Go Back   Bodybuilding.net - Bodybuilding Forum > Main Forums > Training


The fun of stretching!



Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 03-08-2007, 05:50 AM
Andrew87 Andrew87 is offline
Rank: Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 189
Default The fun of stretching!

Yeah i knew that title would get yall to read because we all know how fun it is to stretch. (sarcasm) Anyways i been trying to figure out which to do and when. I was looking around the website but im slow and couldnt find what i was looking for. Basically i need to stretch for lifting and getting more flexible for MMA stuff which i should be starting shortly assuming i can budget it.

I figuered i need to stretch when i wake up and im assuming later again before i go to the gym at night after work. Do i need to do it again before bed? And the last question for it is which should i do got any links or something? preffably something that shows how to do them or something. Thanks a ton guys
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 03-08-2007, 07:10 AM
EricT EricT is offline
Rank: Heavyweight
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 6,314
Default

Here:

http://www.bodybuilding.net/training...ght=stretching

If you read through that it should give you a good idea of what you want to do. If you have specific questions after that of what to do when let us know
__________________

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.



To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
or
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.


If you act sanctimonious I will just list out your logical fallacies until you get pissed off and spew blasphemous remarks.
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 03-08-2007, 07:32 AM
ChinPieceDave667's Avatar
ChinPieceDave667 ChinPieceDave667 is offline
Rank: Middleweight
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: 7th layer.. or DC.
Posts: 2,329
Default

aaah yes, the mega stretching article. good stuff.
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 03-09-2007, 10:06 AM
Andrew87 Andrew87 is offline
Rank: Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 189
Default thanks

Thanks a ton im going to read thru it now.
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 03-09-2007, 07:34 PM
thonaker thonaker is offline
Rank: Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Virginia
Posts: 61
Default

It should become easier and more "fun" as you become more flexible. The best thing is to get flexible and stay that way.

I had an occassion where my legs and lower back were throbbing. I couldn't hardly sleep because of it. It was not fun.

It was painful to stretch, but once I regained my flexibility and my hams and lower back weren't tight the problem pretty much went away.

I guess everything had gotten so tight, it was causing problems.

Troy
__________________

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 03-10-2007, 08:11 AM
Andrew87 Andrew87 is offline
Rank: Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 189
Default yea

i read thru most of it and sent it to a bunch of friends it looks good. Should be able to help us alot for MMA. thanks a ton.
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 03-10-2007, 11:12 AM
EricT EricT is offline
Rank: Heavyweight
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 6,314
Default

I want to mention a few things that I don't think a lot of people are really very aware of. I think it is because of all the "scientific studies" done of stretching, flexibility, and injury prevention that are nothing more than anecdotal crap.

1. Stretching by itself will not prevent injury. In fact if done wrong it can cause injury.

2. Flexibilitly is sport or activity specific. There is no real advantage in being more flexible than you need for whatever you are doing. And there are distinct disadvantages.

I remember seeing this old strongman competitor throw himself down into a front split. Impressive. And it proves the point that you can have huge, strong muscles and still be flexible. But beyond that it was largely meaningless. There are not, after all, any front split events in strongman comps. And if stregth doesn't follow that extreme range of motion, well then, you could have a problem.

With MMA, Andrew, this is going to be very important. The different aspects of it will require different types of flexibility. If you look at grappling you need to have plenty of flexibility, for instance, in the legs and hips. But you also have to be able to exert tremendous strength at whatever range you are working the joints in. If you do a bunch of static stretching and get real flexible at static stretching, it won't mean much when you are grappling. The mega article goes into all this so it is important to read it carefully and not just skip to the exercises.

In terms of strength training and bodybuilding you only need enough flexibility to perform your exercises with a full range of motion. Going beyond that range of motion is likely to make you weaker. If you have flexibility issues that is causing you problems then you need to work on that. Also flexibility imbalances, which are, btw, more likely to cause injury than just general lack of flexibility in the basic slow movements.

But once you are flexible enough, and you don't have any distinct tightness which is causing problems, as Troy mentioned, then all you need to do is maintain flexibility with some appropriate light work AFTER you workout (you can do dynamic stretching before weightwork as a warmup and if you have very tight muscles, but limit it as it can take a lot out of you.) If you do have very bad flexibility the quickest way to liberate range of motion while maintaining and even increasing strength is PNF stretching.

But if all you are interested in is stength training/bodybuilding then once you have enough flexiblity you only need to maintain it. You don't have to build on it and progress in any way. You will get all the benefits of improved recovery, etc. I think many people don't do stetching because they thing they need to treat it just like they do their weight training and make it much more daunting and time consuming that is needs to be.
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 03-10-2007, 09:02 PM
Andrew87 Andrew87 is offline
Rank: Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 189
Default right

Yeah i deffintly plan on grappling and having ground game. Also im confused by the static and the other type of flexibility. What exactly does it mean.
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 03-11-2007, 10:36 AM
EricT EricT is offline
Rank: Heavyweight
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 6,314
Default

Well it can be confusing because of how the words static and passive are interchanged all over the place. Some people actually believe they are two different things. But they're not really.

Here's the definition from the article:

Static-passive flexibility (also called "passive flexibility") is the ability to assume extended positions and then maintain them using only your weight, the support of your limbs, or some other apparatus (such as a chair or a barre). Note that the ability to maintain the position does not come solely from your muscles, as it does with static-active flexibility. Being able to perform the splits is an example of static-passive flexibility.

--------------------------------------------------------------
So static is something without movement. And passive is something that doesn't involve active muscle contraction by you in order to stretch the muscle. So the author puts it together for a more complete name. It is basically the kind of flexibility you develop in gym class and what pretty much everyone defines as flexibility. You bend down and touch your toes and that is static flexibility, and as mentioned, doing the split. Whether it is gravity, your bodyweight and the floor or wall, or a partner pushing against you, that is static (passive) stretching. The muscle is slowly forced to an extended postion and held there.


This kind of stretching is very good for cool down after any kind of workout but it doesn't transfer very much into real world flexibility which involves dynamic and active flexibility.

As I've hopefully pounded into lots of peoples heads, never do static stretches before working out (there is one exception but it's really unusual so I won't bother). If you are tight and need it do dynamic stretches which can serve as a warmup also.

Static stretches make you weaker, they tune down your CNS (they deaden it), they screw with your coordination.....the list goes on. They basically do the opposite of preparing your muscles for battle, they put them to sleep.


I can relate the static flexibility to your typical martial arts class. You start class by (maybe) warming up and then doing a bunch of static stretches. A big part of that is working on a split and perhaps doing partner stretches simulating a side kick postion. The instuctor thinks:

1. It is preparing you for the workout and preventing injury: false.

2. It is developing flexibility which will be called to action in your martial arts. For instance doing the splits is giving you a high side kick and/or round kick. False. Because static flexibility and dynamic flexibility are two different things. In this typical class what will actual lead to high kicks, for the most part, is practicing high kicks.

So in a nutshell, although it has benefits that are mostly confined to cool down and recovery, and to developing active static flexibility, stretching without movement mostly makes you better at stretching without movement.

The other two types of flexibility:

"Dynamic Flexibility"
Dynamic flexibility (also called "kinetic flexibility") is the ability to perform dynamic (or kinetic) movements of the muscles to bring a limb through its full range of motion in the joints.

"Static-Active flexibility"
Static-active flexibility (also called "active flexibility") is the ability to assume and maintain extended positions using only the tension of the agonists and synergists while the antagonists are being stretched (see Section 1.4 [Cooperating Muscle Groups]). For example, lifting the leg and keeping it high without any external support (other than from your own leg muscles).

Both of these types of flexibility have their own specific way of stretching to develop them. Dynamic stretching (not to be confused with ballistic stretching) uses momentum. You build on it slowly with controlled movements to bring the muscles to their full range of motion.

Active stretching would be something like bringing you leg up in front of you as high as you can and holding it there. It is "active" in the sense that you are using your own muslces to bring the leg up and to stretch the associated muscles. So you can see that static-passive flexibility might contribute to this somewhat but the only real way to do it is the active stretches.

The article goes into all of this in-depth.

BTW, when is comes to grappling, I would encourage PNF and Isometric stretching. IMO, they are the ones that will be most useful in that regard. All in the article

Last edited by EricT; 03-11-2007 at 04:31 PM. Reason: typos
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 03-11-2007, 08:46 PM
Andrew87 Andrew87 is offline
Rank: Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 189
Default alright

Thanks for breaking that down. I got ADD like a crazy abstard and that long as article confuses me cuz i skip all over lol. But anyways did i mention ballistic stretching cuz i only remeber dynamic and static. Also the join warm up thing is that good to do before working out?
Reply With Quote
Reply

  Bodybuilding.net - Bodybuilding Forum > Main Forums > Training


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes



 



All times are GMT -8. The time now is 12:17 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.