Stretching is shit

This article is adapted from the excellent original article by Menno Henselmans: "Stretching is BS"

If you are a serious bodybuilder, chances are you already stretch quite a bit or think you should stretch more. Historically, stretching was considered a “can't hurt” activity, and no one really thought about it except people attending a yoga studio.

But over the past two decades, people have started to realize that stretching isn't really the holy grail of smart training. We now know that stretching should be done strategically and not at all times, that different stretching modalities like static, dynamic and CRE stretching have different effects, and that using the wrong type of stretching. stretching can do more harm than good.

In short, we have come to realize that stretching is limited in its use, and that it is not the panacea that any fit girl in yoga pants would have us believe. And to top it off, we're here to deliver the final blow.

Most formal warning: all information provided in this article is intended for neurologically intact and asymptomatic individuals. Clinical populations should consult their therapist before implementing the approaches recommended in this article.

For those who are not quite up to date with the advancements in stretching knowledge, here is a summary:

• Stretching, in any form, does not reduce muscle soreness
• Static stretching, before or after exercise, does not prevent and in addition, could even promote injury
• Stretching a muscle statically before exertion decreases its subsequent performance
• Static stretching does not increase the strength or muscle gain induced by weight training

In keeping with these results, the idea that stretching is good and doing more is better has been replaced by the advice that we should do dynamic stretching before training, and static afterwards. Dynamic stretching would be intended to increase mobility, and static stretching to increase flexibility.

Moreover, it is generally accepted that we don't have to stretch every muscle, only those that have been shortened as a result of training or daily activities.

This is fundamentally wrong.

To understand why, let's first look at what happens when we stretch a muscle. In general, there are three mechanisms by which the amplitude of a movement, passive or active, can be increased:

• Viscoelasticity increases: To put it simply, the more elastic a muscle is, the more it can be stretched. However, viscoelasticity is not the same as elasticity, and for this reason muscles do not behave like rubber bands at all, as we often hear.
• “Like solid materials, they exhibit elasticity by reverting to their original length after the tensile force is removed. And like liquids, they also behave in a viscous manner, as their response to a pulling force is dependent on pulling speed and time ”(Weppler & Magnusson, 2010).
• Neural tolerance to stretching increases: the more permissive the nervous system, the more it allows the musculo-tendinous structures to reach a significant amplitude. There are several mechanisms, such as the activation of the agonist reflex, that contribute to the increase in extensibility, but let's use neural stretch tolerance as a term encapsulating all the neural processes at work here.
• The length of the muscles increases: The longer a muscle, the longer its amplitude. As such, an increase in amplitude may be due to any of these factors. The assumption of most stretching programs is that the length of the muscles increases. However, this hypothesis is based on extremely dated and methodologically flawed research, with the use of inappropriate terminology.

When you stretch a muscle, this is what actually happens with the properties stated above:

Viscoelasticity may increase after intensive stretching, i.e. more than two minutes, but this is only temporary.

Depending on the amount of stretching, viscoelasticity returns to normal within 10 minutes of a 2-minute stretch; or 20 minutes after 4 to 8 minutes of stretching; or an hour after a particularly hardcore yoga session.

Tolerance to stretching increases:

Since it's neural learning, like memorizing words, it's a more permanent adaptation. However, the increased tolerance for stretching is lost over time, and can be enhanced by repetition, just as words are gradually lost from vocabulary and held in memory with repetition.

The length of the muscles (and tendons) remains exactly the same:

When you stretch a muscle, no permanent structural adaptation occurs. All you do with most stretching programs is teach the nervous system that it's normal to relax the muscle a bit more when it's stretched.

Most of the neural adaptation is actually an increase in pain tolerance. Any increase in range of motion still present the day after the stretch is due to purely neural adaptations.

Let us stress this point: you cannot increase the length of a muscle by stretching it.

This therefore has profound implications for the use of stretching for flexibility, warm-up and postural correction.

Flexibility

Whether you are stretching to become more flexible or more mobile (there is no need to make a practical distinction between these two terms here) the success of this strategy is determined by your exact goal.

For example, doing any given stretch for the hamstrings will not increase their length, so it will be of little benefit to all other stretching poses involving the hamstrings. You need to define exactly why you want to become more flexible, taking into account that your body's adaptations to stretching will follow the principle of specificity.

For bodybuilders, flexibility training is only useful for improving range of motion in exercises that you want to perform, but are currently unable to do at full range. In accordance with the principle of specificity, you should make the stretches mimic the desired movement as closely as possible.

For example, if you want to be able to use a tighter hand grip in the squat or use a brace grip on the front squat, you should step under the bar and put your hands in that position. Try to approach the desired position, and hold it.

A low-intensity static stretch like this (just uncomfortable, not painful) is as effective, if not more, than a more intense stretch. The optimal duration appears to be around 30 seconds. After which few adaptations take place.

If you want to increase your range of motion, such as the squat, the most effective technique is simply to perform the exercise. Ironically enough, it is often the strongest critics of isolation exercises who prescribe isolation stretches for this purpose. Did someone say Crossfit?

However, unlike stretching, strength training can also increase muscle length. The key is to eccentrically strengthen the muscle in its stretched position.

If someone has short hamstrings, doing the good morning and Romanian deadlift is more effective than any amount of stretching.

In terms of progression, you should be able to perform most strength movements after just a few sessions. If after two months of frequent stretching you still cannot perform a movement, you probably have poor technique, muscle imbalance, or restrictions in your tissues.

If you've ruled out all of the above and are still too stiff, you've reached your genetic flexibility limit. It is much simpler and much more common than reaching your genetic muscle potential. Some people will just never be able to squat all the way to the parallel.

Warming up

Based on the results listed in the introduction, doing static stretching before your workouts is a terrible idea. Dynamic stretching is also unnecessary, although some of the most effective warm-up exercises are dynamic stretching.

Based on the principle of specificity, you should keep in mind what you are preparing your body for during the warm-up. Activate the muscles that need to be activated, do some dynamic polyarticular stretching exercises, and begin your main movement. Sometimes it is enough to perform the warm-up sets of the movement you are preparing for.

Whatever you do, you should normally not have it for more than 5-10 minutes. Warm-ups are often overestimated, and the empirical evidence that intensive warm-up improves performance or reduces injury is weak. Also, from an evolutionary standpoint, it wouldn't make sense if humans needed prolonged warm-ups.

Posture

Now forget everything you think you know about stiff, short, long, or weak muscles. Posture is primarily the result of neural programming: the relative activation of all the muscles in your body determines your posture.

Stretching and weight training has been shown time and time again to have little or no effect on posture. This makes sense, because stretching doesn't actually improve muscle length and therefore can only affect posture through its neural effects.

Strength training and correcting muscle imbalances can also help, but in reality very little maximum strength is required to maintain optimal posture. Likewise, there is also no consensus on what constitutes optimal posture or muscle length.

What determines the posture of a person in this case? Overall, the way of life. Sports, weight training, and stretching all affect posture, but the duration of the posture is much more important than the force applied when it comes to posture, so all of these activities are insignificant compared to your lifestyle.

It is not uncommon to see professional athletes exhibiting amazing biomechanics during their performance, but excruciating posture in everyday life. It is the result of the body's tremendous ability to adapt to a task in a specific way.

So if you want to improve your posture, forget about stretching and weight training. You are already doing all you can in this regard if you follow a good program. The real solution is for the mind to prevail over the body. Like trying to get rid of a tic, you need to be aware of it and then correct it. Repeatedly. And for a long time.

Over time, your posture will improve.

Tissue work can also help, especially if something is really wrong, but in the end it's all about neural programming. If you want to correct your posture, you just have to adopt the desired posture until it becomes automatic.

End Notes

Stretching is one of the biggest myths in the fitness industry. The facts are known, the jury has deliberated, and the verdict is clear: the usefulness of static stretching is severely limited.

Perhaps it is better to drop the term altogether, because nothing is permanently stretched during "stretching". For future uses, we suggest use of the term development of stretch tolerance.

Either way, don't allow a sane bodybuilding practitioner to undergo more than 5 minutes of this tedious activity a day.

Information to remember:

• You cannot increase the length of a muscle by stretching it. You can only increase your neural tolerance to stretching.
• To increase flexibility, remember the principle of specificity. The best way to increase passive amplitude is to practice a 30 second static stretch in a position as close to the desired position as possible. The best way to increase active amplitude is to perform the desired movement against resistance to push back your maximum amplitude.
• Make sure your warm-ups are kept short and to the point. Prepare your body for the specific task ahead.
• If you want to change your posture, You have to be aware of it and correct it until your new posture becomes automatic.

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