Stretching Until Death do us part
A long lost friend of mine recently came to me asking a question about stretching. They wanted to know if stretching was as bad as some…
A long lost friend of mine recently came to me asking a question about stretching. They wanted to know if stretching was as bad as some people (bias and unbiased minds) said it might be. It seems like a simple Yes or no answer question but its more of a loaded one with tons of situational considerations.
Without diving into what is Stretching, all I will say is that there are different kinds of stretching and different benefits and hazards to each one.
Before you consider to stretch in any way or not, lets answer this question; Why do need more or want more flexibility? The answer to this question will have some sort of performance goal, like to be better at running, baseball, dance, soccer; or, a goal that is rooted in avoiding further injury. You may want to avoid new injuries in the future like, reduce low back pain, stop shoulder from hurting, my neck hurts, my elbow is sore etc.
Once you have that figured out you can better understand which method of stretching will be best for you and how much of it you will actually need. Knowing how much flexibility you need is crucial for your goal. For example a football player will be more likely to injure themselves in their sport if they attain the level of flexibility of a ballet dancer(too much for football). The same goes for that Ballet dancer, if they were to attain a level of flexibility needed to play football(too little for ballet) they would have trouble excelling in their ballet career.
Different activities = different needs.
I think the fitness industry’s most hated form of stretching at the moment is static stretching. I personally think it gets this unjustly and feel sorry for the Static stretch. Before you enthusiasts and “experts” jump down my throat because I like static stretching let me define it for you… how I see it.
Static Stretch= the body staying in a position for an allotted amount of time; creating a change and adaptation to said body over time.
Probably a little different than any other definition you have heard for static stretching right? Thats the point here. I do not see a problem with the method itself but, problems with the so called traditional protocols assigned to the method. Here is why you need it; You are already fulfilling my definition of static stretch on a daily basis with positions and movements that are making you worse each day. It may not be with traditional active or passive stretches but you are doing it all the time.
The easiest one to think about is, how long did you sit for today?; total amount of time and average amount of time in a seated position. Go ahead and add that up. Now does sitting in a stretch for your your hamstrings, glutes, hips, quads for 30 seconds a piece really sound like enough time to reverse the effect sitting for 10 combine hours out of 24. The answer is no, the opposing stress is not great enough to create a lasting response. Our bodies are smarter than you think they are. If you give it a stress and you continuously practice or repeat that stress it will eventually adapt to to become more efficient. That is the reason why if you sit all the time you become really great at sitting and really bad at a lot of other things. The same adaptation would occur if you decided to squat at 80% 1Rm more frequently…you would see a change in your ability to work through a load(stress) and eventually your 80%1RM weight would increase.
The traditional static stretch thinking and traditional protocols are where “the problems” are. The reason the traditional old school thinking about static stretching does not work is because 10–30 seconds really is not enough time to make a difference on the soft tissues in the long run. So, that stretch that you just did…was effectively ineffective. On a daily basis we are “Static Stretching” or creating positions of repeated stress and trying to adapt ourselves into positions that will be more efficient. The problem that comes with exercise is that not only are we adding new sets of movements with exercises but we are usually adding weight to them and too much volume without addressing our need for Flexibility, Mobility, Range of motion, exercise technique etc.
GOOD & BAD
it is BORING!!!
takes time you may not have…or think that you have
it inhibits the nervous signal to the muscles aka “turns them off”
can inhibit your performance in exercise and sport
too much of it can affect your joints natural abilities to protect itself
it is not a cure all and you will need to perform other methods of stretching such as : PNF, Active, mobility exercises, corrective exercises and dynamic stretches or in other words a complete WARM UP AND COOL DOWN.
“turns off” over stimulated muscles allowing the ability for others to work properly without compromising them.
can be done in isolation if you need it
no equipment needed
relaxing on the mind.
can accelerate injury recovery safely in early stages of recovery where other methods have greater risk to injured area. ( ie. you can passively static stretch the muscles and tissues around the knee post ACL surgery to regain extension ROM but can not foam roll, actively, PNF or dynamically stretch it right away)
Focus on breathing techniques
Focusing on being focued
These are the biggest factors keeping static stretching on the fitness industry blacklist… outdated protocols.
How
Done on areas of problem/issue
Also on surrounding areas of the problem area (ie. hamstring tightness needs to look at the hip, knee, back, calf, glute tissues and muscles.
Remember everything in our bodies is connected, maybe not directly like indirectly through the fascial tissue, motor control patterns, nerve stimulation.
2+ minutes at a time or more if you need it.
Lightly
don’t be in agonizing pain but feel the difference of being in a stressed position and not being in one and stay there. Slowly work into it a little bit more as you get better and better.
When
As a piece of your warm up and cool down procedure relating to activities you are waiting to to or have already done.
Really Limit pre-exercise/sport static stretches only to serious problem areas.( as all the Hate articles will point out is bad for performance of the muscles and they are right. Like this one where he contradicts himself a few times.)
At times that exercise or performance based activities are not being performed
at work, watching TV, downtime, during breaks in the day etc.
Extra done in post workout cool down
Active rest and recovery days.
Before sleeping.
can help your nervous system “relax” and can help you relax your mind before trying to force your self to sleep with a million things about the day or the next day running through it.
Times of stress.
this is where the need for time is a positive. You can just simply take 2 minutes and do nothing but stay in one or two positions and focus on something that requires an empty mind
Lets start thinking with an open mind instead of just following the pack.
Originally published at fitletes.com.