*.* 2012 General Fitness Thread *.*

[penguinz]

Originally Posted by memyselfI

I am reading a shit ton about cardio and weights. Not much about stretching. Hopefully you guys are integrating a good stretching program into your regimens. It may not be of utmost importance in your 20 or early 30s but as you age it become huge.

If you are going to stretch do not do it cold. You should never stretch a muscle before it has 'warmed' up.

Personally I find stretching worthless.

[Omaha]

Originally Posted by penguinz

If you are going to stretch do not do it cold. You should never stretch a muscle before it has 'warmed' up.

Personally I find stretching worthless.

Everything I've been reading says this. I do a warmup and some light stretching (mostly out of habit) before my workout & then some light stretching as I cool down. Exception: I do stretch my calves quite a bit after running barefoot. That seems to help.

A little off topic: I had a doctor recently tell me that I should never stretch an injury. He said that stretching usually does more harm than good with an injury.

[memyselfI]

Originally Posted by penguinz

If you are going to stretch do not do it cold. You should never stretch a muscle before it has 'warmed' up.

Personally I find stretching worthless.

Again, if you are in your 20s or 30s you may not understand the importance of stretching. As we age though flexibility becomes much more important as our muscles lose their range of motion and become weaker. Strength training and flexibility/stretch training should go hand in hand.

I think physical therapists, yoga teachers, pilates instructors, etc. would disagree with your assertion of stretching being worthless. Of course, this attitude does guarantee a boom of future business for all of the aforementioned. Not to mention big pharma.

[Silock]

Originally Posted by memyselfI

Again, if you are in your 20s or 30s you may not understand the importance of stretching. As we age though flexibility becomes much more important as our muscles lose their range of motion and become weaker. Strength training and flexibility/stretch training should go hand in hand.

I think physical therapists, yoga teachers, pilates instructors, etc. would disagree with your assertion of stretching being worthless. Of course, this attitude does guarantee a boom of future business for all of the aforementioned. Not to mention big pharma.

Stretching is good. I do it before every workout, after my warmup. However, you don't need to go overboard with it. For most muscle groups, 15-30 seconds per day is all that is needed. However, a lot of lifters still need a lot of mobility work, especially in the shoulder and hip areas, so they need to stretch there a lot more and concentrate on that as much as their lifting. It will improve form and prevent injury.

Some foam rolling helps, too.

[Omaha]

Originally Posted by memyselfI

Again, if you are in your 20s or 30s you may not understand the importance of stretching. As we age though flexibility becomes much more important as our muscles lose their range of motion and become weaker. Strength training and flexibility/stretch training should go hand in hand.

I think physical therapists, yoga teachers, pilates instructors, etc. would disagree with your assertion of stretching being worthless. Of course, this attitude does guarantee a boom of future business for all of the aforementioned. Not to mention big pharma.

I think he meant stretching prior to a workout as a warm up. I agree with your post. I do yoga and consider it a workout on its own. I thought he was saying that static stretching prior to lifting is worthless as a warm up.