Stretching is for sissies!

Devon

Thought I'd share this nugget of wisdom I heard from a pair of 15 year olds who are members of my gym. My cousin who is 15 was with me and is also a member, and they started slagging him off while he was stretching down after a good workout.

They came in, headed straight for the smith machine to bench as much as they could each in a very mindless "I'm stronger than you" way, and then left after 10 minutes.

So there you have it guys. You've been wrong all these years. Just come in, don't warm up, press like a lunatic and definitely don't stretch or cool down.

You wouldn't want to be called a sissy would you?

kjt

Jesus!, I'm never gonna warm up / down / anyway from now on. No warming for me, or strecthing. Thanks for the heads up

Reyman

There's an element of truth in what those kids say.

You'd rarely see a cat engaging in 5 minutes of stretching before it goes flat out after a mouse. Same with a dog chasing a cat - no wasting time stretching.

And when did you last see a cat or a dog with a 'pulled muscle'

Saruman

Eh you are comparing an animal built for sprinting on the spur of the moment.. to one that is certainly not.. us... If we want to avoid injury... we should stretch. Trust me... i played football once without stretching.. ran flat out for a few moments, pulled a muscle and was useless for the rest of the game... had i stretched.. that probably would not have happened.

Nice logic there with the cat analogy

Flex

I used to stretch and stuff a few years ago, but I never stretch or warm up or down now. As soon as Im at the gym and changed into my workout gear I just go straight to 'work', whether its weights or weights followed by cardio. I found that stretching prior to weights tired me out a bit and Id lift slightly less actually.

Pherekydes

Reyman wrote:

There's an element of truth in what those kids say.

You'd rarely see a cat engaging in 5 minutes of stretching before it goes flat out after a mouse. Same with a dog chasing a cat - no wasting time stretching.

And when did you last see a cat or a dog with a 'pulled muscle'

That's completely wrong. I had a cat, and when she woke up she spent about 15 minutes stretching and shaking out her limbs before she did anything else. Watch them when they wake up...

Pherekydes

Anyway, pulled muscles are not to do with stretching or lack of, they're to do with muscle imbalance.

Specifically, the quads get much stronger than the hamstrings, so the hammies are prone to pulls.

Reyman

I take your point SC about muscle imbalances but I still think people have lost the run of themselves with this stretching. I see all this stuff about stretching for 30 seconds a go and I'm not sure it's anyway natural.

Like Flex I never stretch before a workout or a run, although I do work up to big lifts gradually and jog before I sprint .

After a workout I would usually stretch for about 20 minutes to keep loose, because weights seem to tighten you up a lot.
Works well for me - rarely if ever get injured (well so far)

BrianD3

I would also be of the opinion that stretching, warming up and cooling down are overrated. I don't stretch at all before a weights session and my warmup consists of one easy light set of about 12 reps.

I also don't find any benefit from stretching after a session. I read before that if you go through a full range of motion with your weights, there is no need to stretch afterwards.

is_that_so

Isn't the idea of stretching to warm up the body in preparation? Don't do much myself but I have been advised that warming down can help a lot , especially after a run.
IMO there is no harm in doing some. I reckon it is a lot more important for occasional exercisers, especially if you are exercising part of the body that have not seen exercise in a very long time.

yak_kadafi

damn kids!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
should 15 year olds even be allowed to be members of gym's
thats possibly the stupidest thing i've heard this week

amazingemmet

Tbh stretching before a training session will actually affect your performance in a negative, the best thing to do pre workout is to mobilise all your joints by bringing them through their full rnage of motion. If people want drills in can post them. And leave the iso and pnf stretching til the end of the session.

Mr E

I don't stretch before weights. I do 12-15 reps with a light weight for each muscle/group to warm up. I do stretch after weights (my chest and triceps can be particularly tight after a hard workout, and stretching loosens them out).

For cardio, I do a 5 minute light jog first, stretch out, and do my full session immediately after that. I cool down (5 minutes walk) and stretch after that.

Once a week I like to do an extended stretching session (usually after cardio) which helps with my overall flexibility.

I've been doing it for 3 years, I've never been injured, so I'll keep doing it.

Devon

yak_kadafi wrote:

damn kids!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
should 15 year olds even be allowed to be members of gym's
thats possibly the stupidest thing i've heard this week

Unfortunately this particular gym (chain) allow kids from age 9 to use the gym. They are somewhat restricted in what they are allowed to use but it's not policed. It's not uncommon to see children doing things they shouldn't be doing while their parents are doing their own workout.

peckerhead

That particular gym (chain) could be heading for a big feck-off lawsuit... :rolleyes:

curious george

the school of thought on static stretching has changed a lot recently. Dynamic movements are now thought to be the best way to warm-up pre-activity as well as gentle activity before progressing to more strenuous activity ie jogging before sprinting, lighter weights before heavier..
It has been shown that static stretches prior to strength tests actually reduces performance as it is thought that changes in the mechanical properties of the musculotendon unit or changes in neural activation may decrease force. The link below is to a paper examining the effects of stretching in soccer players but the intro. gives an over view of current thinking and references to other papers. (i hope it works!)

http://nsca.allenpress.com/nscaonline/?request=get-document&doi=10.1519%2FR-16944.1

However static stretches (20 seconds or longer) are still required to maintain flexibility and muscle length but this should not be confused with warm-up. Static strectches are best done after excercise.

Degsy

I never stretch i warm up with a light set for each bodypart and then move onto the serious stuff.I find stretching or worse "warming up" saps your energy for the real excercise.To be honest some people take it to ridiculous extremes,poncing about in front of mirrors and doing Rosemary Connoly impressions.They're usually the ones who dont do any work in the gym too.

BlackWizard

Without a 10min intensive warm up and a few good stretches I certainly
would not last an entire footy game.
I used to not take warming up seriously and I was only 15min into a game and
Id be huffing and puffing. But with a decent warm up it puts the huffing and
puffing till the 40th min.

If you dont belive that a warm up can help then try this. Get on a threadmill
and jog at a faster pace than you are used to. Right as your are getting into
that "oh Im feeling this now" and your breath is going. Stop. Stretch. Then
get back on the threadmill and go about jogging at your normal pace. Its takes
a bit to get used to but once you do get used to it you should notice the
difference in your stamina and your speed at catching your breath.

When I used to play basketball we never done a intensive warm up even when
I was on the irish team. We just done a few little routines and stretch then
that was that. Its too much of a stop and go game to warrent a warm up that
does more than warm up the muscles.

But if im playing basketball or footy, I always do a warmdown and a long stretch
session. About 10-15 of stretches which sometimes include a bit of chatter
that ive never seen the coaches get in on. They usually flame us during the
warm down I think its cause they know how important the stretches is
for our muscles and that we should concentrate on getting them done right
and mentally relaxing while doing it.