I am doing walking and calisthenics 6 days a week to get in shape.
I suffered a minor groin strain some months ago, so I gently moving back in to woorking out.
Anyways, I have been told that I should stretch before I do any walking or calisthenics, but many experts say you should warm up with some walking before stretching, as stretching "cold" can set one up for a injury.
Which one is true?
Stretching without a warm-up - good or bad?
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Damian1977
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Nightshade
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Here's the deal.
Static stretching before dynamic movement is bad for you. Don't do it. This means no static passive/isometric/active stretching before walking or calisthenics or anything else that involves dynamic use of your body. Instead, do dynamic stretches (leg swings, arm swings, etc) beforehand. You don't need a warmup before those, they help serve as a warmup. It is recommended that you do them immediately upon waking up in the morning (obviously not warmed up) to help improve your cold flexibility. As long as you don't try to do too much too quickly (ie, going too high, too fast, etc), you should be fine.
The 'experts' are right in a way, but mostly wrong. They are right that cold static stretching is not especially good for you; at best it offers little (if any) improvement in your flexibility, at worst it will injure you. However, they are also wrong in their dogmatic preaching of "Stretch as part of your warmup" where stretching refers to static stretching. Static stretching before you do dynamic exercises is setting you up for injury. See Kurz's column on stretching and flexibility for why, but put briefly, you weaken your muscles temporarily when you stretch. Then you do your workout, and your muscles aren't prepared for it. It defeats the entire purpose of a warmup to perform static stretches as a part of it.
Hope that helps,
-Shawn
Static stretching before dynamic movement is bad for you. Don't do it. This means no static passive/isometric/active stretching before walking or calisthenics or anything else that involves dynamic use of your body. Instead, do dynamic stretches (leg swings, arm swings, etc) beforehand. You don't need a warmup before those, they help serve as a warmup. It is recommended that you do them immediately upon waking up in the morning (obviously not warmed up) to help improve your cold flexibility. As long as you don't try to do too much too quickly (ie, going too high, too fast, etc), you should be fine.
The 'experts' are right in a way, but mostly wrong. They are right that cold static stretching is not especially good for you; at best it offers little (if any) improvement in your flexibility, at worst it will injure you. However, they are also wrong in their dogmatic preaching of "Stretch as part of your warmup" where stretching refers to static stretching. Static stretching before you do dynamic exercises is setting you up for injury. See Kurz's column on stretching and flexibility for why, but put briefly, you weaken your muscles temporarily when you stretch. Then you do your workout, and your muscles aren't prepared for it. It defeats the entire purpose of a warmup to perform static stretches as a part of it.
Hope that helps,
-Shawn
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Damian1977
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UKfightfreak
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I think you need to re-read what nightshade said. No static stretching before exercise - only after.Damian1977 wrote:Should I do just static stretching, or should I gently and slowly move forward and rreverse in the butterfly?
Before you exercise do some joint rotations and some movement to get your body warm then do dynamic stretching (leg swings etc.)
Matt
If you always done what you always did, you will always get what you always got.
If you always done what you always did, you will always get what you always got.