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moderated by Chris Shugart
This article
originally appeared on www.T-nation.com
Stretching is a lot
like flossing. We know we should do it, we know it's
beneficial, but a lot of us don't do it very often
or very well. But maybe that's because we can't decide
how or when to stretch. It seems like
every training expert out there has a different opinion
about stretching. What's the real story?
I sat down with Joe
DeFranco, John Paul Catanzaro and Don Alessi to find
out the real scoop.
Let me start
off by saying that I think many T-mag readers
are experiencing a sort of "paralysis analysis" when
it comes to stretching. They hear so many opposing
opinions that many just say "screw it" and don't stretch
at all. What do you guys think?
That's just being lazy.
I think most people don't seek out the best stretching
methods because they don't truly understand the positive
benefits of being flexible. It's usually after an
injury that people start incorporating some kind of
flexibility work. Whether it's a pulled hamstring
while sprinting or low-back pain when squatting, that's
when people usually open up their eyes and start researching
the positive benefits of flexibility training.
I agree. Not knowing how or when to stretch is just
an excuse. The truth is, the average person knows
that stretching is a fundamental part of movement,
just look at your dog or cat the next time they wake
up; the first thing they do is the "cat stretch" to
prepare the spine for mobility. All activity is the
balance between stability and mobility. People
confused? Possibly. Lazy? Definitely!
I think stretching can be a useful tool if used appropriately.
It can rev up the nervous system and temporarily increase
strength; it can also sedate the nervous system and
decrease strength, which may be beneficial in certain
cases. Of course, it can also increase range of motion
or ROM.
Stretching can have both
positive and negative effects. It's like a drug. You've
got to pick the right drug at the right time at a
specific dose to get a desired effect! When you hear
a number of different theories, you must decide which
has the greatest merit. Nothing is written in stone.
Do the research and come
up with your own conclusions. You know, it may take
me just minutes to read an article, but hours to go
through the references! Do your homework, try things
for yourself, and you'll quickly figure out what works
and what doesn't.
Now, with all that said,
if you insist on not stretching, don't sweat it! Research
from Magnusson contends that the effectiveness of
different stretching techniques is attributed to a
change in stretch tolerance rather than passive
properties.
Interesting. Let's assume for now that most people
need to stretch more. Okay, scare us into stretching.
What's going to happen if we continue to pound the
weights but pay very little attention to stretching?
Basically, you'll end up being a big pile of useless muscle!
In other words, you'll be the typical non-functional
meathead who looks like Tarzan, but performs like
Jane!
If you're an aspiring
athlete, you'll never be able to achieve all of the
positions required of you on the athletic field. This
will hurt your sprinting speed as well as your jumping,
throwing and kicking power, just to name a few.
It's also inevitable
that you'll end up having low back and shoulder problems.
This, in the long run, will take away from your time
in the gym and on the athletic field. Unfortunately,
most people don't see the light until something goes
wrong.
For bodybuilders, the major sacrifice is muscle development
with only a minor concern of acute injury. With athletes,
career-ending acute injuries should be the biggest
concern with a close second being a chronic deterioration
of technique such as swing or throwing mechanics.
This is due to increased stiffness at the expense
of mobility, and it can also lead to chronic overuse
injuries.
Yes, but keep this in mind: weight training alone
will improve flexibility if you balance agonists and
antagonists and train in full ROM. Flexibility is
at least average or above in strength athletes, refuting
the concept of them being "muscle-bound." Furthermore,
weightlifters can often squat deeper than other athletes,
dispelling the myth that strength training and large
muscles decrease flexibility. This is supported by
research, so don't be scared if you don't stretch
much!
Okay, JP, I didn't expect to hear that! Can you expound
a little?
Sure. A study by J.R. Leighton in
1964 compared Mr. America, a world champion weightlifter,
and a group of 16 year-old boys in various measures
of flexibility.
The bodybuilder had greater
flexibility in 16 tests, the same in eight, and less
in six. The weightlifter had greater flexibility in
14 tests, the same in six, and less in ten. The conclusion:
weight training increases muscle size and strength
as well as flexibility!
Another study examined
flexibility in weight-trained athletes: male bodybuilders,
college football players, students from a college
conditioning class, Olympic weightlifters, and a control
group of students. The Olympic weightlifters and the
control group exhibited the greatest degree of flexibility.
Furthermore, a study
of 13 novice weight trainees engaged in an eleven-week
training program found that weight training didn't
impair flexibility; it actually increased it!
Studies conducted in
the 70's showed that weightlifters were second only
to gymnasts in flexibility.
As for real world examples,
John Grimek in the 1940's did back flips and splits,
Flex Wheeler could do the splits, and Tom Platz went
far beyond his toes when bending over with stiff legs
and did full squats in spite of his enormous thighs.
Okay, before we dig deeper here, let's
get some definitions out of the way. John Paul, since
you recently published an article on this, will you
briefly lay the basic stretching vocab on us?
Okay, to review, there are two general
types of stretching: static (no motion) and dynamic
(with motion). Static stretching basically consists
of stretching a muscle as far as possible and then
holding that position.
Passive stretching involves
the use of some external force (body part, partner
assistance or apparatus) to bring the joint through
its range of motion or ROM. Loaded stretching (or
weight training if you will) is a form of passive
stretching.
Ballistic stretching
uses momentum rather than muscular control to increase
ROM, whereas dynamic stretching involves controlled
movements - no bouncing or jerking.
Now, research shows that
the most effective way to liberate ROM is by using
Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF) stretching,
particularly the contract-relax, antagonist-contract
(CRAC) method. This method basically involves intermittent
contractions (of six to eight seconds) while stretching.
Thanks! Now, I don't think most men paid attention
to stretching until someone said it could make them
more muscular. Can stretching really make a person
bigger and stronger, or is that just a way to sex
up a stretching article?
As far as strength is concerned,
my views on stretching vary depending on the situation.
There isn't one answer to this question.
Let's take the box squat
or a powerlifting-style squat as an example. When
"sitting back" into your squat, flexible hamstrings
may actually have a weakening effect by not eliciting
the stretch reflex. Now, I'm not saying you gotta
have tight hamstrings to squat big, but how many world-class
squatters (900 pounds plus) have world-class hamstring
flexibility? In this case, I feel that being too
flexible in certain muscles may be detrimental.
On the other hand, let's
examine an Olympic-style squat or power clean. Stretching
and lengthening your hip flexor muscles on a daily
basis can have a profound effect on your strength
in these two lifts. If your hip flexors are tight
they'll alter your mechanics in these two lifts by
pulling you forward. In this case, I feel you must
stretch certain musculature if you ever want to reach
your full strength potential.
As you can see, stretching
must be implemented at the right time, and with the
right muscles, in order to have a positive effect
on your strength.
How about muscle size?
Stretching plays a positive role with regards to muscular growth.
Now, I don't think that stretching will turn Ryan
Seacrest into Ronnie Coleman, but it can give you
an edge. Using techniques that stretch the fascia
of the muscle is the key to accelerating hypertrophy
gains.
Okay, Don, you've written articles about stretching
for size gains. How does that work?
There are several ways this occurs. For one, stretching increases
joint range of motion, which increases the distance
that a load is moved thereby increasing the work performed.
Also, specific methods like PNF stretching increases
isometric and dynamic strength, muscular endurance,
and functional flexibility.
Additionally, specific
stretching conditions the stretch reflexes that are
involved in weight training, thus shutting off these
protective mechanisms. This allows the trainee to
train at a higher percentage of his rep maximum more
often. That means a greater force traveling over a
greater distance.
Finally, stretching of
the parallel elastic components (PEC) immediately
after resistance training increases muscle
hypertrophy by stretching the limiting "sheaths" that
encapsulate the muscle belly. In protective response
to this unstable change, the stretched muscle sheets
trigger an increase in protein splitting, muscle cell
division, and collagen breakdown and repair. The result
is hypertrophy or "thickening" for survival.
Bigger muscles? Perhaps. But stronger?
I say no way! In my stretching article for T-mag,
I mentioned two methods of aggressive stretching advocated
by John Parrillo and Torbjorn Akerfeldt where the
object is to expand the fascial compartment thus allowing
greater room for growth. The classic bird study you've
probably heard about also proves that stretching may
have some merit for muscle growth.
Now, as far as strength
is concerned, that's a whole 'nother story! Sure,
dynamic stretching may increase strength temporarily,
but static stretching will definitely weaken muscle.
The proposed theories of force decrement with stretching
(which breaks down to roughly 60% neural and 40% muscular/contractile)
include decreased motor neuron excitability, increased
tendon slack, decreased stiffness, and altered actin-myosin
position.
As the length of the
muscle increases, stiffness decreases. As stiffness
decreases, force decreases, which means.drum roll
please.strength decreases!
What are biggest myths out
there about stretching?
I think a lot of men feel that stretching
just isn't "manly." Flexibility training somehow gets
thrown into the same category as ballet and yoga.
A manly man doesn't want to be associated with such
activities so he just sticks to lifting weights his
entire life. There are just too many positive benefits
associated with stretching for someone to neglect
it!
Another myth is that strength athletes
are inflexible. As JP has said, strength athletes
such as Olympic weightlifters are amongst the most
supple of all athletes, followed closely by gymnasts,
wrestlers, kickboxers, and then bodybuilders.
It's also a myth
that ballistic stretching is dangerous. There's no
such thing as an unsafe stretch, only an unsafe way
of executing any movement! Russian research and the
work of Matveyev suggests that three to five sets
of 8 to 12 gradually increasing ballistic reps can
be very effective, especially in sports specific applications.
Another myth is that
stretching will make your pecker longer. Sadly, not
true.
Yeah, I walked around with a couple of 45's hanging
off my. well, never mind, long story. JP, what
stretching myths have you heard?
The stretching advocates claim that
stretching will improve performance, reduce soreness,
decrease injuries, increase flexibility, and increase
strength, speed and power. Well, as far as I'm concerned,
all of these are myths including the last one! Stretching
doesn't necessarily increase long-term flexibility,
and the way most people stretch I'd be surprised if
it even increased short-term flexibility!
Let's take a closer look at
one of the more controversial stretching debates:
stretching before weight training will make you weaker.
Agree or disagree?
It depends on what kind of stretching
you're performing and what muscles you're stretching.
Static stretching the prime movers of your workout
will definitely have a weakening effect and it'll
increase your chances of a muscle pull or tear.
There are exceptions
to the rule, though, such as static stretching the
hip flexors before squats, Olympic lifts, and vertical
jumping. Static stretching the pecs and lats
before squat workouts to alleviate shoulder discomfort
is also perfectly fine, as is static stretching the
external rotators of the humerus before bench-pressing.
These exceptions won't
weaken you when training; they'll actually enable
you to lift heavier weights! Generally speaking, I
feel that warming up properly is much more
important before weight-training workouts, compared
to stretching.
I agree that stretching pre-workout
can make you weaker, static stretching primarily.
Remember, all activity is the balance between stiffness
(stability) and mobility. A stiff, stable muscle
is a strong muscle (as anyone on Dianabol and insulin
knows).
Static stretching destabilizes
this stiffness and therefore decreases the contraction
leverage or mechanical advantage.
On the other hand, dynamic
and PNF techniques pre-weight training facilitate
the potentiation of the nervous system, thereby increasing
strength and muscle pump. This increases stability
and stiffness once again.
Dynamic stretching before weight
training will temporarily increase strength. This
form of stretching is used to rev up the nervous system
so I can't completely agree with the original statement
that stretching before weight training will make you
weaker.
As mentioned above, PNF
stretching (particularly the CRAC method) will liberate
the greatest ROM. Let me remind you that PNF or dynamic
stretching is useful for warm-ups since the lingering
discharge (facilitation) from the contraction phase
of a PNF or dynamic stretch counters the effects of
any reduced stiffness.
Acute static stretching,
on the other hand, can decrease strength of the stretched
muscles by as much as 5 to 30%.
Next week in Part II, the coaches will talk about
pre-sport stretching and about how age and genetics
affect flexibility. They'll also talk about stretching
for sex, which is interesting yet faintly disturbing.
Stay tuned!
is the founder of Alessi Personal Fitness
Inc. and the North American Training Certification
Ltd. His clients include various professional athletes
and a number of hotshot Fortune 500 executives. His
specialties are mass development and body transformation.
For information on a telephone consultation, e-mail
him at D_Strength@hotmail.com
or visit his site at AlessiFit.com.
training techniques have become a hot
topic worldwide. This did not happen by accident.
The training programs Joe develops and the athletes
he produces speak for themselves. You can learn more
about Joe, his athletes, and his techniques at http://www.defrancostraining.com/.
, B.Sc., C.K., P.F.L.C., is a certified
kinesiologist and professional fitness and lifestyle
consultant with a specialized honours Bachelor of
Science degree in Kinesiology and Health Science.
He owns and operates a private gym in Toronto, Ontario
providing training and nutritional consulting services.
For additional information, visit his website at http://www.bodyessence.ca/ or call 416-292-4356. John
Paul also has a DVD available with demonstrations
of many types of stretches. You can read more about
it at his site.
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