Remember when the ole' ball coach had your team doing ten-count static stretches before each competition? It was a bold strategy, we're still waiting to see if pays off.
Here's the bottom the line, stretching is overrated. Plain and simple. It doesn’t prevent injury(6,14,15). It doesn’t prevent soreness(3,7). It doesn’t warm you up(5,10). And most importantly, it sure as hell doesn’t empower your performance(1,4,13). This is why you won’t find a section on it in the Power Athlete Methodology. We cut out the bullshit to provide you with the most evidence based principles in strength and conditioning -ing -ing...and that includes recovery.
Why, then, do so many people, athletes included, still waste their time getting their Gumby on? Simply put, most don’t understand the difference between marketing and science.
We’ve been told our whole life that stretching is the panacea of health and performance. Combine this with the IG culture that encourages us to place all of our trust in “authority figures” who dispel a false ethos in the hopes of gaining new followers and selling a product, and it’s no surprise people are enamored with the idea of stretching as the key to reaching their next level of performance.
Now, stretching isn’t terrible for you. In fact, it truly does feel good for a lot of people, and may temporarily provide you with a sense of relief after strenuous activity(2,5,9). However, it isn’t the most optimal, efficient, or effective method of enhancing performance, driving accelerated adaptations, or speeding up recovery(3). Also, stretching is passive and easy! It takes no effort to lay around, bullshit with others, and scroll through our news feed while sitting in the splits.
True progress, and long term positive outcomes, are achieved through consistency and hard work. We need to stress to progress! Nothing worthwhile in this life comes easy, yet we’ve still become complacent in something that, quite frankly, is controversial at best. Complacency breeds mediocrity, and here at PAHQ it is our mission to destroy mediocrity.
When in comes to stretching, here are the key things you need to know and questions you need to ask yourself:
WHY DO I FEEL TIGHT IN THE FIRST PLACE?
Your body isn’t tight; your mind is stiff. The perception of tightness is neurological, and feeling stiff is more likely a sensation, or perception, of limited range of motion and movement, rather than an actual physical limitation. If you feel more flexible after stretching, it’s because your brain has improved its tolerance for the discomfort of elongating your muscles. They didn’t get longer; your brain just tricked you.(2)
I HAVE AN ITCH I NEED TO SCRATCH!
This is the “it feels good” phenomena. Stretching releases chemicals in the brain, similar to the feeling of a runner’s high. Because of this, It may give a temporary relief of discomfort. People stretch because they may feel it will prevent, or cure, their pain...which just isn’t true. In fact, anything that “feels good” is technically releasing some kind of “feel good hormone” like endorphins, oxytocin, or opioids. Think about some other things that feel good in life. Ice cream, Power of Love on the radio, and crushing a new PR. Even sex feels amazing, but it won’t cure your back pain.
WHAT ARE YOU PLANNING TO DO WITH ALL YOUR FLEXIBILITY?
Context is the keystone. Do you want to be a gymnast or ballerina? If so, go hog wild on the stretching. Years of prolonged low load stretching will do wonders for you - making your static structures (ligaments, tendons, and joint capsules) more pliable (and less able to handle load). However, if you want to bang heavy weights, or run over your opponents on the field, reconsider the whole stretching thing…
The amount of effort put into a stretching routine does not reap a great reward and he amount of time and energy investment needed to produce a worthwhile adaptation isn’t necessarily purposeful or prudent for most Power Athletes.
STRETCHING TO WIN? NOPE, YOU ARE A LOSER
Just like fitness and health are not equivalent, greater flexibility doesn’t mean you are a better athlete. In reality, it’s actually the opposite for most individuals. Increased flexibility often comes with the cost of lost joint stability. Hyper-mobility can be dangerously dysfunctional; more lax joints without stability or control lead to a greater incidence of injury. Active warm ups, like our Dynamic Movement Prep, do a much better job at actually facilitating muscle contraction, preparing you for training, and stimulating a positive effect on muscle function.
WHAT ABOUT ALL OF MY KNOTS AND TRIGGER POINTS?
These are very small areas of contracted muscle fibers, or tiny little “spasms.” Sorry, your favorite lacrosse ball or foam roller won't work. However, here’s a list of what you will need to be successful: Scissors, pliers, and a shot of Bacardi 151. That's right, it will take a lot more than a pressure tool and some stretching to work these out. Think of these knots like a bungee cord; all you are doing is stretching the cord on either side of knot - making tendons weaker and pissing off your nerves.
BUT, I’M ALWAYS HURT! I NEED TO STRETCH!
A review of the scientific literature to date shows that stretching had no effect on reducing injury risk. In fact, you are likely making things worse by stretching! Sprains and strains are a frequent result of over-stretching, and are fairly common in yoga, dance, martial arts, and so on. If you feel that always need to stretch, you should invest time into learning how to move better and control what joint range of motion you do have. Don’t just lift more; move weight better!
Training with intention, through good movement patterns, creates a eustress that will improve your range of motion and mobility over time. It will also teach you to properly reduce force in the body, which is more predictive of injury than stretching. MASTER YOUR MOVEMENT: CONCEPTUALIZE AND PRIORITIZE
Think about stretching in the grand scheme of things. Even an extremely strong stretch - one that makes you agonize in pain - to a muscle or tendon represents a drop in the bucket to your overall training plan. This brief, innocuous stimulus is minuscule relative to the context of the whole day, week, month, or cycle, where the amount of load and stimuli are much greater and making a larger impact.
In the end, the benefits of stretching and increased flexibility are ultimately unknown. If you enjoy it, have time for it, and aren’t doing it right before training or big game, keep doing it. If you don’t like it, there is no evidence that you are missing any benefit, and you can utilize that free time for other things. Bottom line is that the best way to improve your range of motion is to train with good posture and position under load, and practice your sport.
Unless, of course, your sole purpose in life is becoming a level 99 supple leopard, impressing the ladies in yoga, or mastering every page of the Kama Sutra. However, if you want to make a wiser investment with the time and energy you have, optimize your warm up, train under load through a full range of motion, and prioritize your sleep for improved performance, reduced risk of injury, and enhanced recovery.
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