Muscles require strength AND flexibility to function properly.  There is a lot of mis-information out there about how a musician should or shouldn’t stretch.   There are a few basic rules I live by when talking to musicians about stretching:

Stretching shouldn’t cause pain! Stretching should feel good!
Your body will have different stretching ability on any given day. So listen to your body while you stretch. Just because yesterday you could go X far doesn’t mean you will be able to today!
You can learn a lot about your body by stretching regularly. Learn by paying attention and listening to how your muscles feel. By identifying sore areas you may be able to stem off the onset of an injury.
It is better to hold a mild stretch for 30 seconds than an intense stretch for 2 seconds! Remember, listen to your body and only go to a comfortable level!!!!

There are a lot of great stretches and just as many very poor ones.  In general, try to do stretching that uses your own body weight or pushes against a straight object (the wall, floor, or pole) instead of pulling or yanking on a part of your body with your hand.  There are two main reasons to stretch:

  1. To warm-up and increase blood flow to muscles you are about to use.  This type of stretching is often called “dynamic” and should incorporate movement of the muscle instead of just holding a stretch.  The movement will help blood flow to the muscle and the stretching within the movement will improve muscle function for a period of time.
  2. To cool down and promote long term increase in range of motions.  This type of stretching is static in nature and will often involve holding a lengthened muscle in a comfortable stretch.  Directly after this type of stretching the research shows that the muscle is actually weaker for a period of time which is why we DO NOT want to do this type of stretching as a warm-up!

There is one other type of stretch that is important: the “nerve pathway” stretch. This type of stretch can be done at any time during the day.  In fact, I recommend that musicians do the two stretches, listed below, every hour, on the hour, to decrease pain in the shoulders, elbow, wrist and fingers.  When I am playing bassoon, working on the computer or driving long distances, I do these two stretches every 30-minutes.

Forearm Front Nerve Pathway Stretch: (ulnar nerve side)
It is important to only do ONE arm at a time.  You control the intensity of the stretch based on how far back your bring your wrist, drop your shoulder, or tilt your head so start with small amounts and only increase one of these variables at a time.  I hold this stretch for 10-30 seconds.  Do one side, then the other.  This stretch can be done sitting or standing.  After doing the “Forearm front” stretch make sure to also do the “Forearm back” stretch (listed under this one).

  • Rest your arm at the side of your body with your forearm facing front (your palm should be facing front).  It is important to have your arm at your side and not allow it to be sticking to the front or back.
  • Gently bring your wrist back so your palm is facing the floor, this is the first level of stretch.  Some people may feel a stretch here, if you do and it feels “good” stop.  If you have carpal tunnel or feel tingling or numbness in your fingers when bringing your wrist back, do less!
  • If you wish to increase the stretch, drop the shoulder of the same side you have your wrist back. When you lower your shoulder, try to keep your other shoulder at the same height as when you started instead of letting it rise as you lower the opposite side. Usually for me this is all I need, sometimes if my wrist is sore I’ll start with this part of the stretch and ignore the wrist back portion (bullet point 2).
  • If you wish to still increase the stretch, tip your head to the opposite shoulder (bring your ear down to the shoulder).  Make sure you are dropping your head and not turning it towards the shoulder.

Forearm Back Nerve Pathway Stretch: (median nerve side)
It is important to only do ONE arm at a time.  You control the intensity of the stretch based on how far back your bring your wrist, drop your shoulder, or tilt your head so start with small amounts and only increase one of these variables at a time.  I hold this stretch for 10-30 seconds.  Do one side, then the other, usually I do this stretch after I’ve done the “Forearm front” stretch (above).  This stretch can be done sitting or standing.

  • Rest your arm at the side of your body with your forearm facing back (your palm should be facing behind you).  It is important to have your arm at your side and not allow it to be sticking to the front or back.
  • Gently bring your wrist back so your palm is facing the ceiling like you are trying to grab your own wrist, this is the first level of stretch.  Some people may feel a stretch here, if you do and it feels “good” stop.  If you have carpal tunnel or feel tingling or numbness in your fingers when bringing your wrist back, do less!
  • If you wish to increase the stretch, drop the shoulder of the same side you have your wrist back. When you lower your shoulder, try to keep your other shoulder at the same height as when you started instead of letting it rise as you lower the opposite side. Usually for me this is all I need, sometimes if my wrist is sore I’ll start with this part of the stretch and ignore the wrist back portion (bullet point 2).
  • If you wish to still increase the stretch, tip your head to the opposite shoulder (bring your ear down to the shoulder).  Make sure you are dropping your head and not turning it towards the shoulder.

The two stretches on this page are the most important for keeping me healthy.  I literally do them EVERY DAY, MANY TIMES!  I also supplement my warm-up and cool-down stretching with additional stretches to keep my routine interesting.