the importance of stretching?

A couple of good videos by Quinn Henoch on why stretching often isn't the answer and another about mobility myths.

From memory, the thrust is that 'tightness' is often more neurological.

People talk about the importance of stretching in the same way people talk about drinking ten glasses of water or how you'll 'catch a cold' if you go out in bad weather. Which is to say that it's accepted as common wisdom and perpetuated endlessly despite not being based on anything.

I read years ago about a study done with military recruits: one group would do a stretching programme before workouts, the other group did not, and they had identical injury rates. I've been dubious about the stretching doctrine ever since.

"Warming down" is another one. I hear people talking about needing to warm down after exercise. Just stop exercising, Jesus.

silverharp wrote: »

its good to distrust everything, but if you google the idea there seem to be a lot on it. if studies cant find any benefits though , thats factual and not based on his personal musings.

Every week “studies” find something and the next week other “studies” find the opposite. Just throwing the word science in doesn’t make anything factual.
How many times have we heard in the little light news section at the end of the main news, how scientists have found chocolate can help weight loss, wine helps you live longer, coffee cures cancer etc

Every professional sports team or man/woman stretch before and after competition.

So they are all wrong are they?

Saying something like "stretching is not effective" is like saying "working out" is not effective. There are countless methods of stretching with numerous variables, end goals and levels of affects.

The level of scientific study that has been put into stretching and mobility is a tiny fraction of what has been put into other fields such as cardio and strength training. It is also a very difficult field to study accurately as it is not as measurable and linear as weight added to a bar. While you can measure increased range the methods, persons response and many other variables make it very difficult to study as well as most people not being familiar with various methods.

The types and levels of stretching an individual requires is entirely dependent on what their need is eg a powerlifter and a gymnast are going to require very different levels of what they need.

As was mentioned early tightness and flexibility is an entirely neurological response you can youtube elderly hip surgery and see doctors placing peoples legs behind their heads who are 70+ and are scarcely mobile enough to touch their knees.

The issue is that most people have no idea what they are doing in relation to flexibility / mobility training and what the purpose and end goal of it is. Lets say you take the classic toe touch there are lots of ways to go about doing it from classic standing passive stretching for 60 seconds to, PNF (contract relax), jefferson curls or even using barbell goodmornings to improve hamstring mobility. Even if you are simply bending forward to touch your toes your still placing two thirds of your body weight out in front to stretch your hamstrings. The thing is that this is end range strength its the ability to use your full range of motion.

So yes unfounded click bait title. While some methods of stretching are not effective for some people or are less effective than others then yes I would agree but to make a blanket statement like that is very misleading. how would a dancer or gymnast achieve their splits without some level of stretching?

Ultimate Seduction wrote: »

Professional athletes with multi million pound state of the art facilities and coach's all stretch and warm down.

Some of them were wearing magic hologram badges to balance their auras too, so I wouldn't be too quick to conflate athletic culture with verifiable fact. Athletes are notorious for ritualisation. It's as much a mental process as physical.

When i was 21 and training occasionally stretching didnt do much.

Now im older, train 1.5 hrs 5 days a week stretching makes a huge difference in terms of mobility and just warming up.
As for injury prevention im sure running with tight hammies is a bad idea