Thursday 11 November 2010

Pnf Stretching (Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation)

PNF stretching (or proprioceptive muscular facilitation) is one of the most effective forms of flexibility training for increasing range of motion (1,2).
PNF techniques can be both passive (no associated muscular contraction) or active (voluntary muscle contraction). While there are several variations of PNF stretching, they all have one thing in common - they facilitate muscular inhibition. It is believed that this is why PNF is superior to other forms of flexibility training (1,2,3,4).
Both isometric and concentric muscle actions completed immediately before the passive stretch help to achieve autogenic inhibition - a reflex relaxation that occurs in the same muscle where the golgi tendon organ is stimulated. Often the isometric contraction is referred to as 'hold' and the concentric muscle contraction is referred to as 'contract'.


Hamstring strech.
A typical PNF stretch might start with an athlete lying on his back, with one leg raised and held straight; a partner then attempts to push the raised leg up and back, thus stretching the hamstring. The traditional approach would be to push the leg back until a stretch is felt, hold it for a time (maybe 10 seconds) and then push it a bit further, thus increasing the range of motion. By contrast, for PNF stretch, instead of holding for a few seconds, the athlete tries to push his leg back to the ground in opposition to his partner's efforts. Once this contraction is relaxed, the partner finds he can push the athlete's leg through a greater range of motion.

Arm Stretching
Our partner held our arms above our sholders with thers hands arround our wrist. And put their knee in our back and pulled our arms back till it hurts and then we had to push our arms forward for 8 seconds then rest and then reapet 3 times.