Stretching Thread - Page 2

On August 02 2012 15:06 Mariuslol wrote: Can you stretch your lower back, I randomly get sick pain there, not from doing "anything wrong". I take walks, i do exercise 5-10 min every morning and night, I train 3 - 4 times a week, I always get up a lot, and stuff when sitting. Not fat, but get a lot of pain in my lower back. Anyone know if you can uhm, do something magical and make it go away lol?

Go see and doctor and/or physical therapist, you'll only get a bunch of wacked out advice here

Yeap, I arranged an appointment for it tomorrow xD

He/she will probably tell you to build core strength and perhaps give you a few stretches for the back. Yea you can stretch your back, it just looks awkward and might require a medicine ball or some other prop. Pretty much +1 to what Yomer said for you Marius, let us know how it went. I have yet to come across on the internet half the exercises my physical therapist gave me. She drew stickfigures on a piece of paper. Definitely worth the time.

I always forget to stretch, Im pretty sure I have the joints of a 70 year old.

the main point in stretching is the ability to perform roundhouse kick headshots

Uh, does anybody here who doesnt advocate stretching actually work out? It's pretty well known you will insta-pull a muscle or otherwise injure yourself if you start heavy lifting without any warmup/stretching at all.

On August 02 2012 15:09 MJD wrote: Show nested quote + On August 02 2012 15:06 Mariuslol wrote: Can you stretch your lower back, I randomly get sick pain there, not from doing "anything wrong". I take walks, i do exercise 5-10 min every morning and night, I train 3 - 4 times a week, I always get up a lot, and stuff when sitting. Not fat, but get a lot of pain in my lower back. Anyone know if you can uhm, do something magical and make it go away lol? Go see and doctor and/or physical therapist, you'll only get a bunch of wacked out advice here

M J D !

good to see ya, was hopin to see ya, good to see ya.

On August 02 2012 18:09 NewbSaibot wrote: Uh, does anybody here who doesnt advocate stretching actually work out? It's pretty well known you will insta-pull a muscle or otherwise injure yourself if you start heavy lifting without any warmup/stretching at all.

I don't do any warm up at all for weight sessions and I do dynamic stretching before I run. I do both frequently and I have never had an injury at all (we are talking over many years).

Effectiveness of "interventions" on lower running injuries:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21735382

Effect of stretching on muscle soreness:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21735398

Effect of DYNAMIC stretching on sprinters performance:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22158260

Dynamic vs Static:
http://journals.lww.com/nsca-jscr/Abstract/2012/06000/The_Effects_of_Two_Stretching_Protocols_on_the.15.aspx

The effect of motor imagery and static stretching on anaerobic performance in trained cyclists:
http://journals.lww.com/nsca-jscr/Abstract/publishahead/The_effect_of_motor_imagery_and_static_stretching.98246.aspx

A study of certified vs non certified coaches stretching practises (probably pretty applicable to this topic as most people get their info anecdotally):
http://journals.lww.com/nsca-jscr/Abstract/publishahead/An_Examination_of_Pre_Activity_and_Post_Activity.98242.aspx

Edit: For clarity I run mostly sprints and maybe once a week or so longer distances just for fun.

On August 02 2012 14:16 cariadon wrote: Stretching improves the time of recovery. The faster you recover, the more you can train. When you are a competing athlete this is important. Stretching increases range of motion. Stretching elongates your muscles, tendons and ligaments making them stronger. Stretching improves your body awareness. Knowing your limits help you perform to the maximum of your ability. Stretching improves co-ordination. Being stronger in increased range of motion is a good thing. There are two types of stretches: static and dynamic. You can stretch during any time of day. You rarely see 100m dash competitors stretch before the start or a weightlifting champion stretch before the lift but let me assure you those athletes stretch aswell. If you don't have stretching as a part of your training regime then start the countdown to injuries. Feel free to adjust the timers clock as you will. Here is some food for thought: Take the top 10 contestants for every olympic event and calculate their average stretching ability and compare that to the stretching ability of yourself. If you want to perform better you got to stretch more, simple as that. If you go by hearsay then you are probably misinformed. If i get my books back i can reference sources for the naysayers.

i did a lot of research last year after having back problems, and i've used static and dynamic stretching (and strength training) to fix a bunch of issues with my posture. ive also discussed it a TON with friends who have done an extreme amount of research, alot more than me. Theres alot of bad information in what you said... bold = corrections

Stretching does not improve the time of recovery.
Stretching increases range of motion. Stretching elongates your muscles, tendons and ligaments making them temporarily (hours) weaker, with no impact on strength in the longer term.
Stretching improves your body awareness. However, it has no impact on any measure of athleticism except for flexibility.

There are three types of stretches: static and dynamic and ballistic. You can stretch during any time of day. You rarely see 100m dash competitors stretch before the start or a weightlifting champion stretch before the lift because it temporarily reduces strength. I don't know about runners, but powerlifters generally stretch for only one reason - to address a specific inflexibility that prevents them from performing a lift with good form .

There have been a huge number of high quality studies on the link between stretching and injuries. The results are clear - stretching has 0 effect on injury rates. This isn't even a debate anymore in the fitness community.

Funktion took care of all the sources for me, thanks

On August 02 2012 22:17 WhyYouKickMyDog wrote: Stretching does not improve the time of recovery.

it doesnt improve actual recovery but it improves how u 'feel' during that time, at least for me

On August 02 2012 16:05 cariadon wrote: He/she will probably tell you to build core strength and perhaps give you a few stretches for the back. Yea you can stretch your back, it just looks awkward and might require a medicine ball or some other prop. Pretty much +1 to what Yomer said for you Marius, let us know how it went. I have yet to come across on the internet half the exercises my physical therapist gave me. She drew stickfigures on a piece of paper. Definitely worth the time.

Yeap, ok, i'll update later, It's in 3,5 hours or so

On August 02 2012 22:17 WhyYouKickMyDog wrote: Show nested quote + On August 02 2012 14:16 cariadon wrote: Stretching improves the time of recovery. The faster you recover, the more you can train. When you are a competing athlete this is important. Stretching increases range of motion. Stretching elongates your muscles, tendons and ligaments making them stronger. Stretching improves your body awareness. Knowing your limits help you perform to the maximum of your ability. Stretching improves co-ordination. Being stronger in increased range of motion is a good thing. There are two types of stretches: static and dynamic. You can stretch during any time of day. You rarely see 100m dash competitors stretch before the start or a weightlifting champion stretch before the lift but let me assure you those athletes stretch aswell. If you don't have stretching as a part of your training regime then start the countdown to injuries. Feel free to adjust the timers clock as you will. Here is some food for thought: Take the top 10 contestants for every olympic event and calculate their average stretching ability and compare that to the stretching ability of yourself. If you want to perform better you got to stretch more, simple as that. If you go by hearsay then you are probably misinformed. If i get my books back i can reference sources for the naysayers. i did a lot of research last year after having back problems, and i've used static and dynamic stretching (and strength training) to fix a bunch of issues with my posture. ive also discussed it a TON with friends who have done an extreme amount of research, alot more than me. Theres alot of bad information in what you said... bold = corrections bold corrections indeed, but you and your friends are wrong. Stretching does not improve the time of recovery. stretching most definitely improves the rate of recovery after an injury Stretching increases range of motion. Stretching elongates your muscles, tendons and ligaments making them temporarily (hours) weaker, with no impact on strength in the longer term. being able to perform in a larger range of motion is most definitely a big plus in a dynamic activity e.g the supervast majority of sports Stretching improves your body awareness. However, it has no impact on any measure of athleticism except for flexibility. There are three types of stretches: static and dynamic and ballisticballistic stretching is a form of dynamic stretching. You can stretch during any time of day. You rarely see 100m dash competitors stretch before the start or a weightlifting champion stretch before the lift because it temporarily reduces strength. I don't know about runners, but powerlifters generally stretch for only one reason - to address a specific inflexibility that prevents them from performing a lift with good form . re-read the line again, you missed the point + Show Spoiler + top athletes who compete in whatever form of powerful short duration event use stretching as a part of their workout There have been a huge number of high quality studies on the link between stretching and injuries. The results are clear - stretching has 0 effect on injury rates. This isn't even a debate anymore in the fitness community. i'm glad i don't belong to said community Bodybuilding is a very specific type of sport. Just because you feel enlightened by facts i am aware of doesn't mean you need to undermine and attempt at taking a piss on my post. WhyYouKickMyDog you are anti-stretching i am pro-stretching. I have a question for you. Am i better off stretching a lot or not stretching at all ?

On August 02 2012 22:17 WhyYouKickMyDog wrote: i did a lot of research last year after having back problems, and i've used static and dynamic stretching (and strength training) to fix a bunch of issues with my posture. ive also discussed it a TON with friends who have done an extreme amount of research, alot more than me. Stretching does not improve the time of recovery. Stretching increases range of motion. Stretching elongates your muscles, tendons and ligaments making them temporarily (hours) weaker, with no impact on strength in the longer term. Stretching improves your body awareness. However, it has no impact on any measure of athleticism except for flexibility. There have been a huge number of high quality studies on the link between stretching and injuries. The results are clear - stretching has 0 effect on injury rates. This isn't even a debate anymore in the fitness community.

Let's see.
1. You have back problems.
2. You use static and dynamic stretching (and strength training).
3. It fixed a bunch of issues with your posture.
4. You write the exact opposites "correcting" my post.

Correct me if i am wrong.
By using static and dynamic exercises you reduced the time of recovery. Imagine not having stretched at all.
Your range of motion has increased. You are stronger now than you were before you were injured.
By having a better posture and better range of motion you are less likely to be injured again.

Everything i said is correct. I clearly pointed out that stretching does have usefulness - it increases flexibility. That is the only measurable benefit of stretching. Stretching does NOT prevent injury, reduce the intensity or duration of soreness, or do many of those other myths you spouted. The only thing it does is increase flexibility, which was most certainly helpful in correcting my posture.

Yes, even NASM and other trainer certification organizations state that there is an on going debate about stretching whether it has direct impact on injury rates and any long term significant benefits. Most bodybuilding pros advocate warming up with the same exact movements as the exercise you're about to do in the actual workout. So if you're going to do squats, you don't really need to be stretching your quads, glutes, hamstrings, etc. just do multiple warm up sets of squatting with very light weight making sure you're going through the full range of motion. If you're a fairly deconditioned person and there is a particular tight muscle group that prevents you from doing a certain movement correctly, then you can myofascial release (foam rolling), dynamic, and static stretching to help relax and loosen the particular muscle group.

If you're about to train intensely and you're in a cold area, then a 5-10 warm up cardio session will help reduce injury. To promote recovery after an intense workout just focus on light cardio afterwards (i do 15-30 mins) followed by a meal as soon as possible.

Yes, everything i said in the second part of my previous post was correct.

Hmm seems like some confusion and/or misunderstandings are starting to filter in because people are not referring to stretching as either static or dynamic.

I wonder if BJ Penn truly has a weaker mid-section due to being highly flexible as GSP seemed to believe.

On August 03 2012 11:07 Funktion wrote: Hmm seems like some confusion and/or misunderstandings are starting to filter in because people are not referring to stretching as either static or dynamic. I wonder if BJ Penn truly has a weaker mid-section due to being highly flexible as GSP seemed to believe.

ya for the most part i was referring to static stretching. dynamic stretching also warms up your muscles, which absolutely prevents injury. dynamic stretching seems to prevent injury just as well as other types of warming up (by warming up i mean literally increasing temperature of muscles - not stretching). this isnt extremely well studied though.

not sure if GSP is right or not about that. the evidence shows that stretching only has a temporary effect on strength, lasting for a few hours, no longer than 1 day. you can be extremely flexible and extremely strong too. Ronnie Coleman for example - and he stretches post-workout only.

link on coleman being extremely flexible, coz he looks like he cant wipe his ass