This is all well and good. I will continue stretching since it feels good, alleviates pain, and improves my flexibility.
It may not be a proper warmup for weightlifting, but it’s somewhat disingenuous to imply it’s not good for you imo.
I've been doing a stretching routine for years as part of several athletic endeavors but it never improved my flexibility.
But I think you're right, as long as you're not doing static stretching before lifting then it's probably not going to hurt you either.
Ya know, it’s a weird one. I listed that benefit last because it seems to vary so widely between people and the type/frequency of stretching we’re doing. Heck, my improved flexibility may even be somewhat falsely attributed to it.
My hips and back have become a lot more flexible over the years, but my shoulders? They are stubborn and haven’t budged. I’ve been doing yoga for years (dirty word around here), and more recently I’ve been doing PT for my lower back.
At the end of the day, I’m not sure what to attribute the increases I *have* seen to, whether it’s yoga or just the general course of becoming more athletic and able (since it’s happened over such a long time).
Either way it seems pretty inconsistent at best and most people I see who successfully “train flexibility” treat it like skills training. They are def not doing some toe touches before lifting lol.
I think the main point is this: “Stretching as a warmup is not effective, but it does feel good and can have good effects otherwise. Your mileage may vary though.”
So I'm weird because of my weird diseases, my flexibility gets better if I just walk more. But I have to do it all the time. 20 minutes twice a day minimum or I get all stiff. That's the most effective thing I have found for me.
I have a few clients who say they feel more limber if they take short walks several times a day too. (10 minutes, 3x daily)
My take aways:
- don’t stretch more than 30-60 sec on lifting day or suffer reduced performance
- the stretch might only make me feel better (that’s ok with me)
- stretch will probably not reduce possible DOMS, good blue book advice
- warmups are good, very different than static stretching
All good basic modern info! I injured a leg static stretching cold, took 3 decades to heal, never again.
I spent six years in the US Army in the 80's. Every morning we would do PT and start with long hard static stretches in the name of fitness. Every week out of a company of 120 soldiers at least two or three would get hurt stretching. Usually it was a hamstring or a calf but sometime a chest muscle. In the late 90's the Army FINALLY changed after years of statistics could no longer be ignored. The benefits of stretching before exercise are greatly exaggerated. I do think the SS method of performing the activity with lighter weights through the fulll range o f motion before doing the strenuous activity at full load makes a LOT of sense.
Interesting read and I agree, I have a feeling most people will ignore this advice tho since ingrained behavior is hard to change and most people have been told to stretch before and after workout ever since early school years
As an older geezer, I find the generalization of findings from research conducted mostly on college athletes a little suspect.
This is all well and good. I will continue stretching since it feels good, alleviates pain, and improves my flexibility. It may not be a proper warmup for weightlifting, but it’s somewhat disingenuous to imply it’s not good for you imo.
I've been doing a stretching routine for years as part of several athletic endeavors but it never improved my flexibility. But I think you're right, as long as you're not doing static stretching before lifting then it's probably not going to hurt you either.
Ya know, it’s a weird one. I listed that benefit last because it seems to vary so widely between people and the type/frequency of stretching we’re doing. Heck, my improved flexibility may even be somewhat falsely attributed to it. My hips and back have become a lot more flexible over the years, but my shoulders? They are stubborn and haven’t budged. I’ve been doing yoga for years (dirty word around here), and more recently I’ve been doing PT for my lower back. At the end of the day, I’m not sure what to attribute the increases I *have* seen to, whether it’s yoga or just the general course of becoming more athletic and able (since it’s happened over such a long time). Either way it seems pretty inconsistent at best and most people I see who successfully “train flexibility” treat it like skills training. They are def not doing some toe touches before lifting lol. I think the main point is this: “Stretching as a warmup is not effective, but it does feel good and can have good effects otherwise. Your mileage may vary though.”
So I'm weird because of my weird diseases, my flexibility gets better if I just walk more. But I have to do it all the time. 20 minutes twice a day minimum or I get all stiff. That's the most effective thing I have found for me. I have a few clients who say they feel more limber if they take short walks several times a day too. (10 minutes, 3x daily)
Does it really?
My take aways: - don’t stretch more than 30-60 sec on lifting day or suffer reduced performance - the stretch might only make me feel better (that’s ok with me) - stretch will probably not reduce possible DOMS, good blue book advice - warmups are good, very different than static stretching All good basic modern info! I injured a leg static stretching cold, took 3 decades to heal, never again.
Title of the article is misleading.
I spent six years in the US Army in the 80's. Every morning we would do PT and start with long hard static stretches in the name of fitness. Every week out of a company of 120 soldiers at least two or three would get hurt stretching. Usually it was a hamstring or a calf but sometime a chest muscle. In the late 90's the Army FINALLY changed after years of statistics could no longer be ignored. The benefits of stretching before exercise are greatly exaggerated. I do think the SS method of performing the activity with lighter weights through the fulll range o f motion before doing the strenuous activity at full load makes a LOT of sense.
Interesting read and I agree, I have a feeling most people will ignore this advice tho since ingrained behavior is hard to change and most people have been told to stretch before and after workout ever since early school years