India’s most famous footballer Sunil Chhetri is known for his incredible fitness and health. The sports icon has always been open about the strategies he adopts to remain at the peak of his fitness – preferring a balanced approach to health.

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The 40-year-old Indian Super League player – the fourth-highest goalscorer in the world, says one of his lesser-known rituals – his post-dinner stretching routine – is extremely important which he considers the key to his recovery and vitality.

What is stretching?

A physical exercise, stretching holds your body in a fixed position which serves to lengthen and extend a muscle or muscle group and thus increase its flexibility and elasticity. For those looking to improve physical health and promote relaxation after dinner, Chhetri’s approach offers a valuable glimpse into a routine that supports long-term fitness.

Chhetri says he has included stretching as part of his training and muscle recovery programme, which is extremely important for a high-intensity sport like football.

How does Chhetri incorporate stretching for fitness after dinner?

Chhetri says that he started the tradition of spending time after dinner about 4-5 years ago. “Every night, after dinner, I spend about 20 to 30 minutes stretching,” he said in a podcast interview.

Chhetri said that the consistency of this practice has helped him feel fresh and energetic every morning. He added, “Over time, this simple habit has become a core part of their daily routine, which is essential for maintaining flexibility, aiding recovery, and improving overall well-being.”

How is stretching beneficial? You?

Some benefits of stretching include:

• Improves flexibility, prevents loss of mobility associated with aging
• Improved flexibility results in improved performance in physical activities
• Reduces the risk of injury and damage
• Improves blood circulation which reduces muscle pain and recovery time
• speed limit increase
• Improves posture by strengthening back muscles
• Restores normal neuromuscular balance between muscle groups
• Reduce injuries, stress and damage
• Before and after exercise to reduce muscle pain

How does stretching work?

According to experts, the stretching of the muscle fiber starts from the sarcomere – the basic unit of contraction in the muscle fiber, as the sarcomere contracts, the area of ​​overlap between the thick and thin myofilaments increases. As it stretches, this area of ​​overlap decreases, causing the muscle fiber to lengthen.

When the muscle fiber is at its maximum relaxation period it begins to increase tension in the connective tissue which helps in the rehabilitation of damaged tissues. The initial changes produced by stretch training involve mechanical adaptations followed by neural adaptations, the reverse of the sequence observed during strength training.

For a complete stretch, it is important that:

• Proper alignment – ​​The position of the patient should be comfortable and should be such that the stretching force is applied to the particular muscle
• Immobilization – The bony section of the muscle to be stretched must be properly immobilized
• Intensity – This is the magnitude of the applied strain
• Duration – total time of tension applied
• Speed ​​– the rate at which the initial pull is applied
• Frequency – total number of stretching sessions per day or per week
• Method of stretching – type of stretching – static, ballistic, or cyclic and amount of participation

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