Were stretching for all the wrong reasons.
Almost instantly those nagging, re-occuring injuries just stopped, and based on that experience I stopped stretching entirely.
That was a decade ago, and I never started again.
But most of my teammates still stretched, convinced it would help them avoid injury.
And besides, it was just part of the daily routine.
Stretching is steeped in tradition and myth.
In many cases, stretching does the opposite of what its promoted for.
You already know that itdoesnt prevent injuries.
It also doesnt cure muscle soreness; in fact, aggressive stretching cancausemuscle soreness.
And pre-workout stretches, far from preparing you to work out, actually rob you of strength.
This almost makes sense: It feels good to stretch a sore muscle.
Or at least it feels like youre doing something.
But stretchingdoesnt provide any lasting pain relief (and it doesnt prevent soreness either).
If you want to stop feeling sore, aggressive stretching is the last thing youd want to do.
The effect lasts for minutes, possibly as long as half an hour.
Most of the studies that tested that idea used simple, measurable exercises, like a jump test.
The studies usually had people stretch aggressively for several minutes.
This, in part, is why dynamic stretching is popular these days.
Maybe this means jogging with high knees and butt kicks, or crawling on the ground Spider-man-style.
And yet, there is a paradox: people who stretch routinely will end upstrongerthan people who dont.
Theyre decreasing their strength temporarily, but building it in the long term.
Probably because of the muscle damage we discussed earlier.
Stretching does cause hypertrophymuscle growthand this seems to explainwhy people who stretch end up strongerover time.
Stretching Doesnt Lengthen Your Muscles
Stretch a muscle and it gets longer, right?
It may be possible to lengthen muscles, but not purely through stretching.
Dynamic stretches make a fine replacement, but you could experiment with skipping the stretching entirely.
You may increase your flexibility, and maybe your strength.
If youre sore or have a pulled muscle, stop stretching, or keep it very gentle.
