Stretching Before Exercise -- Another Mythical Idea ?

Roger Zoul wrote:
"Hollywood" wrote in message
oups.com...

On Oct 18, 11:32 pm, BlueBrooke .@. wrote:

On Thu, 18 Oct 2007 16:32:47 -0000, Kaz Kylheku
wrote:


On Oct 18, 8:01 am, Jim wrote:

============ Comments =============
Many people stretch before starting to exercise, and some stretch
again
at the end of a period of exertion.

The widespread belief among jocks is that you shouldn't stretch a cold
muscle. Don't know whether there is any science behind it, but it's
not exactly wise to go against the collective experience of the sports
culture.

This is what we're told in our class -- we warm up first and stretch
later (if we stretch, which we often don't, not in class anyway). The
instructor has *specifically* told us *not* to stretch before class --
only after we're warmed up.

Had read that stretching tends to reduce strength in resistance type
exercise.

If the goal in lifting is to build muscle, and the way to do that is
to microtear
the muscles, and stretching reduces microtearing, am I wrong to feel
like I'm
missing the point of stretching before lifting? Cause that's about
where I am.



What is the benefit of stretching before lifting? IME, the best thing to do
before lifting is a set or two at much ligther weight than you plan to do
your "real" set at. This gets your muscles ready for the exact motion they
are about to perform...and, you do stretch those muscles with the light
sets, too. Doing some other "stretch" might put you at odds with the lift
you plan to do.

You guys ever watch cats and dogs stretch? I wonder why they don't get all
complicated with stretching as we tend to? Could a big brain be a
disadvantage?



Absolutely, we see patterns where none exist. We almost compulsively
find patterns in randomness.

This isn't (directly) the purpose of stretching. The purpose of
stretching is to improve the flexibility of muscle, which is believed
to help prevent injuries during exercise.

I'd agree. That is how stretching was always explained to me - as an
injury preventative, not a soreness preventative.

I had a doctor who advised me not to stretch before exercise but to always
stretch afterwards to prevent soreness. go figure.

Pat in TX