Post: #1

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Post: #2

I think flexibility and stretching is a minefield: there is as much quackery and over-simplification as there is with diet and bodybuilding.

Let me try and boil my 'flexibility rant' down to a few bullets:

1. Read proper scientific material e.g. Thomas Kurz's book, Pavel's stuff
2. Understand that a lot of yoga is not efficient for what you want and seeped in mumbo-jumbo
3. Pilates is absolutely superb for teaching a person correct spine function and mobility, especially those with back injuries. I recommend you do a course for a few months then integrate it into your workouts from then on.
4. Static/traditional stretching before exercise diminishes strength and slightly increases chance of injury
5. If you need to then do dynamic stretches before exercise, static/isometric afterwards.
6. Do you need to? Are you doing something atheletic, like kickboxing?
7. I strongly recommend you investigate the concept of MOBILITY as well as flexibility. Imho don't train for flexility, train for mobility. I'm going to get flamed so hard here but to me the difference is like plenty of people doing yoga can touch their toes but cannot perform fluid and graceful lunges and squats.
8. Hit Youtube and look at some of Kelly Starret's stuff.
9. Be very fucking careful what you do having had a back injury, but similarly, over-compensating for this is the single greatest way to fuck yourself up again. Sorry for the conundrum there.
   

Let me finish with a tiny example to explain the last point, which is super important.

When I first started my first office job my body found itself sitting immobile for 40 hours a week. My spinal mobility dropped and I became stiff in my thoracic spine (between shoulder blades). My small, supportive muscles became weak. One morning I leaned over the sink to brush my teeth, at an angle of 3 degrees or something. Bang! Injured my back. From brushing my teeth.

In my genius I then decided that the problem was I had 'put my back in a weak position' so from then on concentrated on keeping a nice straight back in my life. That's good posture right? All that happened was I further weakened and stiffened my back. A few months later, my concentration lapsed one morning and BANG! Yanked it again, even worse this time. I must try harder to keep a straight back I thought.

Fast forward to taking Pilates. My teacher was horrified how my back was so stiff and weak. He explained to me that every vertebra should be mobile, like a link in a bicycle chain. I started exercising my back, learning how to curl each link down and up. I started deliberately doing rounded-back bodyweight deadlifts, usually on one leg. Something I'd have thought sure to cause back injury years before. The result: my back became stronger than ever, supple and mobile and I learned how to use my spine properly.

I hope this has been of some help and sorry for going off on one.

Post: #3

Personally, I really only stretch on leg days because I find that I have some major mobility issues there. I usually stretch before I work out, sometimes in between sets, and often afterwards I stretch as well.

I found this video to be pretty helpful:

Post: #4

Thanks for the tips guys, I'm going to check out a Pilates class that my gym offers.
Day at a time, steady wins the race.
I'm not what I used to be, but I'm pretty damn proud of where I am now in comparison to where I was a year ago.
It's like they say, X amount of time from now you'll wish you had started today.
Well, I did start, and each day is getting better.

Post: #5

I stretch every day before a work out. I don't do a "post" work out stretch.

I would recommend foam rolling and then upgrading to the PVC pipe. Stretch your legs every day. Get your IT bands, quads, calves, shoulder blades, and chest.

The do a ham string stretch with a towel.

Leg muscles get tight very easily. I only have one leg day, but I stretch them every day.

Post: #6

Tons of links to stretching, mobility, and flexibility work through the blogs and pages mentioned in this thread:

/thread-38372.html

Post: #7

While I understand the concept of not stretching pre-work out, statically anyways, due to it's potential to decrease strength, it's something I feel isn't that bad for me. It does seem however, to possibly loosen joints a bit to much. And in the joint is where my injuries will likely occur.

Having torn a hamstring before (ouch!), and left bi-cep (still gives me problems years later), I still tend to stretch a bit pre-work out. I also do 3-5 sec stretches between sets of the muscle I'm working. It's kept me injury free, at least muscle tear injuries, for the past 2.5 years. It does concern me that looser joints due to the stretch are putting unneeded stress on my joints due to potential shifts during flexion during either concentric and/or eccentric part of the lift.

Since I'm not convinced pre-work out stretching is hampering my weight potential for 3-6 rep range heavy lifts especially, I've continued to do them, but focused on maintaining greater flexion on the eccentric part of each motion to lock the joint better. The downside is it's slowed the timing of some lifts and I may be losing some gains based on the slowed eccentric part of motion. leading to greater time under tension, thus decreasing the explosiveness on the concentric part of the motion. I'm open to suggestions here..

Mind you this is post-op dual bilateral knee scopes for torn meniscuses, had the surgeries 9 years ago, and mediocre arthritis was discovered as well. This didn't deter me from pounding legs however, in fact heavy leg days result in my knees feeling better long-term.

At 6'4" 235 lbs. ectomorph frame, I've noticed in general shorter mesomorphs and endomorphs stretching less in general. Could it be that stretching is more beneficial the taller and thinner you are? Any input here is welcomed. thanks for reading.