Stretch before you exercise

[AeJeen]

Finding time in your hectic schedule to exercise is hard. When you do have an extra half hour to yourself, you likely jump directly on the treadmill or the bike and take off, going as fast as you can to burn as many calories as you can as part of your short amount of time. This can actually be dangerous. If you do not take time to stretch before you work out, your muscles will not be appropriately warmed up and your risk of injury will be higher than if you had taken the time to stretch. You should also stretch after your workout. Additionally, according to Reuters,

“experts say . . . stretching can help you sharpen your performance, prevent injury, improve your posture and even boost your mood.”

Stretching: An important part of your workout routine
[mod edit daisy1: link removed]

Two types of stretching

Don’t worry; stretching doesn’t have to take up an enormous portion of your workout time. Five to ten minutes before and after your regular workout is all you need. There are type types of stretching for you to choose from-static and dynamic. Reuters describes these thus: “A static stretch is essentially a stretch held in one position; dynamic stretching involves active movements.” So a static stretch might involve touching your toes for 30 seconds and a dynamic stretch might mean jumping jacks or shoulder rotations.

The best way to stretch safely

A word of caution for your stretching: don’t push your body too far. Jessica Mathews of the American Council on Exercise states for stretches to be “safe and effective, they should be held only to the point of tension-never to the point of pain.” And whenever you do your static stretching, do not bounce, says the Mayo Clinic, this can trigger small tears with your muscles which will lead to further stiffness. And for those who have any injuries or chronic pain, talk to your doctor about what stretches would be best for you.

Sources
Reuters
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/ ... IM20120130
Mayo Clinic
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/stretc ... IONGROUP=2

 

[noblehead]

Good advice about stretching and warming up first :thumbup:

 

[Sanober]

I agree with starting exercise gradually. But thought stretching cold muscles before exercise was not a good idea?

 

[borofergie]

I agree with starting exercise gradually. But thought stretching cold muscles before exercise was not a good idea?

+1

The benefit of stretching at all is a bit dubious. Stretching before you've warmed up is a very bad idea.

I sometimes stretch my calves after a long run, but most of the time I don't bother.

The best method of helping tired muscles is a 20 minute ice bath.

 

[Sid Bonkers]

Having never been particularly interested in exercise for exercises sake I really have no idea whether stretching or warming up is a good idea a bad idea or a total waste of time but I always wonder how animals can go from asleep to running in 0 seconds.

A couple of examples, I have several feeders in my garden that I stock with sunflower hearts, niger seeds and no mess mix for the wild birds, my cat can be seemingly asleep on the patio and suddenly without warning is half way down the garden lunging at some unsuspecting pigeon. I do not like feeding squirrels which I see as rats with fluffy tails and am always chasing them off the feeders, my Jack Russell can be asleep on the sofa (dont ask) and I will creep up and open the patio doors slightly and say "squirrel" at which point my Jack Russell is off and running like a greyhound hot on the heels of the squirrel, I hasten to add that she has never caught one yet but its fun to watch and goes some way to protecting the seeds for the Finches that visit my garden regularly.

My question if I have one is why dont my cat and dog get injury's going from total rest to hot pursuit in a nano second, are their muscles that different to ours?

 

[borofergie]

Having never been particularly interested in exercise for exercises sake I really have no idea whether stretching or warming up is a good idea a bad idea or a total waste of time but I always wonder how animals can go from asleep to running in 0 seconds.

That's an excellent point. I doubt very much that our distant ancestors wasted much time stretching either (ie we didn't evolve to stretch).

 

[noblehead]

my Jack Russell can be asleep on the sofa (dont ask) and I will creep up and open the patio doors slightly and say "squirrel" at which point my Jack Russell is off and running like a greyhound hot on the heels of the squirrel

:lol: .......sounds like my dog but we say CATS........ :lol:

 

[borofergie]

The general consensus here is that stretching is somewhere between stupid and dangerous:
http://paleohacks.com/questions/20362/e ... z1vKXZdSj3

No evidence that it protects from injury, some evidence that it might impair performance.

 

[phoenix]

So what does the Mayo Clinic link cited say?

Don't consider stretching a warm-up. You may hurt yourself if you stretch cold muscles. So before stretching, warm up with light walking, jogging or biking at low intensity for five to 10 minutes. Or better yet, stretch after you exercise when your muscles are warmed up

I don't stretch before and rarely after running.
I think some stretching is good for increasing /maintaining flexibility, important when you're getting older.
I used to do Pilates exercises regularly and these included a fair amount of stretching but somehow stopped doing it for a while. I realised that I was getting stiffer. Now it probably doesn't matter that I couldn't put my head on my knees any more but more seriously I couldn't twist round as well to look behind in the car.
Got back to doing it and it does make a difference.

edit to add missing word

 

[thetallerpaul]

Stretching as part of your warm up can improve the elasticity of your muscles and connective tissues before exercise. It is a useful part of maintaining your flexibility and avoiding injury from exercise and just in general life. Professional atheletes don't do it for a laugh they do it because it slows down how quickly your muscles build up lactic acid and improves performance. Many atheletes put the longevity of their career down to a stretching regime. Although if you do it from cold you risk damage as you would by doing anything that puts your body under stress without any warm up.

Animals might not do a quad stretch but not many animals go from rest to full flight for anything but a short burst if they can avoid it. If you watch a big cat like a cheetah they build up their speed gradually before full charge. Prey animals are almost always moving so keep warmed up ready to go at all times. If you never stopped moving from dawn to dusk and only sat down to sleep I doubt you would need to warm up either.

That said I very rarely do it after exercise, I make it part of my daily routine now after a horrible visit to a yoga class showed me how bad my tendons were. I am now much more mobile and in less pain especially from my back as shortened hamstrings especially can really contribute to lower back pain. Icebaths are great for reducing inflammation from muscles damaged by exercise. If your muscles hurt some time after exercise an icebath can help them heal faster whereas stretching is unlikely to help the pain (although it will avoid your tendons shortening which will eventually lead to lower mobility).

TTP

 

[Sanober]

I think stretching has been recommended because we are generally immobile creatures now, cars, desk jobs etc rather than the cave men/women of yesteryear.

In summary:
Stretching cold muscles = bad
Stretching warm muscles = good

For runners, not too big a deal before hand, as you build up the warmth in the muscles by starting at a gentle pace, I suppose if you tried to sprint suddenly with cold muscles this would cause injuries (like dashing for the bus and a sudden sprained ankle?).

I've ran with various running clubs over the years, I do prefer a post run stretch as I can feel myself stiffen up.

Yoga/Pilates does make a difference.

I think I'll watch the Olympics attentively this summer to see what the athletes do :lol:

But now, I'm off to Zumba which starts with a gentle first track to warm us up and afterwards we do stretches.

 

[Scardoc]

The last time I visited my physio her advice was very straight forward - no need to stretch beforehand, it's dangerous and doesn't do your muscles any good. A dynamic warm up is far more beneficial to get the heart pumping etc. After exercise - lots of stretching recommended. Watch any rugby match now and you will see the subs spending lots of time on an exercise bike before taking the pitch.

The difference with animals is that they have evolved with the ability to take off in a split second to either catch prey or to take flight from danger. It's also worth remembering that animals run as nature intended whereas we run in nice cushioned trainers and strike the ground heel first. This is not how we were designed. Humans are designed to land on the ball of foot which gives the maximum shock absorbtion and maximum push off with the momentum as nature intended. Our ancestors would never have stretched but they had to run long distances to catch prey which was too big to do anything with unless it was knackered!!

 

[borofergie]

The last time I visited my physio her advice was very straight forward - no need to stretch beforehand, it's dangerous and doesn't do your muscles any good. A dynamic warm up is far more beneficial to get the heart pumping etc. After exercise - lots of stretching recommended. Watch any rugby match now and you will see the subs spending lots of time on an exercise bike before taking the pitch.

:thumbup: for the no-stretching, :thumbdown: for suggesting I watch Rugby (why on earth would I do that?)

It's also worth remembering that animals run as nature intended whereas we run in nice cushioned trainers and strike the ground heel first.

You might. I don't.

 

[Scardoc]

How do those minimalist shoes work for you? Did it take long to adjust? I have sat out most of the last month injured and had started to try a little barefoot running before then. I've not seen them in the flesh, what surfaces can you comfortably run on in them? Tell me more please

 

[borofergie]

How do those minimalist shoes work for you? Did it take long to adjust? I have sat out most of the last month injured and had started to try a little barefoot running before then. I've not seen them in the flesh, what surfaces can you comfortably run on in them? Tell me more please

They're fine, although I mostly use them for shorter distances and 5k racing, while I use Nike Free for anything over 5 miles (which is Nike's minimalist shoe - but nothing like the vibs).

I started using them for the first time just after christmas, when I was coming back from a bad ankle injury. So building up slowly was part of my recovery process. I was inspired by the fact that they were the only shoes that I could walk comfortably in when my ankle was injured. I started off on the treadmill, and just built up from there. It made my calves a bit sore to start with, but nothing that lasted for more than a day or two.

I have a really high arch, so I'd always used "motion control" shoes before. I videoed myself running on a treadmill with them, and I can see how my mechanics have improved - using the natural cusioning of my arch to develop a nice mid-foot strike.