For athletes a major focus is incorporating a fitness routine that both prevent and reduce the risk of injury, in addition to alleviating pain and rehabilitating past injuries. Running, cycling, dance, and other intense sports are all brutal on joints and tendons. It is vital that athletes use a fitness routine that will not cause further stress and will enhance athleticism safely.

​

There is a collection of techniques aimed at lengthening, or elongating, muscles and connective tissue. At its core, there are 4 primary reasons why this is important:

​

1. To increase range of motion in muscles and joints

2. To reduce the risk of injury

3. To enhance sports performance

4. To alleviate pain and manage stress

​

It is primarily skeletal muscles that adapt to all kinds of exercise, get more metabolically efficient, do more with less oxygen and nutrients, and then demand less from the heart. Stretching and strength training can keep you in better shape, while also giving severely fatigued anatomy a badly needed rest — rest which is the single most important factor in rehabilitation from many of the world’s most common sports related injuries.