How important is stretching?

[maximus83]

I went to high school in the 80's, ran track, c.c., and basketball. It was always drummed into us to stretch before and after practice, and the looser you were, the better.

Seems like studies lately though are suggesting mixed results. Some question whether stretching even adds much benefit. I've noted that you still seem to benefit from warm-up and warm-down activities, but don't see much real benefit from stretching before I run anymore. Curious if others have thoughts on pros/cons of stretching.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/1...is-stretching/

[WEC]

I also grew up on the adage of stretching before any physical activity but I have noticed recently that the philosophy has shifted somewhat. I am moderately physically active, working out or engaging in a sports activity 3-4 times a week. What I've found that has helped me reduce wear and tear on my body (especially my joints) is not stretching before an activity but rather doing a minimal resistance warm up to get blood flowing into those muscle groups. After doing the physical activity, I do a cooling off, and then a stretch afterward. This has worked out well for me. YMMV, however.

[QuickStrike]

I never stretch cold muscles. Must warm up first to get everything loose and limber. Stretching is for after.

[Mr. Biggles]

Stretching is important.

Here's a few reasons why.

1. Decreases pain and soreness after exercise (Muscle cramps)
2. Improves circulation
3. Improves range of motion
4. Improves posture
5. Decreases muscle tension
6. Reduces muscle soreness

[6933]

There has begun to be a good bit of research that shows stretching isn't as necessary as thought in the past. I'm sure one can look these up, I'm not going to take the time right now. When I began to hear these reports, I stopped stretching before BJJ(Brasilian Jiu-Jitsu) classes figuring it would give me more mat time. I have never had any adverse effects from it.

[ZuluDeltaBravo]

Warm up the muscles. Conduct your exercise. Cool down and stretch afterward.

If you put a rubber band into a fridge overnight and pulled it out the next morning, immediately stretching it out, the likelyhood of it breaking increases due to lost elasticity. However, If you take that same rubber band out of the fridge and let it come back to room temperature, it would regain it's elasticity and continue to function as normal. Think of your muscles in the same way.

[bkb0000]

i usually do a warmup of varying sort, get the blood pumping a little, stretch, do the main workout, then stretch again.

stretching does a lot of good things, and only stretching after a workout is only seizing on half of them. i know for a fact that stretching before a run will prevent side cramps. in fact, if i don't stretch, i'm almost guaranteed of cramping up during the run.

muscles are not made of rubber, and when you're "cool," you're not frozen.. so its not like that. stretching at any time, warmup or not, still moves fluid around, gets the muscle used to moving and loosens you up enough to possibly prevent an injury.

[BooneGA]

If I do stretch its only AFTER a good warm up (ie 20 min row) or after the workout itself.

The requirement for stretching should be based on your workout that you are doing. Certain workouts, like riding a bike, cause shortening of the muscles because you dont work the entire range of motion. After long rides I do stretch out.

However if I am doing dynamic, full range of motion movements I do not see a need to stretch out.

For recovery I do a mix of stretching (again after a warm up) and using a foam roller.

Rick

[Sensei]

There has begun to be a good bit of research that shows stretching isn't as necessary as thought in the past. I'm sure one can look these up, I'm not going to take the time right now. When I began to hear these reports, I stopped stretching before BJJ(Brasilian Jiu-Jitsu) classes figuring it would give me more mat time. I have never had any adverse effects from it.

I've done the exact opposite and add more stretching after warm-up. I think that it helped my ground game - especially with rubber guard, handling stack passes, etc. A moderate level of flexabity is vital for Muay Thai if you are going to throw kicks above the thigh.

[bsf]

The following is based on only my experience. My body seems to respond favorably to “warming up” prior to stretching or participating in a physically demanding activity. I warm up differently for different physical tasks. If it is a physically demanding sport like basketball or volleyball, I like to jog for a while to loosen the legs up prior to stretching my legs. I have a shoulder injury, and I like to throw a ball against a wall for a while prior to stretching the upper body, gradually ramping up the intensity. Just stretching my shoulder does not get it done. It needs to be gradually “warmed up”. When I strength train, for many muscles I start with very low weights before getting into my “real” sets. This is especially important for me when benching, doing any shoulder presses, etc because of my shoulder. Therefore, I would say warming up is more important to me, but I believe that the flexibility gained/maintained from regular stretching can help decrease the probability of some injuries. I am sure there is probably a ton of literature on these topics.