Ian King, venyttelystä Q&A
Stretching: Yea or Nay?
Q: What do you think of the theory that says that pre-workout stretching kills the stretch reflex and reduces strength?
A: There are a number of issues to address here, but first let me say this: When people can’t explain something (and in particular if that something is challenging them to change the way they live or do things), a common knee-jerk reaction is to create many bogus theories to discourage it. Take masturbation for example. Someone must have wanted to suppress it, because I don’t see that many visually challenged people out there!
This is what I see in response to stretching. Let’s face it, very few do it. To quote Schilling and Stone:
"Our observations of many strength/power athletes (including elite weightlifters, powerlifters, track and field throwers etc.) suggest that many of these athletes do little in the way of general stretching."
So of course there are many people who may resist the acceptance of stretching — it would show flaws in their methodology and force change upon them. During the early 1990s, the common scare tactic given as to why not to stretch was that if you got too flexible, you’d get more injuries. Later in the 1990s, this ran out of puff so the new mantra was, "Stretching makes you weaker."
Now, this new argument for not stretching has the apparent weight of science, as people can quote studies that "prove" that stretching decreases power output. Of course, science is like religion — everyone has God on their side, even though it’s a different God compared to the one on the other people’s side! Science can be used in the same "see, I’m right" way, but as with religion, everyone has got their science!
Some sanity exists in the statement by Schilling and Stone:
"Not all researchers agree on changes that occur as a result of stretching." I feel science and religion are both used inappropriately at times to give validity to perspectives — to dress up theories and ideas as absolutes.
It appears to me that many scientists are more keen to prove that it doesn’t work because athletes, lay people and some coaches, have dared to implement it before they, the scientists, have proved its efficacy. Take the following statement for example:
"Stretching during the warm-up has become a traditional practice in preparing for exercise or athletic events. It is believed that stretching is effective in improving performance. This practice may be contraindicated in some activities because there is little scientific evidence to support the performance benefits of stretching." (Knudson et al, Acute effects of stretching are not evident in the kinematics of the vertical jump, JASSR, 15(1):98-101)
The message here? "It can’t work until I’ve proven it can!" Do you remember the early attacks by nutritionists on the use of protein powders? Waste of money, they said, and some still do. Of course, there’s now research to support the use of protein drinks, especially post-training.
Here are some more things to think about in regard to this anti-stretching "science":
1) How long after the stretching were the power/strength tests conducted in the "research"? If it was within five minutes of completing the stretches, it would be like saying strength training makes you instantly weaker because studies show that your one rep max taken right after a 1-5 rep max set shows a decline in your max!
2) So what about ten minutes later or fifteen minutes later? Will the lifter still be "weak"?
3) Had the subjects been exposed to the stretching for some time (read months) prior to the test, or did the stretching present relatively unfamiliar exercise?
4) Even if pre-training/pre-competitive stretching did do the damages that are suggested, did this stretching present advantages that outweigh the negatives, advantages that may yet to be "confirmed" in research?
5) Often, if a person doesn’t stretch at the beginning of training, he won’t stretch at all. So would it be better to not stretch at all in order to avoid the "negatives" of pre-workout stretching? In other words, even if you could find a negative aspect to doing something, do you throw out the activity? If this was the case we wouldn’t get out of bed in the morning because walking could lead to arthritis. Hold it, lying in bed could lead to bed sores…
Now I haven’t even touched upon the stretch-reflex, as I believe this is a redundant issue. Many years ago in US literature, the stretch-reflex was (and still is in some circles) considered the main factor in the stretch shortening cycle, the improvement in concentric strength from a prior eccentric contraction. I feel that’s a bit off-track. At least the recent spate of studies on the acute effects of pre-training stretching are focusing on more relevant issues such as muscle stiffness and neural inhibition.
I have no doubt that lifting or jumping or doing anything dynamic within five to ten minutes of stretching
may be temporarily impaired by the stretching. Hopefully you engage in specific warm-up activities from the end of the stretch to the start of the first work set. This whole controversy about the negatives of stretching merely supports my claim that stretching is one of the last frontiers of training, one that at the moment is truly misunderstood and under-exploited.
Now I’m not suggesting my approach to stretching is right and everyone else is wrong. I’m saying that the jury is far from out, and you may want to hang around and keep stretching for a few more decades as it may take this long to go to a higher level of consensus on this topic!
Siinä oli hieman juttua Ian Kingin suusta, eli ei juuta eikä jaata, mutta asiaan liittyvää...
kts, myös "
Lazy Man's Guide To Stretching"
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So why stretch? My number-one reason for stretching is to maintain a "specific joint relationship." Put simply, if the bones get drawn closer together than desirable, the impingement of connective tissue at the joint can cause all sorts of problems, especially nerve pinching. This can set off a range of neural activity, all the way from muscle spasms to feelings that the muscle has been torn. By stretching and keeping the joints healthy, you can continue to train. The two most critical joints are the hip joint (where the femur or upper leg meets the hipbone) and the shoulder (where the humerus or upper arm meets the shoulder joint).
My second reason for stretching is to allow you to obtain joint angles in your strength exercises that will provide greater training effects (more strength at specific joint angles and higher amounts of hypertrophy). Anyone wanting to confirm this theory just needs to have, say, a small muscle like the tibialis anterior (front shin muscle) loosened up. The immediate payoff, in most cases, will be an automatic increase in squat range. And if this doesn't increase your range of motion, bring in the big guns and extensively stretch the hip flexors, then squat. You'll immediately know what I'm speaking about from your own personal experience, which is much more valuable than just reading my opinion about it!
My third and final reason for stretching is to support and/or accelerate recovery.... lisää linkin alla...
Mutta kyllähän ihan normaali perusvenyttely taitaa auttaa noiden lihasten kasvussa pikkasen...Jos ei muuten niin siksi että loukkaantumiset vähenee 
