Stretching SUCKS if....
Published: Tue, 11/12/13
The Flexibility Gains You Get From Static
Stretching Alone Don't Last.
Here's why:
When you stretch a muscle, you lengthen the tissue,
but with this new length, you don't have any strength.
This happens at the end range of motion of your joint,
which, if you don't have any strength there, can be
an injury waiting to happen.
When you've got a range of motion without strength,
this is basically joint instability.
So your brain says, "Hey, this is bad. I'd better tighten
the muscles up to prevent a joint injury."
And that's exactly what happens.
Stretching Alone Don't Last.
Here's why:
When you stretch a muscle, you lengthen the tissue,
but with this new length, you don't have any strength.
This happens at the end range of motion of your joint,
which, if you don't have any strength there, can be
an injury waiting to happen.
When you've got a range of motion without strength,
this is basically joint instability.
So your brain says, "Hey, this is bad. I'd better tighten
the muscles up to prevent a joint injury."
And that's exactly what happens.
So if you've got the time and patience to continue
doing the same old stretches and playing this game of
cat and mouse that give you meager results at best, go
right ahead...
However, if you'd like lasting increases in your flexibility,
leading to INCREASED speed and power and less pain
during and after exercise (and sports), especially in your
knees and low back this is a much better approach that
I highly recommend.
Get back to training hard,
Mike Westerdal
CriticalBench.com