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Chas Tennis · 09-08-2012, 05:46 AM

An interesting point about stretching ligaments vs muscle-tendons -

In the reference Stretching Scientifically(2003), 4th Ed, T. Kurz distinguishes between muscle-tendon stretching and stretching the ligaments at a joint. [Ligaments connect bone to bone.] He says that stretches aimed at elongating ligaments for adults may lead to lose joints and be hazardous.........very interesting discussion. There are many insightful discussions and observations in this book that I have not seen in any other stretching references.

In another area of research - Over the last several years there is biomechanical research that indicates that the muscle-tendon-fascia combination may not be as important for elasticity as the basic muscle cell itself. As best I understand it when elasticity is measured on isolated muscle cells the same elastic properties can be observed in a single basic cell. That is, the muscle overall structure/facia/tendon may not be as important as has been thought. ( I'm not sure if there are serious controversies with the new conclusion. ?) A protein molecule in the muscle cell itself called Titin may play the main role in elasticity. See last paragraph on Titin- http://muscle.ucsd.edu/musintro/contractions.shtml

09-08-2012, 05:46 AM	#39
Chas Tennis Professional Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Baltimore, MD Posts: 1,313	muscle-tendon stretching and ligament stretching An interesting point about stretching ligaments vs muscle-tendons - In the reference Stretching Scientifically(2003), 4th Ed, T. Kurz distinguishes between muscle-tendon stretching and stretching the ligaments at a joint. [Ligaments connect bone to bone.] He says that stretches aimed at elongating ligaments for adults may lead to lose joints and be hazardous.........very interesting discussion. There are many insightful discussions and observations in this book that I have not seen in any other stretching references. In another area of research - Over the last several years there is biomechanical research that indicates that the muscle-tendon-fascia combination may not be as important for elasticity as the basic muscle cell itself. As best I understand it when elasticity is measured on isolated muscle cells the same elastic properties can be observed in a single basic cell. That is, the muscle overall structure/facia/tendon may not be as important as has been thought. ( I'm not sure if there are serious controversies with the new conclusion. ?) A protein molecule in the muscle cell itself called Titin may play the main role in elasticity. See last paragraph on Titin- http://muscle.ucsd.edu/musintro/contractions.shtml Last edited by Chas Tennis : 09-09-2012 at 07:23 AM.