As a personal trainer Solana Beach, I've got a wide range of knowledge about exercising. Many people in our culture believe that stretching is an important part of the overall fitness routine. For quite a few years I have been under that same impression myself. I would always stretch before each basketball game and training session, before weight training and before just about every physical fitness activity that was even moderately strenuous. I personally chose to quit stretching all together on the mid to late 1990's, and no longer view stretching as beneficial. I've come to the conclusion that with the majority of us, additional stretching is not required and it is often at a complete waste of time.
First let me define what I am talking about when I mentioned "stretching". Stretching involves pulling a muscle and/or tendon and/or ligament into a position going beyond its active range of flexibility. The majority of stretching protocols involve maintaining this stretched position for a number of seconds before releasing the stretch.
In my experience people usually think it's necessary to stretch for one or both of the following motives. They think stretching helps avert injury. They think that it's healthy if you are extremely flexible and every person should aim to become as versatile as possible.
With regards to the idea of avoiding injury, there have been a few researches looking at the effectiveness of stretching for preventing injury. Unexpectedly, the studies show that stretching out does not help to prevent injury. In as much as I noticed, this conclusion isn't controversial in the research community. On average the groups in studies that stretch just before physical exercise end up sustaining just as many injuries as the groups that don't stretch prior to the exact same activities so, injury prevention is not a very good reason to take time stretching.
(Warm up before strenuous physical activity is probably important for injury prevention. In the recent article for this particular newsletter I discussed how the first repetitions of a set of slow-motion strength training repetitions are a very efficient warm up for the subsequent more challenging repetitions. However, the evidence shows that adding stretching to help warm-up doesn't provide any benefit.)
Regarding the issue of whether achieving extreme amounts of flexibility is healthy or otherwise, understand that probably about 95% of our population is already flexible enough to the activities they would like to do. Most of us aren't hampered by our current ranges of joint motion. So gaining extra flexibility won't help many of us. On the other hand, there is a small minority of people that require additional flexibility - people involved in activities where it's necessary to be extremely flexible. Examples would be gymnasts, ballet dancers, and fighting techniques enthusiasts. If you're involved with activities that participate in unusual ranges of movement around the joints (just like the activities mentioned), a stretching program to gain additional flexibility can be useful. Keep in mind, though, that most of us do not fall into that category.
Furthermore, I'd argue that it is certainly not healthy to gain extreme amounts of flexibility around your joints. High amounts of flexibility results in increased joint laxity and also a less stable joint. This is often not desirable for joint health. Anecdotal evidence for this is the fact that quite a few retired gymnasts have significant lingering joint injuries that have been caused by their sport, despite achieving extreme amounts of flexibility as they were competing. Achieving extreme joint flexibility did not prevent these gymnasts' injuries, and some people hypothesize that much joint flexibility (as well as the resultant excess joint laxity and joint instability) can be a contributing cause of the joint injuries.
Personally, I came across the arguments refuting the potency of stretching during the mid 1990's, and decided to cease my own stretching routine. When I stopped stretching, nothing happened - I did not incur additional or fewer injuries, my physical performance wasn't better or worse, and nothing else of note took place on account of quitting stretching. The stretching I'd been doing appeared to have been a relative waste of time to me, and now I don't spend time with that anymore.
So here are my recommendations being a personal trainer Solana Beach. If you are involved in a physical activity that requires unusual ranges of motion on your joints (such as gymnastics, martial arts, etc.), stretching can help you get and maintain above normal amounts of joint flexibility for your chosen endeavor. But if you are like most us and don't need unusual ranges of joint motion, I recommend staying away from stretching. Stretching will not reduce your risk of injury, and it's probably not healthy for your joints to get excess joint laxity caused by excessive stretching. If you're like me, you probably have more valuable ways that you can spend your time instead of stretching.
First let me define what I am talking about when I mentioned "stretching". Stretching involves pulling a muscle and/or tendon and/or ligament into a position going beyond its active range of flexibility. The majority of stretching protocols involve maintaining this stretched position for a number of seconds before releasing the stretch.
In my experience people usually think it's necessary to stretch for one or both of the following motives. They think stretching helps avert injury. They think that it's healthy if you are extremely flexible and every person should aim to become as versatile as possible.
With regards to the idea of avoiding injury, there have been a few researches looking at the effectiveness of stretching for preventing injury. Unexpectedly, the studies show that stretching out does not help to prevent injury. In as much as I noticed, this conclusion isn't controversial in the research community. On average the groups in studies that stretch just before physical exercise end up sustaining just as many injuries as the groups that don't stretch prior to the exact same activities so, injury prevention is not a very good reason to take time stretching.
(Warm up before strenuous physical activity is probably important for injury prevention. In the recent article for this particular newsletter I discussed how the first repetitions of a set of slow-motion strength training repetitions are a very efficient warm up for the subsequent more challenging repetitions. However, the evidence shows that adding stretching to help warm-up doesn't provide any benefit.)
Regarding the issue of whether achieving extreme amounts of flexibility is healthy or otherwise, understand that probably about 95% of our population is already flexible enough to the activities they would like to do. Most of us aren't hampered by our current ranges of joint motion. So gaining extra flexibility won't help many of us. On the other hand, there is a small minority of people that require additional flexibility - people involved in activities where it's necessary to be extremely flexible. Examples would be gymnasts, ballet dancers, and fighting techniques enthusiasts. If you're involved with activities that participate in unusual ranges of movement around the joints (just like the activities mentioned), a stretching program to gain additional flexibility can be useful. Keep in mind, though, that most of us do not fall into that category.
Furthermore, I'd argue that it is certainly not healthy to gain extreme amounts of flexibility around your joints. High amounts of flexibility results in increased joint laxity and also a less stable joint. This is often not desirable for joint health. Anecdotal evidence for this is the fact that quite a few retired gymnasts have significant lingering joint injuries that have been caused by their sport, despite achieving extreme amounts of flexibility as they were competing. Achieving extreme joint flexibility did not prevent these gymnasts' injuries, and some people hypothesize that much joint flexibility (as well as the resultant excess joint laxity and joint instability) can be a contributing cause of the joint injuries.
Personally, I came across the arguments refuting the potency of stretching during the mid 1990's, and decided to cease my own stretching routine. When I stopped stretching, nothing happened - I did not incur additional or fewer injuries, my physical performance wasn't better or worse, and nothing else of note took place on account of quitting stretching. The stretching I'd been doing appeared to have been a relative waste of time to me, and now I don't spend time with that anymore.
So here are my recommendations being a personal trainer Solana Beach. If you are involved in a physical activity that requires unusual ranges of motion on your joints (such as gymnastics, martial arts, etc.), stretching can help you get and maintain above normal amounts of joint flexibility for your chosen endeavor. But if you are like most us and don't need unusual ranges of joint motion, I recommend staying away from stretching. Stretching will not reduce your risk of injury, and it's probably not healthy for your joints to get excess joint laxity caused by excessive stretching. If you're like me, you probably have more valuable ways that you can spend your time instead of stretching.
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Getting in good shape through the help of personal trainer in Solana Beach not just enhances your body but also your overall health at the same time. The advantages that one can get from personal trainer Carlsbad are endless.
