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Reasons Not to Stretch

well.blogs.nytimes.com

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Re: Reasons Not to Stretch

#71

Post by bluedino »

jboggan wrote: post #43

'"Now, you listen to some of these so-called sports-medicine experts today--shit! It's just shtick. It's just something else to sell. Warming up," he scoffed, adjusting a red ascot fitted neatly into his jumpsuit, "warming up is the biggest bunch of horseshit I've ever heard in my life. Fifteen minutes to warm up! Does a lion warm up when he's hungry? 'Uh-oh, here comes an antelope. Better warm up.' No! He just goes…

When I ask my dog, "Do you want to go for a walk?", she stands up, does a looong stretch of her back and rear legs, then shakes her coat.

Re: Reasons Not to Stretch

#72

Post by precisioncoder »

greeneggs wrote: post #48
VeejayRampay wrote: post #5

Title is misleading. The article's main focus is on pre-workout stretching. I run several times a week, sometimes up to 20km at once and post-run stretching is most definitely a must-have.

I agree. Skipping a post-run stretch is a big mistake. (Just take the stretching easy after longer runs, like a marathon. Then your muscles are weak and intensive stretching can damage them.) I avoid most pre-run stretches, but find that both static and dynamic stretches of my ankles pre-run are helpful. There are specific studies that also support this.

Depends on your reason for doing so. For instance if it's to avoid muscle soreness that has been disproved. There are two major reasons for stretching.

One: It increases the amount you can stretch so if you need to be able to stretch far for some reason it will help with that.

Two: It feels great. I stretch a lot for this reason.

As far as I know there are no other proved benefits to stretching.

Re: Reasons Not to Stretch

#73

Post by cafard »

Marty Liquori, I recall, preferred not to stretch before running, thinking that cold muscles were easier to tear. Instead, he stretched after running when his muscles were already warmed up.

Re: Reasons Not to Stretch

#74

Post by kyllo »

bcbrown wrote: post #34
cynicalkane wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many exercises are simply not safe if your muscles are tight or you lack the flexibility to do them properly. Swimming, weight lifting, most sports come immediately to mind.

I'm a competitive powerlifter. Your statement isn't quite true. The best way to acquire the flexibility for weightlifting movements is to perform those movements. If you aren't flexible enough to squat to the correct depth, the solution is to squat as deep as you can, and let that serve as the stretch. The accepted wisdom amongst my crowd is that the appropriate warmup prep is some dynamic movement to raise the body…

Yeah, static stretching makes you too loose for powerlifting. You need to be able to achieve extraordinary tightness to maintain proper posture under the bar.

I find that foam rolling, lacrosse ball rolling, and band tension exercises help the most before powerlifting. My knees don't seem to track properly for the squat unless I foam roll my legs and glutes beforehand. It makes a huge difference.

Light static stretching is good for relieving tension and tightness after the workout. But before, foam rolling is much much better for making you flexible without losing force and tightness.

Re: Reasons Not to Stretch

#76

Post by ethomson »

ajays wrote: post #30

The title is misleading, to say the least. I occasionally suffer from lower back pain. From experience, tight hamstrings seem to be the cause. If I regularly stretch my hamstrings, I am without back problems. If I stop stretching, then, after a few months, I'll suddenly develop severe back pain. It's happened 3 times already, so I'm seeing a pattern. So I guess my point is: stretching can help in other areas; it just…

I think that the title is only somewhat misleading. When I think of "stretching" I think of the classical static stretching which is increasingly coming under fire.

I grew up calling dynamic stretching "warm ups".

I think this is probably true for most people, but I admit that it may depend a lot on the fitness environment one grew up in.

Re: Reasons Not to Stretch

#78

Post by biscarch »

ethomson wrote: post #76
ajays wrote: post #30

The title is misleading, to say the least. I occasionally suffer from lower back pain. From experience, tight hamstrings seem to be the cause. If I regularly stretch my hamstrings, I am without back problems. If I stop stretching, then, after a few months, I'll suddenly develop severe back pain. It's happened 3 times already, so I'm seeing a pattern. So I guess my point is: stretching can help in other areas; it just…

I think that the title is only somewhat misleading. When I think of "stretching" I think of the classical static stretching which is increasingly coming under fire. I grew up calling dynamic stretching "warm ups". I think this is probably true for most people, but I admit that it may depend a lot on the fitness environment one grew up in.

The article actually means static stretching. I grew up knowing the difference and used dynamic stretching[1] pre-explosive events and static stretching at off-times.

[1] Fire hydrants, Scorpions, Iron Crosses, Skipping, etc.

Re: Reasons Not to Stretch

#79

Post by vidarh »

hv23 wrote: post #59
vidarh wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do powerlifting, though not competitively, and I can't agree with you that the best way of acquiring the flexibility is to do the movements. I struggled for nearly a year to improve my depth on my squats and deadlifts that way. It took in between my workouts. I increased my squats from a paltry 2/3 of my body weight and reduced range of motion to 1.5x my body weight at full range of motion in 6 months from I starte…

Can I ask specifically what kind of dynamic stretching you were doing? I have chronically tight hips that leave me unable to perform "adequate" squats - poor range of motion and balance on the squats, and lack of power. I'd love any tips you have to offer.

Not much, actually. Swinging a leg at a time back and forward, and left and right, as well putting a foot at a time forward and doing a pike stretch down to that foot and right back up again, walk a couple of steps and doing the other foot (like #2 here, but a foot forward at a time: http://www.wikihow.com/Get-a-More-Flexible-Back).

Strict good-mornings are also quite good once you have decent amounts of flexibility. Strict = make sure your back stays arched, push your butt as far back as possible, with a slight bend in your knees, and hinge/bend at the hips. Essentially you should feel it in your thighs and butt and not elsewhere; if you start losing the arch in your back, you've pushed as far down as you can go, go back up and repeat. It's more important to keep form than forcing yourself as deep as possible - you'll get better depth soon enough.

I've later incorporated some static stretches including several of the one in the wikihow link above, but the ones above were enough to see dramatic improvement when done a for a few minutes a couple of times a day.

I also do asian squats regularly (so effectively sitting down in a squat position, unloaded, for as long as I an do - a few years back I wouldn't be able to get up without intense pain from that position, if I got into it in the first place...) and feel that helps me increase the depth I get into (and it's made it so much easier to play with my young son, to be able to effortlessly squat down to him instead of ruining my knees...).

Re: Reasons Not to Stretch

#80

Post by snowwrestler »

Babies stretch; cats and dogs stretch. It's not all harmful, or useless, to stretch--just do it when you feel like it. This research is really just about systematic static stretching, done whether you want to or not.

And maybe I didn't read it carefully, but I didn't see anything in there about preventing injury. I have naturally tight hamstrings; stretching them out before exercise makes them feel better and less likely to cramp or get pulled. It probably lowers my performance, but I'm not racing, I'm just trying to have fun and stay in shape.

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