Stretching - its got me confused!!

KeithReilly

Are there really any benefits to stretching before sport?

Is it true that static stretching really is a waste of time before sport?

Is there as much evidence to say that just getting into the sport with gradual intensity is of as much value if not more than any amount of dynamic or static stretching?

cc87

These two threads answer most of those questions.......courtesy of transform mainly

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055734737&highlight=stretching

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055831687&highlight=stretching

Barry.Oglesby

Those threads don't seem to answer that question at all really.

OP by and large people misunderstand the whole topic of stretching and flexibility and it's appication. I've seen lots of people who can do pretty much every flexibility test but still lack mobility. having a goal of touching your toes etc. is grand if you're a housewife who wants to feel better but mobility is more important if you're an athlete. Dynamic warm ups (I hesitate to use the term stretching as that's only a part of what we're talking about) in advance of training or competition are vital. Some level of static stretching may form a part of an overall warm up so it's not totally useless, but warm ups should get you warm, spending minutes static stretching does not do that.

KeithReilly

Thanks Barry. Actually I got alot out of the post from Roper too. Thats makes more sense to me alright, what exactly is mobility work compared to stretching. Is that for stiff joints or something like that?

Barry.Oglesby

That Roper guy is full if sh1t don't listen to him.

Powerplate

Barry.Oglesby wrote: »

Warm ups should get you warm

Hi Barry,

Just out of interest, how do you define "warm" in this context? Do you believe warm-up exercises increase the temperature inside the muscles. thereby making them more pliable and less prone to injury?

Or do you believe that the movements involved in warming up merely prepare the neural pathways for the intense sporting/exercise activity that is to follow, so that they can perform at their peak level from the moment they start?

I'd be interested in hearing your reply, simply because my own beliefs about warm-ups have changed very much since I studied exercise physiology at uni.

Cheers,

Paul

Doug Cartel

KeithReilly wrote: »

Is it true that static stretching really is a waste of time before sport?

I'm pretty sure there are studies out there that show static stretching before sports can actually increase your chances of injury.

TKD SC

Barry.Oglesby wrote: »

That Roper guy is full if sh1t don't listen to him.

Transform

Doug Cartel wrote: »

I'm pretty sure there are studies out there that show static stretching before sports can actually increase your chances of injury.

true there are many that show that.

keep it simple and just get your body warm, practice the movements you are going to do and do plenty of foam rolling and static stretching after.

Pay particular attention to where you are tight before and after all sessions.

I have yet to meet someone that did NOT have to do more stretching/mobility/foam rolling

Barry.Oglesby

Doug Cartel wrote: »

I'm pretty sure there are studies out there that show static stretching before sports can actually increase your chances of injury.

There are, but I wouldn't confine myself to the abstracts as you'll find a lot of them had very limited scope. Unfortunately, some people are... eh... hmmm... okay hard to say this without sounding like a cock so I'll go with a more PC variation... ahem... let's just say some people are somewhat unfamiliar with how academic papers are published and how studies operate. So what happens is they go and read an abstract which might say something like "the study found that individuals who stretched statically were more likely to have soft tissue injuries than individuals who didn't", and take that as their answer. Of course the make-up of the test group, control group etc. would be important, as would the type of exercise, as would a hundred other things.

Meta analysis is helpful but unfortunately not too many people who use science to prove their interweb arguments know what that is either.

Also, it's worth noting that we are in debt for the concept of dynamic warm ups to Hackenshmidt and his ilk, who had no scientific basis for what they did, they just knew it worked.

sharky86

foam rolling?? what is that

Doug Cartel

Barry.Oglesby wrote: »

There are, but I wouldn't confine myself to the abstracts as you'll find a lot of them had very limited scope. Unfortunately, some people are... eh... hmmm... okay hard to say this without sounding like a cock so I'll go with a more PC variation... ahem... let's just say some people are somewhat unfamiliar with how academic papers are published and how studies operate. So what happens is they go and read an abstract which might say something like "the study found that individuals who stretched statically were more likely to have soft tissue injuries than individuals who didn't", and take that as their answer. Of course the make-up of the test group, control group etc. would be important, as would the type of exercise, as would a hundred other things.

Meta analysis is helpful but unfortunately not too many people who use science to prove their interweb arguments know what that is either.

Also, it's worth noting that we are in debt for the concept of dynamic warm ups to Hackenshmidt and his ilk, who had no scientific basis for what they did, they just knew it worked.

Well I'm just going by the stuff Tom Kurz references in the book Stretching Scientifically. To be honest, I don't know whether or not he read beyond the abstracts, and I don't have the book with me to go looking into it right now.