Most bodybuilders neglect stretching in their training program, though a flexible body is an essential requirement for proper muscle development. This post reviews the importance of stretching for bodybuilders, and provides hints about how to incorporate stretching into your program.
Benefits of stretching are numerous. It contributes greatly in preventing muscle injuries (strains, sprains, and pulls) and in delivering blood into the muscle. For this reason, stretching after workout is highly recommended, since the nutrient rich blood can easily reach the fatigued muscle so it can recover and start growing as soon as possible. In addition, stretching makes you bigger and more powerful by lengthening your muscles, and at the same time contributes to give you a cut-look by emphasizing muscle separation. Finally, stretching reduces muscle and joint tensions and plays a role in the healing process of injured or over-trained muscles.
Stretching can be performed after warm-up, once you have finished your workout, or even between sets while training, but never when muscles are still cold. A good approach consists of performing some stretching between sets targeting the muscle that you are currently working. This allows more fresh blood to access the muscle, reducing the lactic acid buildup and giving you more power for the next set. Then, once you have finished working that muscle, you can perform a more thorough stretching, which acts as the "cool down" phase of your workout. This will help to increase muscle size and to reduce soreness.
Whenever you stretch, it is mandatory to do it properly, since stretching is a dangerous type of exercise if done incorrectly. Never force a stretch or go past the point of serious discomfort or pain. Do not bounce at all as this can cause muscle and tendon/ligament damage. You should start gently stretching as far as you can go, that is, until you hit a natural stop which does not hurt but will do so if you keep pushing beyond that point. Hold this position for about 20 seconds without bouncing. Then, contract the muscle statically for 8-10 seconds and gently stretch it again until it stops and maintain this position during 20 seconds more. When doing this second stretch, you will notice that the stopping point has moved, thus enabling you to safely stretch beyond what was previously possible. The reason behind this lies in the body's natural defense mechanism. During the first stretch, in order to prevent tearing a ligament, the muscle that connects to these ligaments tenses trying to resist the pull. By contracting the muscle, your defense mechanism gives out, and you can stretch into a further position.
You can find additional information about all the stretching issues for the bodybuilder in the article “Stretching and the Bodybuilder!”, the article “Contract-Release Stretch” by Matt Danielsson and the chapter “How to Become Flexible” of the book “The Insider’s Tell-All Handbook On Weight-Training Technique” by Stuart McRobert, which includes also a complete program for improving your flexibility. Additionally, you can find a great amount of stretching exercises for the different muscles in the “Exercise Instruction & Kinesiology” section of the ExRx.net site.
Benefits of stretching are numerous. It contributes greatly in preventing muscle injuries (strains, sprains, and pulls) and in delivering blood into the muscle. For this reason, stretching after workout is highly recommended, since the nutrient rich blood can easily reach the fatigued muscle so it can recover and start growing as soon as possible. In addition, stretching makes you bigger and more powerful by lengthening your muscles, and at the same time contributes to give you a cut-look by emphasizing muscle separation. Finally, stretching reduces muscle and joint tensions and plays a role in the healing process of injured or over-trained muscles.
Stretching can be performed after warm-up, once you have finished your workout, or even between sets while training, but never when muscles are still cold. A good approach consists of performing some stretching between sets targeting the muscle that you are currently working. This allows more fresh blood to access the muscle, reducing the lactic acid buildup and giving you more power for the next set. Then, once you have finished working that muscle, you can perform a more thorough stretching, which acts as the "cool down" phase of your workout. This will help to increase muscle size and to reduce soreness.
Whenever you stretch, it is mandatory to do it properly, since stretching is a dangerous type of exercise if done incorrectly. Never force a stretch or go past the point of serious discomfort or pain. Do not bounce at all as this can cause muscle and tendon/ligament damage. You should start gently stretching as far as you can go, that is, until you hit a natural stop which does not hurt but will do so if you keep pushing beyond that point. Hold this position for about 20 seconds without bouncing. Then, contract the muscle statically for 8-10 seconds and gently stretch it again until it stops and maintain this position during 20 seconds more. When doing this second stretch, you will notice that the stopping point has moved, thus enabling you to safely stretch beyond what was previously possible. The reason behind this lies in the body's natural defense mechanism. During the first stretch, in order to prevent tearing a ligament, the muscle that connects to these ligaments tenses trying to resist the pull. By contracting the muscle, your defense mechanism gives out, and you can stretch into a further position.
You can find additional information about all the stretching issues for the bodybuilder in the article “Stretching and the Bodybuilder!”, the article “Contract-Release Stretch” by Matt Danielsson and the chapter “How to Become Flexible” of the book “The Insider’s Tell-All Handbook On Weight-Training Technique” by Stuart McRobert, which includes also a complete program for improving your flexibility. Additionally, you can find a great amount of stretching exercises for the different muscles in the “Exercise Instruction & Kinesiology” section of the ExRx.net site.
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3 comments:
Source Muscular Development, July 2007:
Until recently, most experts recommended that people stretch before exercise. However, there is no proof that pre-exercise stretching prevents injury. In fact, some studies show that stretching before exercise decreases muscle strength and power, impairs some types of motor performance and may actually increase the risk of injury. Many recent studies found that static stretching (stretch and hold) decreases muscle strength around a single joint during dynamic or static muscle contractions. One study found that stretching only 5 minutes decreased strength and power in the thigh muscles for 2 hours.
Yet, many athletes and active people continue to stretch before practice or competition. Researchers from the Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina found that static stretching decreased force output during single and and multiple-joint muscle contractions.
The take-home message is simple and important: Don't do static stretches before lifting weights or participating in athletics or exercises requiring strength and power. Dynamic warm-ups involving the specific movements used in the activity are more effective and will not decrease performance.
(Scandinavian Journal Medicine Science Sports, 17:54-60, 2007)
Thanks for this useful information. It is true that it is not recommended to stretch a cold muscle. So, stretch after the workout, between sets, or if you want to stretch at the begining, do it after warming up
Stretching is very important and should be done a few time a week by everyone.
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