Community | November 11, 2008 | 6 comments

Learn the Stretch!!

source: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/02/sports/playmagazine/112pewarm.html?_r=1&em&oref=slogin

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If you’re like most of us, you were taught the importance of warm-up exercises back in grade school, and you’ve likely continued with pretty much the same routine ever since. Science, however, has moved on. Researchers now believe that some of the more entrenched elements of many athletes’ warm-up regimens are not only a waste of time but actually bad for you. The old presumption that holding a stretch for 20 to 30 seconds — known as static stretching — primes muscles for a workout is dead wrong. It actually weakens them. In a recent study conducted at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, athletes generated less force from their leg muscles after static stretching than they did after not stretching at all. Other studies have found that this stretching decreases muscle strength by as much as 30 percent. Also, stretching one leg’s muscles can reduce strength in the other leg as well, probably because the central nervous system rebels against the movements

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6 comments // Learn the Stretch!!

  • adveritas
    • 0
      adveritas  

    • WOW. This article and research is completely ignorant. Working out IS GOOD for you but your performance will be IMPAIRED after a workout because muscle, tendons and ligaments need to heal and rebuild strength. Stretching aids this reconstruction by enabling to direct the restructuring to allow proper and efficient movement and force. But stretching TOO will IMPAIR you temporarily.
      Stretching, like the kind in the picture may be deleterious just like working out too much, but if you do not stretch after working out then you're not going to get stronger and your joints/tendons/ligaments/muscles will not heal properly or correctly to allow normal functioning let alone physical performance.
      I trained with a 4 minute miler who never stretched properly. After only 2 years of competition, he no longer walked or moved like a normal person. I once saw him try to play hackey sac and he barely could move his legs in positions to juggle the the hackey sac. My point, if you do physical activity like running and never stretch your body will restructure itself only to do that activity! And I thought that was common sense because I certainly knew that long before physiology class.

    • 3 years ago
  • onechance
  • jonny2times
  • asherp
  • isnamthere
  • pshira
    • 0
      pshira  

    • very good article. just goes to show how we accept some theories as fact without ever knowing if they help or not

    • 3 years ago
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