Interesting article about whether stretching is beneficial

[salsabike]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/13/health/nutrition/13Best.html?em&ex=1205640000&en=373d32ea7fd4749a&ei=5087%0A

[Wahine]

OK, I don't have much time to address this right now and it's a big topic. But I will say that all of the stretching studies I have read give a recipe of stretches to a bunch of people that have nothing to do with their specific diagnoses of muscle imbalances. Do you lump all people with heart problems into the same category and give them all the same meds??

Clinically what I see is that a person who has been evaluated and given the appropriate stretches for their areas of deficiency have decreased pain and improved function. If you give stretches without evaluating their needs you're not doing them any good.

It's probably good that I don't have much time. I've likely already said everything that I need to say without boring everyone to death.

[rocknrollgirl]

Now you tell me...Good Lordy, stretching is all I have been doing for the past 8 weeks...

Now all kiding aside, I can speak from personal experience with the recent injury, it has helped tremendously.

That is all I have to say!

[redrhodie]

Thanks for posting this article. I've been practicing yoga for 13 years, and I have to say, I feel weak on the bike for a couple of days after a class (particularly one that has held the asanas for long periods of time). I notice it to the point where I won't take a yoga class if I want to ride fast or far the following day. Usually, fast isn't an issue, so I'll just take the class and ride a little easier.

However, I still believe stretching does prevent injuries. I also think the benefits gained by adding flexibilty to the spine, and increasing blood flow to the internal organs outweigh any temporary loss of power. I also think it's just that...temporary loss, the same soreness you feel the day after lifting weights. At least, that's what it is for me.

[Di bear]

In the end, it sounds like the real point of the article, intended by the author or not, is don't overdo it. I've had days when I've gone to stretch and realized that I needed to back off a little bit because my muscles were cold.

When I was a somewhat gravitationally challenged runner, I had to stretch before and did so after to lessen next day pain. I was in the army and got out on medical. I had shin splints that were so bad I couldn't walk on even the slightest hill, up or down. That presented a huge problem since I was living in Monterey, CA. I took up running two years after I got out. I still had a battle with shin splints. I bought good shoes, learned how to run correctly (yes, the foot should fall a certain way, and no, it is not on the heel). The slow, meticulous stretching routine I did before my run determined whether I was going to be able to run at all. I had to stretch.

Now, as a cyclist, I'm discovering problems I've had for years, but never knew what they were. I finally started seeing a holistic chiropractor. I say holistic because he addresses the whole body and is a wonderful adviser to me, unlike my previous chiropractor who just adjusted me and sent me on my way. I also see a massage therapist - two, actually. They have completely different techniques, both of which I find useful.

My problem? My right side is tight. My right lumbar region muscles are tight. I get sciatica on the right. My right IT band is tight, and there are other little problems that have resulted from all this tightness. My knee pain is usually right-sided, and we've finally discovered it's because it isn't tracking straight. Solution: stretching. I am . . . off kilter. ;) I use certain yoga poses geared towards keeping my lower back and upper legs, mostly hamstrings and IT bands, flexible. I still have a lot of work to do, but I've come a long way this year.

I don't stretch before riding, but I allow myself to settle into my ride before I really ride hard. The only time I stretch after is if something feels tight, so I stretch just that. The yoga - it doesn't take very long to go through my poses, so I do it while watching tv or before going to bed. It's easy, and it feels sooooo good. :)

[cyclechick2008]

I don't stretch basically ever. I am somewhat limber naturally (why I fall down all the time) so I don't ever notice really tight muscles.

Kim

[shootingstar]

I always get mad at myself..when I go through times in life where I just get lazy and don't stretch for weeks....

I notice a big difference in myself when I do some stretching...it's all moderate and low-key...less than 1/2 hr. in front of the Tv, evening ..long after I've biked.

I sleep deeper and easier. My lower back pain goes away..it's from tightness and on the bike, I feel more balanced.

Keep in my mind many of us, have jobs where we are in front of the computer for hrs...doing micromovements with our mousing hand, etc. We benefit from upper body stretching.

For myself it reduces or I should say eliminates to nearly zero, sudden back muscle /shoulder pulls.

[Andrea]

Recent research in my dept. (health & sport science) at University of Memphis showed a decrease in power for the bench press exercise if it was immediately preceded by stretching of the chest, shoulders, and triceps. The same has been shown for vertical jump and sprinting. The NYT article brought up a very important point- research that says stretching prevents injury also included a warm-up. It's definitely a confounding factor.
From what I've read, it seems that stretching is only necessary if your lack of range of motion for your sport is impeding your performance. For instance- If you're a kicker on a football team, gymnast, ballet dancer, etc. and you could not perform the needed movements because of poor range of motion, then stretching both before and after your activity would likely prevent injury and improve your performance.
Another thing to remember is that muscles, like most elastic materials, stretch better when they are warm- i.e. after a workout. So, if you desire better flexibility, stretching beforehand is not benefiting you as much as if you stretched afterwards.

[Wahine]

It's pretty clear (these are well controlled studies with many subjects)that stretching before exercise does not decrease the incidence of injury and can affect performance. It makes sense to me that this is the case. When you stretch you alter the length of the muscle. It takes time for your nervous system to adapt to this change in the muscle length-tension relationship. In the meanwhile, your muscles may not fire rapidly enough to stabilize and protect a joint during an activity.

What I have a problem with is the pervailing attitude in the media that suggests that these results mean that stretching is of no benefit. That's what gets put in the head lines.

Stretching when prescribed properly for the right diagnosis makes a huge difference. RnR girl gave the perfect example, IT band friction syndrome. Give me a hundred ITBS patients that are runners, everyone of them still able to perform full range of motion for their sport but unable to do their sport without pain and divide them into 2 groups - one that has regular stretching everyday as part of their home program and the other group identical but no stretching. I know which one I would put my money on. Just because you have full range of motion doesn't mean you have good muscle balance or length tension relationships. Dysfunction in these areas will lead to injury with repetitive motion due to excessive stresses on the involved tissues.

It drives me crazy when I'm trying to convince people that they need to stretch and the media comes out with headlines that stretching is useless.

OK getting off my soap box.

[Andrea]

It's pretty clear (these are well controlled studies with many subjects)that stretching before exercise does not decrease the incidence of injury and can affect performance. It makes sense to me that this is the case. When you stretch you alter the length of the muscle. It takes time for your nervous system to adapt to this change in the muscle length-tension relationship. In the meanwhile, your muscles may not fire rapidly enough to stabilize and protect a joint during an activity.

What I have a problem with is the pervailing attitude in the media that suggests that these results mean that stretching is of no benefit. That's what gets put in the head lines.

Stretching when prescribed properly for the right diagnosis makes a huge difference. RnR girl gave the perfect example, IT band friction syndrome. Give me a hundred ITBS patients that are runners, everyone of them still able to perform full range of motion for their sport but unable to do their sport without pain and divide them into 2 groups - one that has regular stretching everyday as part of their home program and the other group identical but no stretching. I know which one I would put my money on. Just because you have full range of motion doesn't mean you have good muscle balance or length tension relationships. Dysfunction in these areas will lead to injury with repetitive motion due to excessive stresses on the involved tissues.

It drives me crazy when I'm trying to convince people that they need to stretch and the media comes out with headlines that stretching is useless.

OK getting off my soap box.

I should have clarified myself a little better (it was late!)... I'd include something like ITBS in that group of "needs to stretch to prevent injury while they perform their sport."

Yeah, I hate how the media can read one thing then report it/misinterpret it in an exaggerated way. It happens constantly to research in the areas of health & exercise science :mad:

[OakLeaf]

If you give stretches without evaluating their needs you're not doing them any good.

THAT's what should've been the lead for this story.

Probably without exception, we all (including the researchers and the reporters) originally learned to stretch in a group setting; many of us still do most of our stretching in group x; and even those who stretch individually, usually choose our stretches based on the sport or the particular activity. Even if we've been through PT for one thing or another, we probably haven't changed the way we stretch our uninjured parts.

We've watched the prescriptions evolve, from the ballistic pre-exercise stretching we used to do in grade school PE :eek: to the gradual dynamic pre-exercise ROM increases, and post-workout static stretches, that group x instructors are taught now.

So we think about stretching as similar to strength training: absolutely it has prescriptive therapeutic uses, and on the other side yes it's possible to injure yourself or create imbalances, but it's also generally beneficial if you use some common sense about balance, intensity, timing, etc.

I mean, that's what I usually get out of most of the news stories, and I don't hear that as being much different from what you're saying, Wahine, am I hearing you right?

WRT this particular news story, well, if it wasn't for people occasionally posting a link, or doing the crossword puzzles at my parents' and inlaws, I wouldn't even read that paper, and this is only a small example of why...

[Wahine]

Absolutely Oak.

Andrea thank you for your input, I wasn't trying to suggest that you were saying anything other than what you posted and I think the research you do is very important. I just get really riled up by this topic. If I wasn't so busy clinically I would think about doing research in this area myself.

ETA: Andrea, I love your sig line!!

[LainiePants]

Interesting article indeed. And great discussion, ladies.

Small bone to pick:

"Stretching the hamstring muscle, for example, teaches the muscle to relax when the knee is fully extended, Dr. Kenny said. But that is not what a runner needs. Instead, runners need to have their hamstrings stiff and activated when the knees are extended."

Hamstring flexibility can be very beneficial for CYCLISTS. At least, this is what I've read. I always stretch my hammies after a ride (and will continue to do so).