Stretching is generally the preferred mode of deformation of structures. Hence, quantification of its percentage contribution to the strain energy is not only a topic of fundamental research but also one of practical interest. The task of this work is direct computation of the ratio U_M/U, where U denotes the strain energy and U_M stands for the contributions of bending, torsion, and shear to U. U_M/U is hypothetically set equal to (ρ+ρ ̇^2)/(1+ρ ̇^2), where ρ denotes the radius of curvature of a curve located on the surface of a unit hypersphere in the n-dimensional Euclidean space and ρ ̇ stands for the derivative of ρ with respect to the dimensionless load parameter λ=p/p_ref≥0; p denotes a proportionally increased load and pre p_ref= ± p, with p ̅ > 0, stands for the reference load which follows from initial conditions of the given problem. The curve is described by the vertex of a unit vector resulting from normalization of a modification of the fundamental eigenvector of a linear eigenvalue problem with two indefinite coefficient matrices. The purpose of this modification is to make the dimensional components of this eigenvector dimensionless. This is required for the aforementioned normalization needed for computation of ρ. The coefficient matrices of the underlying eigenvalue problem are established with hybrid elements, available in a commercial FE program. The indefiniteness of both matrices allows for conjugate complex eigenvalues. This enables e.g. determination of the load level at which the stiffness of a proportionally loaded structure becomes a minimum value. The task of the numerical investigation is to verify the differential geometric hypothesis for U_M/U. The first two examples refer to the special cases pure stretching and pure bending. They are the limiting cases of the special case U_M/U = const. = ρ. The other two examples are characterized by a maximum and a minimum value, respectively, of the stiffness of the structure concerned.