Thoughts on stretching

cjas

cjas

Joined
May 31, 2006
Messages
549
Looking for some input on the whole stretching thing.

In the past 4 years of weight training I have NEVER stretched before my sessions. I personally don't find stretching to be benefical to injury prevention.. I know some people advocate stretching before, during, and after activity. But I think muscle tendons are much like rubberbands, you can only stretch them so far before they snap.

I also feel like over stretching prior to weight training can do more harm than good, since your muscle fibers are cold. My warmup routine usually is a higher rep, moderate weight set to prepare for the heavier sets.

Just curious on your opinions....
 
The main purpose of stretching imo is to stretch fascia the membrane which covers the muscle this allows for greater growth, stretching should be done post w/o.
 
liftsiron said:
The main purpose of stretching imo is to stretch fascia the membrane which covers the muscle this allows for greater growth, stretching should be done post w/o.
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Agreed - without fail
 
5 reasons TO stretch:

1- It's good to stretch POST workout. Flexibility is important as well as to cool-down and keep limber. After a workout and with micro-tears, it's really easy to get tight muscles. Cramps, etc..

2- Using weight and getting a full range of motion is in effect, stretching with weight! Hence, many of us bodybuilders who use a full ROM are not as inflexible as you might think.

3- There's several theories on soreness. Stretching does work for many to reduce soreness along with cardio and ice. I'ts not a guarantee to reduce soreness.

4- PRE workout stretching has no injury reducing benefits. Get a good warm up, do some light sets to prepare the muscle and focus on POST workout stretching. There are several peer reviewed studies that show the benefits of post stretching but none showing any benefits to pre. There are benefits to doing a warm up but that warm up doesn't including stretching.

5- Stretching will not break more muscle fibers unless you are stretching to increase flexibility to push past limitations. For the general bodybuilder who is doing it post workout, just stretch to the point of low to mild discomfort.

JMO, hope it helped out.
 
o0 i think streching is a defenite...n i think as you get bigger and more muscular stretching is something that defenitely needs to be done. i do the usual stretches, 5 minute treadmill to get the blood flowing and some stretches be4 amd after workout
 
In my years of training I have seen LOTS OF people that never stretch and get hurt and JUST A FEW that stretch and get hurt as well. So IMHO we'd better do it. I do LIGHT stretching (5 to 10 minutes) before and after my workouts.
 
Stretching is more important than your actual workout. I honestly believe that. I used to be more into stretching when I began MMA and when I used to wrestle. It was actually better to be agile and flexable in those sports than it was to be huge and strong. Then I began powerlifting and gained 55 pounds, lost the stretching and was winning fights except for the fact I was always much more sore. I finally ended up tearing from my neck to my lats (and everything in between), and I blame it heavily on the fact I was getting cocky and not stretching enough at all. I wish I had stretched more. You'll actually grow fster if you stretch more. Stretching is extremely important, I wish I would have listened to my own advice then!!!
 
DaPit26 said:
Stretching is more important than your actual workout. I honestly believe that. I used to be more into stretching when I began MMA and when I used to wrestle. It was actually better to be agile and flexable in those sports than it was to be huge and strong. Then I began powerlifting and gained 55 pounds, lost the stretching and was winning fights except for the fact I was always much more sore. I finally ended up tearing from my neck to my lats (and everything in between), and I blame it heavily on the fact I was getting cocky and not stretching enough at all. I wish I had stretched more. You'll actually grow fster if you stretch more. Stretching is extremely important, I wish I would have listened to my own advice then!!!
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Interesting opinion DaPit... I know a few guys that train for MMA and they are all quick and agile... I will take into account your advice on stretching. I definately don't want to tear ANY muscle... :)
 
DaPit26 said:
Stretching is more important than your actual workout. I honestly believe that. I used to be more into stretching when I began MMA and when I used to wrestle. It was actually better to be agile and flexable in those sports than it was to be huge and strong. Then I began powerlifting and gained 55 pounds, lost the stretching and was winning fights except for the fact I was always much more sore. I finally ended up tearing from my neck to my lats (and everything in between), and I blame it heavily on the fact I was getting cocky and not stretching enough at all. I wish I had stretched more. You'll actually grow fster if you stretch more. Stretching is extremely important, I wish I would have listened to my own advice then!!!
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Roger that. Thanks for sharing. When a had a serious rotator cuff tear, I used to have zero stretching.
 
when I was in martial arts for nineteen years we used to flex then stretch. This simple process helped push as much blood in as possible then stretch to make you more flexible quicker, don't know exactly why, but it worked on beginners, veterans and pretty much all of us. I started lifting weights hard in 1990 and have noticed by streching before and after sets I have always maintained a large part of my flexability. I also have a theory that if you stretch and flex you bring as much blood in as possible then stretch to push it out, making your muscle growth have more capacity?? Don't know if it's completely true but I'm pretty sure it works.
 
I aggree post work stretching is great for flexability

I do warm up the muscle though before i work out i find im more flexable and have a greater range of motion. I have always warmed up the legs and shoulders by doing a quick few wind mills to prevent rotator cuff injury.
 
Stretching made a world of difference for me, when used post set. Let's say I do my one all out hell set for incline presses, which involves going to failure, r/p failure, r/p failure + 2 heavy negatives.... I will catch my breath grab a couple 60lb dumbells, head to a flat bench, arch my chest as high up as I can get it and hold the dumbells at the bottom of a flye/press movement to stretch the hell out of the pecs. 30-40 seconds is about all I can take of it - but man... doing stretches like that post set just made a huge difference in not only my strength, how I felt, my recovery - but how I looked as well. Over time, I just began to look more "Full" in my opinion...

.... as far as injury prevention... I think if you are flexible you will be less prone to injury, but I don't see an injury not occuring if you are unflexible but do a few stretches before a set. It's something that has to be worked on over time, and over time, yes I think it can make you less prone to injury.
 
warm-up is the key to injury preventions, and active ROM stretching during your warm up by performing slow full range of motion reps is going to be key. Static stretching before a strength event reduces the maximum force output that is only if you are doing really low reps.

Post workout stretchin is very beneficial. You must realize that on top of the pump you have micro damage, etc. in the muscle and tension on the connective tissue. So reducinng this return the elasticity, and helps growth and recovery.
 
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