Don't Forget to Stretch!

ninerbuff

goldthistime wrote: »

ninerbuff wrote: »

Stretching isn't a necessity for good health. While one SHOULD try to be a flexible as they can for more range of motion, there's a fallacy that stretching prevents injuries. Injuries of any type usually happen from sudden movement, impact or over exertion of a muscle or joint. And those injuries end up being tears of some time to a ligament, tendon or even the muscle and stretching can't prevent that.
As mentioned, you don't use stretching to warm up unless it's dynamic stretching and then static stretch later after a workout.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Music to my ears. I hate stretching and I get injured way too often. Still did not want to believe that stretching could have prevented those injuries. Do you have a source by chance?

You can pick just about any one from google. Type in "stretching doesn't prevent injuries" and there are lots of articles with actual studies to back it up.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

ninerbuff

DancingMoosie wrote: »

Stretching was very important when I did gymnastics and ballet; we had to stretch before and during our workouts. Now, I do very few stretches, mostly what is part of the workout video itself. I have lost a lot of flexibility. I need to get some of it back! I'm thinking of adding a few minutes of extra stretching after some yoga once a week.

Well stretching was for flexibility to perform the exercises of gymnastics and ballet. My wife still dances (ballroom) and was able to do the splits in high school. She can't do them now, but I've asked her "Honey, when in your daily life do you apply doing a split?"

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

LilKoko91

Thank you all for your comments and feedback. I hope this was helpful for some.

I agree with many of you that stretching before or after a workout is based on the type of workout you do. I guess I should have implied that, but yes; if you're simply walking, lightly jogging, or strength-training, there really isn't a need to stretch before, but I think if you're about to walk into a boxing match, you should be warned up. I agree with you all on that one.

I am in a Bootcamp class that consists mostly of cardio/tabata/hiit/and strength training. We don't stretch before the class begins, only after, and I think it's mostly to get our heartrates back to normal. There are many people in the class who don't stretch afterwards and that is mainly why I posted the video.

Either way, working out is important and >>based on the type of exercise you do,<< stretching to warm up your body, cool it down, and to prevent a muscle cramp, before and/or after (your choice), is just as important to me.

RGv2

LilKoko91 wrote: »

Thank you all for your comments and feedback. I hope this was helpful for some.

I agree with many of you that stretching before or after a workout is based on the type of workout you do. I guess I should have implied that, but yes; if you're simply walking, lightly jogging, or strength-training, there really isn't a need to stretch before, but I think if you're about to walk into a boxing match, you should be warned up. I agree with you all on that one.

I am in a Bootcamp class that consists mostly of cardio/tabata/hiit/and strength training. We don't stretch before the class begins, only after, and I think it's mostly to get our heartrates back to normal. There are many people in the class who don't stretch afterwards and that is mainly why I posted the video.

Either way, working out is important and >>based on the type of exercise you do,<< stretching to warm up your body, cool it down, and to prevent a muscle cramp, before and/or after (your choice), is just as important to me.

I don't think anyone is/was disagreeing with you. It's just important to point out that there are two types of stretching (dynamic vs. static). Dynamic stretching prior to exercise, static stretching after.

dewd2

ninerbuff wrote: »

DancingMoosie wrote: »

Stretching was very important when I did gymnastics and ballet; we had to stretch before and during our workouts. Now, I do very few stretches, mostly what is part of the workout video itself. I have lost a lot of flexibility. I need to get some of it back! I'm thinking of adding a few minutes of extra stretching after some yoga once a week.

Well stretching was for flexibility to perform the exercises of gymnastics and ballet. My wife still dances (ballroom) and was able to do the splits in high school. She can't do them now, but I've asked her "Honey, when in your daily life do you apply doing a split?"

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Really? What if you're in a fight with a bad guy and your water cooler gets spilled all over the floor. And what if the bad guy decided to throw a bare electric cord into the water. Then what are you gonna do?

Some people just don't think of these things.

IzzyBooNZ1

I do thai boxing classes. I used to static stretch before and found once in class my muscles would feel really tight. Now I just foam roll, then kick the bag a bit to warm up before class. I have a super hard time kicking with my right leg ( as in turning the hip over into the kick) so I am going to work on warming that side up a bit more. Think my glutes are a bit tight.

Cherimoose

ninerbuff wrote: »

You can pick just about any one from google. Type in "stretching doesn't prevent injuries" and there are lots of articles with actual studies to back it up.

The problem with those studies is they pick the stretches arbitrarily, at random. That's like randomly loosening strings on a guitar, and concluding that loosening strings should never be done before playing, because it sounds awful. Yes, random loosening should be avoided, but intentional loosening of overly tight strings can improve results. There are many cases of an overly tight muscle negatively affecting exercise form.. for example..

- tight calves causing the feet to splay outward on squats

- tight upper trapezius elevating the shoulders on rows

- tight adductors causing the leg to drift inward (adduct) on lunges

- tight peroneals contributing to overpronation when running

Stretching those tight "strings" before exercising can make a noticeable improvement in form, which in turn can prevent injuries.

Granted, the average person isn't skilled at self-diagnosing which muscles are negatively affecting their form, so it's a lot easier to tell them "don't stretch before exercise". But sometimes, static stretching before exercise is warranted.