[Stretching before going for a run. A waste of time, or a smart way to avoid injuries?]

I Develop My Deep Hatred for Stretching in 7th Grade

I am going to talk about something that still upsets me! It revolved around a "physical fitness" test we used to have to take twice a year in Junior High. If I remember correctly, we had to see how fast we could run the mile, how many situps we could do in 60 seconds, and a brutal stretch test.

[This is the evil test I am referring to! Kryptonite for tall guys like myself. In the 80's I feared the Impending Nuclear War with USSR, Barbara Streisand, and This Test.]

A 13 Year Old 6'3" Freak -vs- Junior High PE Teacher

Yes, I stopped growing at the age of 13. I was really good in sports back in those days, but wasn't flexible at all. My PE teacher's name was Mr. Tyler. He was out of shape, probably around 50 and had bad onion breath most of the time. I used to argue with him that flexibility had nothing to do with athletic ability. I was an outstanding sprinter and long jumper (for a 13 year old anyway) but was getting my butt handed to me in the flexibility test. He said that I would never be a good athlete if I didn't work on flexibility. I disagreed with him back then and still disagree with him to this day.

Before I Rip Current Stretching Practices Apart…

Studies have shown that a limited amount of stretching can be beneficial. That being said, it is MUCH less than what many people think. After doing quite a bit of research which for the most part proves my point that a lot of stretching is a waste of time…I did find a study that showed a benefit of a limited stretching schedule. Here is the Irony about my stretching rant. I will probably add in a very small amount of stretching into my schedule after doing all of this research. Does that make Mr Tyler right and make me wrong after all of these years? Nope!

Stretching As A Way to Prevent Injury?

Mr Tyler, like many Junior High PE teachers, really liked to insure we did a lot of stretching before any activity. Heck, he wanted us to stretch before playing ping-pong (I still love ping-pong, but without the 10 minute stretching sessions). The rationale behind it was that it helped prevent muscle injuries. If we were going to run a mile and Mr Tyler was around, you could count on 20 minutes of stretching. After 3 years of stretching, I improved very little in the flexibility department and more than anything felt like I was wasting a lot of time.

Kapooka Health Centre: A study in Australia tested 1500 recruits for a 12-week training program. Half of the recruits performed stretching exercises as a warmup. The other half did not stretch at all. Overall the group that stretched had an injury rate of 22% and the group that didn't stretch was at 21%.

University of Sydney: A study examining several other stretching studies…"We can say with a high degree of confidence that stretching does not prevent muscle soreness," says Herbert. "We can't rule out that it reduces injury risk, but the weight of evidence is against it."

Time to For The Technical Side of Stretching to Be Examined

Don't worry, I will keep is simple to avoid "zone out". I know that the Internet is a "skimming" medium, so I'll stick to the major points. The first thing to talk about is the two types of flexibility.

1. Active Flexibility: This is the range of motion you have under muscular control. Swinging a bat, throwing a ball, a karate kick, etc.

2. Passive Flexibility: The ability to hold extended positions using the weight or your body or other outside force. An example would be touching your toes or doing the splits.

Improving Passive Flexibility Can Create a Flexibility "Deficit"

Typically doing stretches that improve passive flexibility, won't improve active flexibility to the same extent. The difference between passive flexibility and active flexibility is called the "flexibility deficit". A large flexibility deficit can create a condition for injuries to be more likely to occur. So in some ways, many of the recommended stretches can create a risky imbalance.

Lifting With a Full Range of Motion Increases Flexibility

It has been shown that lifting under a full range of motion is the best way to increase your range of motion (active flexibility) while lifting. So when you are warming up with light weights, make sure you use a full range of motion to increase flexibility. This makes logical sense, right? To increase your range of motion lift with a full range of motion. Note: If you are doing partials and lockouts in a certain exercise to increase strength in that exercise, you may want to add a few sets right after this where you do a full range of motion.

Stretching Before Exercising Can Reduce Muscle Strength

There are several studies showing that muscle strength can drop by 5-30% after stretching. Supposedly stretching the muscle inhibits it's ability to contract. The crazy thing about all of these studies is that they can't nail down precisely why strength and power decrease with static stretching. They acknowledge that the muscle isn't as stiff after stretching and "believe" that this makes the muscle less likely to create as much torque. Here are a few studies for further reading:

Wayne State College Study: Showing that bicep strength decreased 5% in tested subjects after performing static stretches.

McMaster University Study: Showing that calf strength decreased by 30% after stretching the calf muscle. This same study also measured that calf strength was still quite a bit weaker 60 minutes after stretching.

The Proper Way to Warmup Before Lifting

Basically lift with light weights and complete the full range of motion for a few sets. I recommend that you mimic the speed and tempo of lifting heavy, but with lighter weights. You don't want to throw the weights up and down like a piston just because they are light. "Pretend" like the weights are heavy and move at that tempo, even if the weights feel extremely light. This is also a great way to increase your strength levels in a lift. Here is a post I did on that subject: Lift Light Weights for Low Reps to Gain Strength and Muscle Definition

Stretching Without Wasting Time…for The "Haters" 

Yes, I'm way too old to be using a word like "hater". Forgive me…I was feeling crunk (don't even know what that means)…back to the post, sorry! If you do want to increase your flexibility a bit, stretch after you exercise. Don't click away just yet, it will just take a couple of minutes per day…

University of Central Arkansas:  This is my favorite study of all. The found that doing one 30 second stretch per day in a muscle group increased flexibility slightly more than doing it 3 times a day for 60 seconds.

My Stretching Summary

• No need to do before training, it makes you weak
•  Warmup involves doing a light version of the movement through a full range of motion
• If you need to increase flexibility, perform just one stretch for 30 seconds each day

Note: As always there will be exceptions to the rule. Things like injury rehab and specialty sports like gymnastics require a different approach.

Speaking of 7th grade memories, check out the songs that were big that year, in 1983…as presented by the Solid Gold Dancers! I should be ashamed for putting Solid Gold on my blog, but it is sweeet! It is so bad it is good. Seriously…this show was huge in the late 70's and early 80's! Sexy dance moves…heck yeah!

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[Boxers in the lower-to-mid weight classes are a great example of being functionally fit and lean. This look is built upon a foundation of gaining strength without putting on extra mass.]

Bodybuilding = Break Down the Muscle + Rest and Nutrition

If you think about bodybuilding in simple terms, the goal is to lift with enough volume and intensity to break down the muscle fiber in a muscle group. Following the workout, the muscle then needs to rest to repair itself. Adequate protein and nutrients need to be present to insure a full repair of these fibers. Done properly the muscle fibers grow in size. Over time this leads to visible muscle growth.

Training the Entire Body Each Workout?

This would be bad for bodybuilding. The problem would be that the workout would have to be extremely long to insure enough volume of lifts to break down the muscle properly. Another problem would be that the muscles worked last in the routine would get neglected due to fatigue.

Bodybuilding is About Blitzing the Muscle Then Resting

The approach to bodybuilding is working a muscle as hard as possible for many sets until that muscle is obliterated…and then avoiding any direct work to that muscle for days. The way to do this is to setup a workout that works the entire body over a period of days. This is called a split workout (yeas I know you already know this). A 3 day split would take 3 different workouts to hit each body part. A 4 day split would take 4 days to work the entire body.

An Outline of a Typical 3 Day Split…

Day 1) Chest, Shoulders, Triceps ("pushing muscles")

Day 2) Back, Biceps ("pulling muscles")

Day 3) Legs, Calves, and Abs

Day 4) Rest

Functional Training is the Opposite of Bodybuilding

Bodybuilding is more about blitzing a muscle with high volume and training that muscle infrequently. Functional  training is the opposite…frequently training the muscle without blitzing and damaging the muscle with an excessive amount of volume.

Train the Muscle Frequently to Get Stronger

Certainly bodybuilders get stronger, but they do so while adding mass. The problem with adding mass when you get stronger is that it doesn't make as big of an impact on athleticism. To get stronger without adding mass, the volume of sets and reps need to be kept low, but the tension needs to be high. As long as the muscles aren't damaged, they can be trained many times each week.

[I like to think of functional training and athletic performance like a sportscar. A Maserati and an over-sized SUV may have the same horsepower, but the Maserati displays that horsepower in a much more impressive manner...and looks better in the process. Increasing your output while slimming down is the way to go!]

Athletes in Peak Condition Work Their Muscle Groups Often

Most athletes don't have any choice but to work their entire body daily. Take that picture of the the boxers up above. When they are 1-2 months away from the fight, they are sparring daily. All of the muscles in their bodies are getting worked on a frequent basis. Same thing with soccer players, basketball players, gymnasts, etc. They are all working their entire body many times per week.

Frequent Strong Muscle Contractions Increase Muscle Tone

Again…take the example of the boxers above. If they only fought once per week they wouldn't display that amazing muscle definition in their arms shoulders and chest. Muscle tone isn't just a result of low body fat (although that is needed to display the muscle tone) …muscle tone is increased by increasing your ability to contract a muscle. Increasing strength without adding size is the route to achieving this type of "true" muscle tone. Here is an article I wrote about the subject of true muscle tone.

A Non-Traditional Body Part Split I Have Used

You can train the whole body in one workout. Especially if you just want to maintain muscle and burn fat in a circuit type manner. If you want to do a split that allows you to train each muscle group many times per week, I have developed a solid one that works well for a number of reasons.

The 2 Day Split…

Day 1) Chest, Back, Abs

Day 2) Shoulders, Biceps, and Triceps

End each workout with 1-2 sets of "planks" for the abs.  After the planks, do dome form of Interval Cardio or Circuit Cardio for 20-30 minutes. The total workout including cardio should take 1 hour or just slightly longer. I don't do direct leg work, because I believe that tough intervals build better looking legs and butt for both men and women.

My Thinking Behind This 2 Day Split

I like to work opposing muscle groups in the same workout because it helps maintain posture. A common muscle imbalance problem is shoulders pulling forward after a chest workout. Working the back right after, prevents this from happening (especially cable rows). I also like it that the small muscle groups like biceps and triceps get worked each workout. They are worked indirectly with the back and bicep workout and directly on shoulders and arm day. Bigger muscle groups recuperate at a slower rate (even with brief workouts like this)…but small muscle groups can get worked a bit more often. Your arms will look better than ever with this split!

No Need To Blitz A Muscle Group

Many people need to change their idea of a good workout. The idea should be to work up a sweat while getting stronger and burning off body fat. This can be done with just a few quality sets and 1-2 different lifts per body part…blitzing a muscle group will just force you to rest more days in between workouts and will lead to slower strength gains. Also blitzing a muscle group will make you sore and you will be less likely to want to hit circuits or HIIT.

Enjoy Various Physical Activities Without Fear

Back in my clueless days when I was trying to build as much muscle as possible, I would skip out on fun activities if a muscle group was sore. I remember not wanting to go water skiing because my legs were too sore from doing squats. Another time, I couldn't play tennis because my pecs were too sore. Bodybuilding style workouts really screw you up, if you want to do activities outside of the gym. I'm glad I came to my senses!

Note: For those of you who do want to add a bit of mass, follow the bodybuilding technique of blitzing a muscle followed by rest…just make sure you don't go overboard…you don't want to get so big that you give off that cheesy vibe. Put on a bit of muscle, but aim for that GQ look if you are a guy or Victoria Secret (Shape Magazine Look) if you are a woman. If you want to get the huge bodybuilder look that went out of style in the late 80's…then you are on the wrong site.

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What is Your Number One Excuse?

Most people say they don't have enough time to stay in great shape. The reason I don't believe this is that I see what a lot of these people do in their spare time. If you were honest with yourself, you know that you could make the time. It comes down to priorities. I realize that a lot of people probably can't workout 5-6 times per week, but you can get in tremendous shape off 3 times per week, if your diet is clean.

Eating Well Doesn't Require a Bigger Time Commitment

If anything, eating healthy foods will take less time…not more time. So let's say that for some reason, you have 3 jobs and really can't find time to exercise. If that is the case, focus on having a flawless diet. Eating goes a long way towards getting a sexy body. People seriously underestimate how important diet is. If you are at a point in your life of being this busy, I would recommend evaluating your life a bit. Life is too short to work that hard!

"But I Have A Slow Metabolism, Bad Genetics", Etc…

I can tell you this for sure. There is someone who has tougher obstacles than you and who is also in outstanding shape. Almost every person I meet who says that they have a "slow metabolism" eats poorly. It is like they give up and just eat like mad. A "what's the use" attitude is very destructive. I can tell you this beyond a shadow-of-a-doubt…if I took the brain of a fit person and put it in the body of the person with a "slow metabolism", that person would become fit in a matter of months.

Your Mind is Holding You Back, Not Your Body

Everyone uses "body based" excuses for not being in great shape. The reality is that it is your mind that needs to be worked on. If you are in the right frame of mind, you will get in outstanding shape. I always think along these lines…"Do what most people are unwilling to do, and get better results than the majority of people". If you consistently do what 99% of the population is unwilling to do, you will be in the top 1% when it comes to hitting any goal. Next time you get home from work and feel too tired to work out, ask yourself what most people would do. You want to achieve more than them, so get off your butt and hit the gym!

A Fitness Black Book Bonus: I hate to do this to you, but I have to put up that David Hasselhoff video I was referring to in the picture caption. This video redefines the definition of "terrible" in the dictionary. It is actually so bad it's good! Wait until he starts dancing about a minute into the video!

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Why Not Just "Get it Over With"?

If you know you need to lose weight, why make it a long ordeal? Why not start today and get really serious? It really is a decision away. It may be tough at first, but you really should just buckle down and do what it takes to get there. It won't happen overnight, but you can begin to make progress over night.

Don't "Go With The Flow" Go Against It!

It is really east to just go with the flow and accept things the way they are. Most people take the path of least resistance in life. These people lead boring unfulfilled lives! I want you to "grab the bull by the horns" and demand better. Getting in amazing shape is a decision. It is not the path of least resistance and that is why very few people are in great shape.

Get in Shape Once and Maintain it For a Lifetime

This is a paradigm shift for most people. The majority of people assume that once you get in shape, it is just a matter of time that you will put that weight back on. I am trying to teach people to just work really hard once and then go into "maintenance mode" the rest of their lives. Don't get me wrong, there could be 10-15 pound weight swings…but people never need to gain a large amount of fat back once they get in great shape. Also, the big reason I'm totally against bodybuilding programs is that they encourage people to put on fat with their muscle during "off season". This is totally against my beliefs. I think you should look good year-round.

Why Waste Another Day?

Let's say you have 30 pounds to lose and it is January 1st. Realistically you could lose 10 pounds per month if you really got serious (maybe more). So in three months, you could lose all that weight. In my opinion it will take another 3 months to look your best, because there is a period of time where your skin will shrink a bit to fit your new body size. So if you got serious, you are 6 months or 180 days from an awesome body. Every day you postpone your diet, you add a day to those 180 days. Every day that you eat junky foods, you add a day to that total. In fact, if you only eat good 1/2 of the time those 180 days would turn into 270 days. You just postponed hitting your goal by 90 days. If you lived in the US, that would mean that you missed getting in shape for summer.

It is Okay to Be "Unbalanced" and Obsessed for a While

I really enjoy living a balanced life and drinking beer, eating junk food every now and then, etc…but I'm in maintenance mode. I already did what is necessary to get lean. I paid the price a long time ago. When I wanted to slim down and create a new look for myself it took close to 9 months of being a bit obsessed. I didn't cheat on my diet at all and I lived on the treadmill. I believe in taking "massive action" for short periods of time to just get things over with quickly. There are still really short periods of time where I'll be a bit "unbalanced". I'm possibly taking a trip to Greece this summer and no doubt, I will hit cardio extra hard for 6-8 weeks leading up to that trip. Although I still workout hard, the hardest part was done many years ago.

Pay the Price Now and Look Good for A Lifetime

I'm trying to get people used to the idea of getting in really amazing shape just once. Doing the hard work only one time. Instead of letting yourself gain it back over a period of months or years, make that your new identity. You didn't just get in great shape…you are a "fit person". There is a distinction there. A fit person doesn't get fat, right? A fit person works out consistently and cares for their body. Someone who is "in shape" can quickly get out of shape. I hope that shift in thinking makes sense.

Join Me in "Maintenance Mode", The Weather is Great Here!

I know a few of the readers here are in maintenance mode. They stay within 10 pounds or so of their ideal weight year round. Those of us in this position still try to get stronger and get better muscle definition over time, but the dramatic changes are a thing of the past. When you are close to looking your best at all times, you feel great. Clothes fit you well and you actually enjoy wearing a swimsuit (imagine that). So do what is necessary to get here, even if it is tough at times…you will like the way it makes you feel!

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(Listen to the words of wisdom…this scene still gives me chills!)

"Do Or Do Not…There Is No Try!"

These are actually words to live by when it comes to ANY goal. In one sentence Yoda basically gives away the secret to achieving anything great in life. You will not lose 50 pounds if you are just "trying" to lose 50 pounds. You have to go in with the attitude that you are in the process of reaching that goal and it is basically a done deal.

Losers Are People Who "Try" to Do Something…Winners "Do" Whatever It Takes

A loser will say that I will "try" and eat healthier…a winner just eats healthier. A loser will "try" to hit the gym 3-4 days a week…a winner just hits the gym 3-4 days a week. To get fit, you just have to think like a winner and "Do" what it takes. It really is that simple.

Is it Harsh to Call People Winners and Losers

I don't think it is, because a loser is just a decision a way from becoming a winner. All it takes is a strong decision and follow-through to become a winner in anything in life. Will you mess up at times? Yes! Will you slide into old habits yes. The key to making forward progress in life is just acting like a winner and making winning decisions the majority of the time. Act like a winner if even it feels tough….Act like a winner even when you aren't making progress…Act like a winner even at those times when you are feeling a bit like a loser. You will reach your goal eventually! It is a done deal…there is no try!

People With Strong Intentions Can Shape the World Around Them

Having a strong intension is like using the force (okay, I am a geek…LOL). All kidding aside…the world around people with strong intentions "bends" a bit to help them achieve their goals. There is something almost magical about believing 100% that something is possible and is going to happen for you. It almost becomes easy after a while…obstacles move out of your way when your belief is strong enough.

(Why Luke Failed to Achieve His Goal in Empire Strikes Back)

Luke Skywalker: I Don't…I Don't Believe it!

Yoda: That…is Why You Failed.

Note: Following Yoda's Philosophy, Chewbacca Went on To Reach His Goal of Playing Professional Baseball. That Wookie Could Throw Some Serious Heat!

AAAAAgghh-RRWWAAAGGGGG–UUUUUGGGH!

Comment or Do Not Comment…There is No "Try"…LOL!
(I need help)

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