How good is stretching for you?

I find that for certain lifts (stiff-legged deadlifts, deep squats) being flexible is an absolute necessity to avoid doing bad things to your back. I'm a pretty big dude, and no athlete, but I can palm the ground with my knees locked out. I have to stretch out my hammies a lot before cycling, or they will cramp up. I have to do stretches to build flexibility in my shoulders/lats, if I want to properly do overhead squats. Overall, I think the biggest benefit of stretching for me is that flexible glutes/hamstrings reduce the strain on your lower back.

The older I get (I'm 35), the less flexible I am, and I never was that flexible to begin with. I'm more and more concerned with stretching than with getting bigger or more muscular at this point; strength really begins with flexibility in the joints, and not power in the muscles.

I'm of the opinion, however, that as you age, your body will tell you when you need to start doing it. It definitely helps.

And the previous poster is right: hamstrings and glutes must be flexible in order to have a healthy lower back.

Yoga is fantastic for improving flexibility - you notice the difference when you stop!

It's debatable if stretching pre-exercise reduces your chance of injury. Stretching after is absolutely necessary, however, and in general, increasing your range of motion is critical to maintaining your physical abilities and avoid other injuries as you age. If you're using stretching to warm up, use PNF stretching (contracting/relaxing the muscles being stretched).

Hmmm. Well, i'm a junior in hs, and when we did fitness testing last year (only 2 years of gym/fitness required) i had a -2 sit and reach. CONGRATS!

I've read quite a few studies done at the collegiate athletic level that showed little to no reduction in injury risk between people who pre-stretched and those that didn't. As I remember one of the studies was done on several track and field teams and should be easy enough to find via Google.

I think it would be unusual to find serious athletes who do not go through
a warm up and stretch sequence.

It depends on the exercise you intend to do. I don't stretch before playing racquetball, but I do before running. I find that it's much more difficult to run efficiently if you do not stretch pre-run whereas it makes no difference for me pre-racquetballing. So basically, if you think flexibility will be important for the upcoming exercise, stretch. It also helps with recovery.

It's the type of stretching that matters. Studies have shown that "dynamic" stretching (jumping jacks, lunges, etc.) have more of an effect than "static" stretching (touching your toes, stretching your quads) before exercise. Those who performed static stretches showed no increase in muscle flexibility or elasticity.

Don't rule out static stretching though. It's excellent for lengthening muscles but should be done at the end of a workout. There's an old adage in training: A longer muscle is a stronger muscle.

An inflexible body is an ageing body. Stretching excerices like yoga allows the spine and body to be more flexible and muscles toned and supple. Children and young kids are by their very nature, flexible. My answer is: Yes, it's good for you!

+1

Stretch/warmup isn't just about avoiding injury, it also helps performance during the sport or workout by getting blood into the muscles and getting them ready to be used.

[quote=arenaissanceman;539911]It's the type of stretching that matters. Studies have shown that "dynamic" stretching (jumping jacks, lunges, etc.) have more of an effect than "static" stretching (touching your toes, stretching your quads) before exercise. Those who performed static stretches showed no increase in muscle flexibility or elasticity.

I use to play college football (soccer) and for myself stretching was an absolute essential. Before practice or games my warm ups would usually begin with some sort of "dynamic" stretching. It eases you into a workout or a chosen sport by elevating your heart rate and pumping more blood through your body which helps prepare you. After I that I often did some form of "static" stretching which helped keep me limber and IMO less injury prone. "Dynamic" stretching often makes "static" stretching easier as your body feels looser after.

I've also been hearing a lot about how stretching after a work out is MORE important than before. I tend to agree, for me it helped my recovery time and keeps my muscles from tightening later. My after work out stretching is almost solely static (maybe a light exercise to ease my heart rate down after a game) as you would be aiming to cool down and lower yourself back towards your resting heart rate.

Also, when I didn't stretch or didn't stretch enough I was often more prone to pull a muscle and I've seen wore happen from people who try to jump in too quickly. My first collegiate coach also was a big fan of Yoga and he had us use a lot of the stretches as well. After a preseason of Yoga, I was my most flexible ever. IMHO stretching is essential and if you have to choose when, do it post work out.

I compete at an international level... despite a full warm-up routine (dynamic flexibility/neural activation) I don't really do any stretching at all.

I go through the motions to find any trouble spots (which I then have my therapist work out on the spot)

The one exception is my glutes, and even then, I don't just sit into it. I turn and move and twist my hip around to get the muscle moving.