heres a quote from that T-Nation article:
“Catanzaro: The stretching advocates claim that stretching will improve performance, reduce soreness, decrease injuries, increase flexibility, and increase strength, speed and power. Well, as far as I�??m concerned, all of these are myths including the last one! Stretching doesn’t necessarily increase long-term flexibility, and the way most people stretch I�??d be surprised if it even increased short-term flexibility!”
I want to hear what you guys have to say about this?
how the heck can something that has worked for years in every and any training/sport/martial art or whatever, be actually totally wrong… are you kidding me…
If not for pre-workout stretching, at the very minimum, by now I would have blown my knees out, strained my back a 1000 times, and torn my pecs and shoulders into many little pieces of worthless muscle. This guy is an idiot. Go stretch yourself, this thread is over!
its cool…i knew what you meant…im disappointed that they wrote that article, its only going to allow those weak minded people another excuse skip stretching…i feel like there might be a conspiracy behind this haha…gotta keep the doctors offices full of patients to prescribe drugs right? haha jk
[quote]Rusty Barbell wrote:
If not for pre-workout stretching, at the very minimum, by now I would have blown my knees out, strained my back a 1000 times, and torn my pecs and shoulders into many little pieces of worthless muscle. This guy is an idiot. Go stretch yourself, this thread is over![/quote]
i hope youre refering to the author of that article…peace
These are interesting. I have experienced a short term strength deficit in the immediate aftermath of static stretching. It’s almost as if the stretch kind of “pre-fatigues” the muscle.
But, strength recovers if you wait a while after stretching before doing a lift. I’ve discovered that if I don’t stretch, then the muscle I’m working feels real tight after the set. If I stretch first, then I don’t get that tightness.
I think that stretching is good for non-strength, duration-type physical exertions, like running, aerobics, swimming, cycling, etc.
For strength exercises and muscle building, I’ve found that a “warm-up set” of the exercise at something like 50% of the target weight gets the muscle prepared for a lift about the same as a static stretch, but without the strength deficit.
I’ve had noticeable results with stretching as far as the bench press and squat go. And ever since I started stretching, getting laid has increased by 200%
Unless a specific lack of flexibility is preventing me from performing a certain exercise or a necessary daily task, I can’t think of a reason why I would want to stretch. I notice nothing from it, and don’t see the point of being flexible for the sole purpose of being flexible. I don’t want to touch my toes straight-legged that badly.
I read an article at exrx.net a while back that tackled this, as well.
A better article would be one that tries to explain to me why some people at my gym windmill 10 lb plates in the name of warming up.
I quit pre-exercise stretching 3 years ago and will never go back. I feel better not stretching. I feel great after doing a quick dynamic warm up (when running) or just slowly working my way up in weight while lifting. After I work a muscle I do extreme stretches.
[quote]anonym wrote:
Unless a specific lack of flexibility is preventing me from performing a certain exercise or a necessary daily task, I can’t think of a reason why I would want to stretch. I notice nothing from it, and don’t see the point of being flexible for the sole purpose of being flexible. I don’t want to touch my toes straight-legged that badly.
I read an article at exrx.net a while back that tackled this, as well.
A better article would be one that tries to explain to me why some people at my gym windmill 10 lb plates in the name of warming up.[/quote]
I agree. I only stretch stuff that’s impeding my mobility in movements I actually use or care about. If I were practicing jujitsu or something, I would probably care more about flexibility for flexibility’s sake.
[quote]Rasclot123 wrote:
I like to do 4 min of cardio before I do my pre workout stretching, its warms up the body, increases blood flow to the muslces.
If you dont think stretching prevents injury, then do 3 sets of squats without stretching, tell me how your hammies and quads feel? just try it…[/quote]
My legs feel great doing 3 sets of ATG squats without stretching at all. Stretching before lifting will just wear you out before the heavy sets. If you absolutely need to warm up (like before heavy deadlifts), do a few minutes of light cardio. Save the stretching for the end of your workouts.