeks* and those gains are still considerable after more than one week. Can you imagine what magnitude of inflammation and pain an athlete would experience if those flexibility gains were due to tearing and scarring of the muscle's connective tissue? Ask a physical therapist how much one has to work on one scared muscle or its scarred fascia to make it pliable again so it functions normally and does not cause pain! Then think how would it feel if one had to do it to all muscles of whole limbs!
Having said all that, I have to tell you that the lengthening of muscles by stimulating muscle fibers to grow longer is not the cause of the greatest gains in flexibility. Something else is and what that is everyone who read “Stretching Scientifically” knows.
Muscles can grow lengthwise by increasing length of muscle fibers--not through tearing and scarring of the connective tissue. The research on human subjects quoted on page 123 of “Stretching Scientifically” indicates that. In animals this was shown in 60s and 70s--see research papers of G. Goldspink or S. Schiaffino, for example.
As anyone can observe, with proper exercise, flexibility increases from day to day, during *several weeks* and those gains are still considerable after more than one week. Can you imagine what magnitude of inflammation and pain an athlete would experience if those flexibility gains were due to tearing and scarring of the muscle's connective tissue? Ask a physical therapist how much one has to work on one scared muscle or its scarred fascia to make it pliable again so it functions normally and does not cause pain! Then think how would it feel if one had to do it to all muscles of whole limbs!
Having said all that, I have to tell you that the lengthening of muscles by stimulating muscle fibers to grow longer is not the cause of the greatest gains in flexibility. Something else is and what that is everyone who read “Stretching Scientifically” knows.
Thomas Kurz
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