Neglected, disregarded, overlooked - Stretch it Out (Men Only Please)

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MrTolerable
MrTolerable Posts: 1,593 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Three ???s:

How often do body builders vs real runners (HIIT) stretch, and please differentiate what you are focused on?

Do you stretch pre or post workout? - or both?

How long is an average stretching session?

If you know any awesome compound stretches please advise the name and a brief description of the stretch - hitting multiple muscles to be as efficient as possible.

I think being flexible, and agile is just as important as being strong it's what made deadpool and spidy so much more cool than like.. idk the hulk for example -and it def prevents injury and increases posture as well.







Replies

  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    edited January 2015
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    I try to stretch (and foam roll) 2-3x a week, more or less following the Limber 11 routine. I do it in the evenings after my kids have gone to bed as a way to stay ahead of my recovery and keep things reasonably loose.

    I lift and run, plus some other stuff. FWIW.
  • MrTolerable
    MrTolerable Posts: 1,593 Member
    edited January 2015
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    foam roll? What is that?
  • GiddyupTim
    GiddyupTim Posts: 2,819 Member
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    "Foam roll" means he has a big, cylindrical piece of Styrofoam that people roll on to massage their muscles. Considered highly effective for stretching out muscles and breaking down knotty tissue and scar tissue. Very painful at first.
    I stretch every day. Or do some yoga practice. I stretch my feet particularly, religiously, as I had plantar fasciitis for many, many years and stretching helps a TON.
  • MrCoolGrim
    MrCoolGrim Posts: 351 Member
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    I stretch after every weight training session specifically my lower back and legs. I also use the foam roller on my legs especially after a vigorous squat or legg press routine.
  • MrCoolGrim
    MrCoolGrim Posts: 351 Member
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    tufel wrote: »
    "Foam roll" means he has a big, cylindrical piece of Styrofoam that people roll on to massage their muscles. Considered highly effective for stretching out muscles and breaking down knotty tissue and scar tissue. Very painful at first.
    I stretch every day. Or do some yoga practice. I stretch my feet particularly, religiously, as I had plantar fasciitis for many, many years and stretching helps a TON.

    I have plantars fascitis aswell. It sucks big time! Everytime I think I have a handle on it WHAM it just comes back 2 fold.
  • beemerphile1
    beemerphile1 Posts: 1,710 Member
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    Never have done any of what you probably mean by 'body building' but I have been athletic my entire life.

    Stretching has been proven to be of little or no benefit in preventing injuries.

    Yoga is good for improving flexibility.
  • AllanMisner
    AllanMisner Posts: 4,140 Member
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    I do some mobility/stretching every day. Foam roll, lacrosse ball, pvc pipe, light club bells, flossing with bands, and a roller are all examples of equipment I own and use. I don’t do this so much to reduce injury, but rather to improve my ability to move within the range of motion for exercises. Many bodybuilding and running activities have you moving in a restricted range and can cause mobility issues.
  • yankeedownsouth
    yankeedownsouth Posts: 717 Member
    edited January 2015
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    Just read an article on this today: evidencemag.com/stretching?__vid=467d10a07e220132ca4322000b2a88d7


    (Sorry, not a man. Missed that part.)
  • rogerOb1
    rogerOb1 Posts: 318 Member
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    beemerphile1 wrote: »

    Stretching has been proven to be of little or no benefit in preventing injuries.

    I question how universal those findings should be taken to be?

  • Sam_I_Am77
    Sam_I_Am77 Posts: 2,093 Member
    edited January 2015
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    beemerphile1 wrote: »
    Stretching has been proven to be of little or no benefit in preventing injuries.

    I really wish I had more time to respond to this properly but this is a very vague bit of information. I've actually read a couple of these studies for school so I'm familiar with the Australian Military study and a couple others.

    I only looked at a couple of the resources but the abstracts were not overly detailed. How many of those studies only looked at Static Stretching and for the Static Stretching studies how long were the Static Stretches held? Studies do show that Static Stretches around 1-min do cause muscular inhibition which of course is not good prior to exercise. However; 30-sec holds is all that is needed and that has not been displayed to induce muscle inhibition.

    There is a concept called "Altered Reciprocal Inhibition" which simply put means that tight muscles are inhibited and do not activate correctly. Muscles that do not activate correctly will become injured or cause injury in-time. When these injuries occur it can lead to further injuries which is referred to as the Cumulative Injury Cycle. If we understand that concept, then it's obvious that some form of stretching needs to occur for "tight" muscles. This doesn't mean you need to spend an hour stretching before you workout either, some people definitely overdo the stretching.

    There are various forms of stretching, Static, Active Isolation, Dynamic, and PNF. I know that the National Academy of Sports Science (NASM) only advocated Static stretching pre-workout if the muscles are overly tight, otherwise; Active Isolation stretching is advocated pre-workout. Active Isolation stretching is a form of stretching in-which the user extends the stretch and holds it for 2-seconds, releases, extends for 2-sec, rinse-and-repeat for 10-reps (1-2 sets).

    There is good information in the one article linked here but make sure to take it in-context. It seems that it's largely pointing to static-stretching.
  • gmallan
    gmallan Posts: 2,099 Member
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    beemerphile1 wrote: »

    Stretching has been proven to be of little or no benefit in preventing injuries.

    This statement refers to static stretching I believe. The type of mobility and self myofascial release work that AllanMisner refers to above is a different story alltogether. It also helps you to be able to meet the positional demands of lifting weights (eg. I can't get down into a full squat without my heels lifting off the ground without some good ankle, hip and glute mobility work prior. I can actually see the difference that 20 mins of mobilisation makes).

    Also not a man but I play football and lift weights so...

    I do some type of mobility work 5-20mins before every weight session depending on what body part I'm working and the positional demands. I try and get in some good release work minimum 3 times a week.

    If you'd like a fantastic resource I'd reccomend reading "Becoming a supple leopard". Takes you through movements from basic to advanced and has a section on stretching/release by body part. I've learned so much from reading this book

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