During the warm-up phase of exercise, many fitness instructors feel pressure to “hurry up and get to the good stuff.” However, if flexibility exercises are ignored, tissue extensibility cannot be improved. One of the principles the instructor must understand in order to properly provide feedback during stretches is the principle of elasticity. What is elasticity?
Explanation
Answer: B - The term elasticity describes the mechanical property of bodily tissues, including muscles, to return to their original shape and size after a force, such as a stretch, is removed. When tissues are stretched beyond their elastic limit, they become elongated, which improves tissue extensibility. The observant instructor should take note when class members are performing ballistic stretching instead of static stretching. While ballistic or dynamic stretching will help prepare the body for exercise, it will not improve tissue extensibility. Instead, static stretching should be encouraged when the goal is tissue elongation or flexibility.
