Stretching: the truth...?

[clareMc]

Cathe:

several of us were discussing the value, and possible drawbacks, to stretching on another of the discussion forums here, and we wondered what your take on all this might be?

This month's SELF magazine features an article on stretching in which they make the following claims:

1) stretching will not prevent injury

(basically a spokesman for the American College of Sports Medicine in Indianapolis states that groups that stretched before exercise and groups that didn't resulted in the same amount of injuries in sports in their study. So, getting injured is not a function of flexibility: rather it's more a function of the muscles' level of fitness. The fitter the muscle, the more resilient it is to the demands you place on it, the study concludes)


2) stretching won't help you work out harder either

(stretching can actually sap your overall strength, according to research from Brigham Young University at Laie, Hawaii. The study concluded that immediately after stretching, MUSCLES BECOME WEAKER for up to 15 minutes, which means you will be able to lift less and will be more injury prone. Strength returns after this stretch lag period).

3) it is best to do a warm up only before working out, but not necessarily include stretching. Save the stretching for a different session, they recommend.


Cathe, what do you think of all this?!?!?! Some of us were a bit freaked at the thought that we might be losing some of our strength right before we hoist a 40 pound barbell!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We'd love to know your thoughts: have you read studies that speak to the contrary?

Have a nice day!

Clare

 

[DEEDEE]

Hi,

I've seen quite a few articles saying the same thing! I'm not going to try to guess what Cathe would say I'm going to leave that to her, but I did want to just share my own experiences.

For me, I've noticed that if I don't do some light stretching before advanced workouts my muscles tend to get really tight (particularly my lower leg muscles) and depending on the workout they tend to burn out a bit quicker than when I do stretch. So for me personally, stretching during the warm ups are a must and of course after the workouts I have to stretch or my body will be so stiff within a few hours its just not funny!

Now I am heavily muscled too...thick dense bone and muscle so maybe those with less dense muscles don't need to stretch as much as I do, I really don't know.

I too would like to hear what Miss Cathe has to say on this one.

 

[kathryn]

I'd think that excessive stretching might reduce muscular strength. But I've also read that stretching between weight lifting exercises helps make the following contraction stronger.

Also, you have to take into account what magazines this info is in, or what strength training they're talking about. If it's bodybuilders and other beheamoths who what to be huge and bench presse 300+#, then it really doesn't apply to most of us, does it.

 

[Aquajock]

I'm not Cathe, but I'll chip in my $.02 -

From my readings in my ACE and IDEA publications, the debate about the value of stretching, both pre-workout and post-workout, rages on, and I doubt you'll find consensus. What I've discerned, generally speaking, is that the value of LONG STATIC stretches in the warm-up phase of a workout is quite minimal and actually detrimental to the goal of core-temperature elevation; what is preferred is a briefer series of DYNAMIC stretches after about 5-8 minutes of core- and muscle-warm-up moves. It is of little or no value to stretch cold muscles, especially statically.

However, there is value, from what I've read and IMHO, in performing a longer, static-hold stretch for each of the worked muscle groups at the END of the workout, because not only have the muscles been contracted, they are also much warmer, much more infused with circulatory blood, and much more elastic, as are the connective tissues.

I personally do not believe that stretching inhibits strength development. I do believe that sometimes people can overstretch both in terms of duration of the hold ANd the depth of the stretch; overstretching can weaken the connective tissues and create an undesirable hypermobility that leads to decreased stability.

That's my $.02. I'll shut up now.

A-jock
The Balding Non-Cathe Opiner