Goodbye Stretching

There is a lot of misconception being thrown around here.

First, stretching before exercising does not prevent injury from that exercise session and can, in fact, hinder exercise performance. For example; heavy, below parallel squats require tension in your hamstring to provide a “bounce” out of the lower position. Without this bounce, you would not be able to lift as much weight, and therefore would not get as strong.

Warm-ups, on the other hand should be performed pre-exercise and do lessen your chances of injury. Using the same squat example as above; if you were to perform several lighter sets of squats and build up to your work weight, that would be a sufficient warm-up for squats. Repeat for your other exercises.

Stretching, however, is good for flexibility and is beneficial to perform after your exercising. Increased flexibility CAN help prevent injuries both in everyday activities and in exercise.

Strength and flexibility are not opposites. You can be strong and flexible just the same as you can be weak and inflexible. The so called, “muscle heads” that can’t straighten their arms are like that because they train like idiots, not because they are strong. Much of the time these individuals will train with sub-par movements and use only a fraction of the necessary range or motion in the movement, over a period of time, this can lead to inflexibility.

Lastly, stretching does not tone, sculpt, or lengthen your muscles. Your muscle are attached to your bones via tendons, so unless you are also lengthening your bones, you are not lengthening your muscles.


How I take advantage of all of this:

If my squat work weight is 275lbs I will do the following and then repeat this method for my other lifts.
2x8 of 45lbs (just the bar)
1x5 of 140lbs
1x5 of 175lbs
1x5 of 210lbs
1x5 of 245lbs
1x5 of 275lbs

I will also perform all of these squats at or below parallel to take advantage of the benefits of exercising the full range of motion and increasing my flexibility.

For jogging on a treadmill, I do something like the following
2min @ 3.0mph
2min @ 3.5mph
1min @ 4.0mph
10min @6.0mph

For time reason, I actually do not stretch directly after my workout, although I do stretch my full body nightly before bed starting with my calves and working up to my neck.

OMG Seriously, now we've got studies suggesting that stretching isn't necessary?!?!?!? Ridiculous. Sure you don't *need* flexibility to run, however if you want to avoid injury, muscle flexibility is a HUGE factor. I don't need a scientific study to tell me that when I added specific hamstring stretches to my routine, the shin splints i had dealt with for years were reduced and ultimately are now no longer a problem.

So to complete your activity, sure you may not need to stretch but it is proven that stretching improves muscle imbalances that ultimately lead to chronic and sometimes even acute injuries.

I think it can help for some. I'm rarely injured and rarely stretch though. I'm also not seriously inflexible despite my lack of stretching.

My understanding is that strengthening all muscle groups evenly improves muscle imbalances, not stretching.

Yea I don't know. I really don't stretch that often and I am rather flexible. hummm.

Yea I don't know. I really don't stretch that often and I am rather flexible. hummm.

The younger you are, in general the more flexible you are (seen any kids, lately?--betcha can't do that)!

Anyway, big picture is the key folks, you may be 25 now, but in 25 more years . . . you won't be. If you DON'T move it, you lose it.

Think of this exaggerated example: have you seen people with poor posture (I don't mean osteoporosis) -- exaggeration: Shaggy from Scooby Doo? Head juts forward, shoulders slumped, concave chest . . . did you know that a person whose habit it is to hold their body in such a way has muscles which have been "trained", so to speak, into that position. When they attempt to sit up or stand up straight they will likely find discomfort in attempting to hold an upright position for even a relatively short period of time. Why? because their muscles are TIGHT.

Less exaggeration: have you tried to do a backbend recently? maybe not. how about lying down and leaning backward over an exercise ball to touch the floor behind you? feel the burn in your abs? release of tension in your back? that is a GOOD thing -- an extension of the normal position of the abs and back, thus increasing flexibility -- EASE OF MOVEMENT.

Obvioiusly we are all here to improve fitness. Flexibility is an essential part of fitness for LIFE. Not just for now. Just as your way of eating must be a lifestyle change in order to last for the rest of your life, so must your fitness regime include flexibility training to maximize and improve your ease of movement over time. One of the hardest things to imagine when you are young is NOT being young. But sadly, it will happen, even to you

I choose to be the 78-year old lady you will NOT describe as "little and old". I will not throw out my back trying to pick up my reading glasses from the floor. I WILL BEND! I will be surfing, cycling, SUPing and dancing. And I will leave those 25-year-olds in the dust.

blessings.

You ever see a lion stretch before he takes down a gazelle?
-Zombieland

On a serious note: I use to pull my quad almost every time I played softball. Either running to first base or running down a fly ball. Then I started a better stretch routine before hand (I think it's considered static) and I have not pulled the muscle since.

I have always hated stretching. So I don't do it much. Maybe a little light stuff coupled with warmups, if at all.

Use it or lose it applies. If you don't make an effort to stretch, muscle tissue shortens over time. Especially true for people working out and building muscle. Runners are doomed to injury if you don't make the effort to lengthen those tight, lean legs. Beextremely gentle when you are cold. And still gentle when warmed up. Love your body like you want to keep it running for a good long time!

If you don't know someone's physiology, you can guess, but it won't be the same for everyone.

I've been running marathons since 2006. I've sprained my ankle once from rolling it at an adventure race and I've pulled my groin once, from a rather nasty spill when I stumbled over something. Those cleared up pretty quickly. Other than that, there is no serious history of injury. chronic or otherwise, since I started deciding what was best for me.

Back when I was in high school and did track and stretched twice a day, I, personally, was injured far more. Shin splints, sore knees. You name it. And some of the workouts, not injury related, had me so sore that I had very hard time walking up stairs. I really don't have those troubles now.

And I run about the same speed, perhaps a little faster, and definitely much farther now.

You have to know your own body.

I instruct kickboxing, and deter anyone before class not to static stretch. We dynamic stretch the first 5 minutes and near the end of the class spend 5 minutes static stretching. I don't mind stretching much at the end and even at home I'll spend time on the floor foam rolling and static stretching.
But I never stretch before I lift. Instead I just do a light set of reps of the movement I''m going to do.

Dynamic stretching pre-workout + warm-up, static stretching post-workout.

Do more searches and you'll find research showing that static stretching pre-workout is not very good.

OMG Seriously, now we've got studies suggesting that stretching isn't necessary?!?!?!? Ridiculous. Sure you don't *need* flexibility to run, however if you want to avoid injury, muscle flexibility is a HUGE factor. I don't need a scientific study to tell me that when I added specific hamstring stretches to my routine, the shin splints i had dealt with for years were reduced and ultimately are now no longer a problem.

So to complete your activity, sure you may not need to stretch but it is proven that stretching improves muscle imbalances that ultimately lead to chronic and sometimes even acute injuries.

I think it can help for some. I'm rarely injured and rarely stretch though. I'm also not seriously inflexible despite my lack of stretching.

My understanding is that strengthening all muscle groups evenly improves muscle imbalances, not stretching.

As another poster said, muscles imbalances happen for two reasons: (1) muscle tightness and/or (2) muscle weakness. If the imbalance comes from weakness, no amount of stretching will help (you can stretch the opposing muscle group but then you just destabilize the joint by having too much flexibility). If the imbalance comes from tightness, no amount of strengthening will help (you can strengthen the opposing muscles but then you can injure the joint by having too much tightness, which often creates pressure or impingements).

Of course, a muscle can be both tight and weak (the worst case). And for 99% of people- including most muscle groups in most athletes - the best case is muscles that are strong and flexible.

Stretching is part of fitness, but not necessary before or after other parts of fitness. Strength training increases muscle strength, cardio increases cardiovascular strength, and stretching increases flexibility. Stretching is a standalone activity, not something that has to be done after other forms of exercise.

Many times the thought that weight lifting will make you "muscle bound" holds in peoples mind and will deter them from doing it. Dancers are a good example. I rarely meet a dancer that will lift weights because of this fear.
It doesn't help that many Pro and Amateur bodybuilders look so "bound up" to reinforce this notion. But if an exercise is done through full ROM (range of motion), unless that motion puts undue stress on a tendon or ligament, the muscle gets stretched and you can help with flexibility. If the full ROM isn't being used then you can get that "muscle bound".
For example take the barbell curl. Barbell starts at the tops of your thighs then ends at your chest. But if you don't return the barbell to the tops of your thighs and stop short to continue the exercise (it's easier to do if you don't go all the way back down), then the muscle doesn't "lengthen" all the way and still has a partial contraction applied to it. Consequently the muscle "memorizes" this position and doesn't extend all the way giving the "muscle bound" appearance and the appearance of inflexibility which to a point is true.
If the full ROM is used, then the flexibility stays intact. So my advice is if you can do full ROM, make sure you do. It will help keep flexibility that you have.
I still believe in stretching afterward too since it does assist in recovery.

I'm a dancer and I do weight training!! Actually, nearly all professional male dancers do a significant amount of weight training, because us ladies (even the tiny ones) can be hard to lift! (Especially in a way that makes it look effortless - and especially if we have to be caught from a jump, or are moving while being lifted!) Most women do limit any weight training they do to circuit training (30DS style), and it is due to a misguided fear of building muscle, thinking that muscle weighs more than fat, then losing their contracts because even though they are the same size, they weigh more.

If I don't stretch I won't be able to kick anybody in the head. Since I do Taekwondo that's important to me.

Stretching is a good "just in case" preventative when you're using your muscles a lot to make sure they don't shrink up and cause you pain or reduced mobility. It's mostly a comfort thing, rather than a need thing.

Have you been static stretching or dynamic? Dynamic achieves more, keeps your muscles warm, and keeps you moving. If you've been doing static, you might wanna change.

Flexibility is a good goal in itself. Seriously, if you're flexible enough to easily touch your toes and fold your arms behind your back, (not neccessarily at the same time....) everyday tasks do become more comfortable.

Most people do stretch wrong. I see many a person in the gym "static stretching" before working out, when they should be "dynamic stretching".

A.C.E. Certified Personal & Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition