Do we really need to stretch?
>>37907095
no
there's your excuse, delete thread now
Not unless you don't have a normal range of motion, but that's typical for our modern chair bound population.
If you can't touch your toes without pain, you should definitely consider some kind of stretching program.
However, almost everybody believes it's really important to stretch before physical activities (I've often heard "if you don't stretch your hamstrings before running you'll pull a muscle!"), and they're wrong.
Most of the time we need a simple warm up, jumping in place, rotating limbs, that kind of thing. A full stretching routine before running or swimming actually increases rates of injury.
Isn't the only thing stopping you from being extremely flexible your nervous system and not you muscles/tendons?
>>37907597
The nervous system protects you from damaging your tendons and ligaments
I just pretend to have stretched, being all happy and jittery and stuff.
What is Wolff's Law?
Enjoy your bone spurs and plantar fasciitis.
if you actually lift serious weight, you need to stretch
>>37907095
Does fit train?
Stretching increases mobility, so if you spend fifteen minutes stretching every day over time you become more and more flexible. This just makes exercise easier in general, leads to less injuries and can help you feel a lot less tense after a workout.
You don't need to stretch before a workout and a lot of the time probably shouldn't. What you should be doing is easing into a workout, so if you're doing lat pulldowns and you'd usually be doing 3*5 100kgs, start off with 5-10 reps of 50-75kgs. Save stretching until after your workout because it will reduce any post-workout discomfort and you won't risk injuring yourself during the workout from over-stretching.
In other words: Stretching is for flexibility, not for warm-ups, but you do still need to get blood flowing to your muscles before you do your maximum weight in order to prevent injury.
>>37907737
No, if you lift serious weights you need to lift lighter weights to warm-up.
Stretching before rigorous weightlifting increases chance of injury, as does doing your max weight before a warmup. Stretching without doing any other warm up is just a recipe for injury.
stretching prevents injuries
>>37907869
i never said you stretch preworkout, you're right stretching prework can cause problems
you're supposed to stretch post workout, and if you don't (and you do actual weights) you're going to hurt yourself
>>37907597
For most people yes.
If you put an average person under anesthesia, they become extremely flexible.
Cases of real muscle/tendon shortness are quite rare, and probably stem from injury or other issues.
i need to do it to get full ROM on squat and sometimes DL. it feels good so i do it for most muscles but i don't think it's neccesary. i'm just playing it safe.
>>37907095
holy fuck, brutal
no, you dont unless youre doing some "extreme" sport that requires beyond average flexibility such as martial arts or maybe olympic weighlifting. 99% of people do not need to stretch for "regular" lifting.
>>37907737
>>37907882
>>37907891
>stretching prevents injuries
most studies show no correlation between stretching and injuries, some show stretching increases injury rates.
>>37907410
>If you can't touch your toes without pain, you should definitely consider some kind of stretching program.
thats a retarded criterion.
>>37907854
>This just makes exercise easier in general
wat
>leads to less injuries
nope
>can help you feel a lot less tense after a workout.
true to some extent but its not stretching that does it, its the increased blood circulation and there are way better ways to achieve that.
>>37907906
youre squatting and deadlifting wrong
>>37907964
>This just makes exercise easier in general
>wat
If you think about exercise like dancing, martial arts, oly lifting, gymnastics, or other things that require flexibility it does.