Everyone talks about how important stretching is for the warmup to lifting. Have there been any articles on the “perfect warmup” or “stretching before the lift”? If not, does Bill or anyone else have a good routine for this? Thanks guys.
ian king has a short 15 minute stretch routine that is pretty good. search for “lazy man’s guide to stretching”
Issue 90, Ian King - Lazy Man’s Guide to Stretching.
Charles Staley wrote an article titled “Warming Up to a Great Workout” on the site a couple years back. Just use the search engine and find it.
uh, check out the previous issues or the search engine over at the mag. im just guessing but there may be something over there.
Not me: I never stretch before workouts. Not that it might not be a good thing, but I don’t a do fine without it.
I do make a point though of stretching quads,
hams, and lumbars immediately after sets,
and for pulling exercises I let the exercise itself be a stretch for about 15 seconds after the last rep of the last set.
Stretching has made a very big impact on how I approach this game of training. It’s helped rehab a knee plagued with tendinitis for over 5 years, improved my posture, relieve back pain and tennis elbow, and accelerated my progress in the weight room. If you’re consistent with it for a long period of time, you’ll be amazed how much better it can make you feel at all hours of the day.
I recently started stretching much, much more. Like maybe thirty minutes everyday. I went to an art practioner for my knees and my problems stemmed from flexibility issues in my hips and quads. I also had impingement that was related to flexibility in my left shoulder. I also like the looks i get when i stretch. I can almost do a front split now so when i put my heel up on a high bar and put my head on my knee i get some funny looks. But i like getting funny looks especially when it keeps me healthy.
Staley’s dynamic stretching works great. It’s a very light warm-up. If I had the time I would do the following to get properly warmed-up before every workout. Dynamic Stretches for 5 minutes, 10 minutes GPP non-weighted, 5 minutes warm-up with weights (Davies style). Since time is an issue I stick to just using dynamic stretches before workouts and save static stretches and GPP for non-lift days.
I have a book called “Sport Stretching”- has anyone seen this one? It’s a good one for some basic stretching techiques.
I spend like two nights a week stretching, but I don't stretch before a workout.
Bill Roberts!!!You basically do Zero Stretching for the sake of stretching. If you are stretched it is only during the actual exercise? I must say that amazes and disappoints me. It amazes me that you have the awareness of your body that you have and it disappoints me to think what you would be like if you did. I mean really stretch for an hour or so every day. And just out of curiosity how is it that you can recommend a gram of test per week and say you’ll do fine without stretching? Stretching, before or after or later it doesn’t matter when, will help the body break down scar tissue (which all that poking will cause) and break through adheasions that may be hindering gains. As for the original post…I would never do a work set with out a good sweat. Stretching is just something you do any time you like so long as it gets done. For a good stretching routine…invest in a couple of yoga classes and you will most likely have enough stretches to work on for awhile.
D-END you critized Bill saying “If you are stretched it is only during the actual exercise?” Loaded stretching like this has been shown to be the most effective method of stretching.
Typical gym stretches that are held for 30-45 seconds have not been shown in any studies that Ive seen to do the things that you claim they do.
Well Murdock…I don’t do any typical gym stretching…My stretching background is in yoga, where we hold each “pose” for 1 minute and yoga varies from place to place but basically if you son’t feel like you are going to tear something open then you are doing it wrong. And as for stretching not doing the things I claim they do…I’ll tell you what! Do a gram or two of test every week for 6 weeks or so just like Bill suggests then don’t stretch except when training. You may get away with this for a while but it won’t be long before you have developed too much scar tissue to poke anything.
Point taken! I know NOTHING about steroids so Ill take your word for that.
I still think standard gym stretches even those recomended in Ian King’s 15 minute article are good for people who do none but are vastly inadequate as far as a proper stretching program goes.
By the way what is Yoga like im sorta interested maybe a way to get my flexibility work done and meat chicks at the same time.
Ha! That’s quite funny. Since when did Bill every “suggest” 1 to 2 grams of test a week? He never “suggests” anyone to do steroids. He merely provides his knowledge, for free no less, to those who have questions about their cycle. Secondly, what is this nonsense about scar tissue? If you knew a nickel about steroids you would know that scar tissue develops from either using too large of a needle or injecting into the same spot too often. As for stretching, different people can get by on different techniques and Bill certainly isn’t the only person who doesn’t strecth. As of yet, it is not scientific fat that static stretching prevents injury, increases strength, etc. A proper warm-up is more in need than stretching before workouts. If flexibility is an issue, then of course stretching should be performed, after workouts and on non-lift days.
I agree with Machine on the bill + stretching conflict. My favorite book on stretching has to be Stretching by Bob Anderson it may be old and out of date, but it helped me with my stretching routine more then any other book.
Let me tell you about my november and december of last year. I never stretched that much and ive always been someone who loves to squat. I also do a lot of back tucks which has a tremendous eccentric component when you land. During November and December of last year, i couldnt squat nor sit down without tremendous pain in my knees. When i would take a shit i had to keep my legs straight so they wouldnt hurt. I went to see an art practitioner and within one visit i could squat and do whatever i wanted. Guess what the problem was? Inflexibility in my quads and hip flexors caused by scar tissue. Flexibility is an issue with everybody on this planet. Sooner or later its something you are going to wish you had done more of. Now i spend twenty minutes at the beginning and end of every workout just stretching. If your not stretching, its just a matter of time before your favorite exercises become undoable.