Posted on May 09, 2012 by Jenny Cromack

 

The Truth About Static Stretching

Now a common sight in most gyms in good old Harry in the corner performing some extreme stretches before hitting the bench press. There is a wealth of research now showing how dangerous and useless static stretching before exercise actually is, yet most fitness professional are actually taught to stretch their client out before exercise.

Research is now showing that static stretching should actually be performed 4-6 hours following a workout since it involves the parasympathetic nervous system; unfortunately it is highly unlikely that the majority of the gym population could be convinced to adhere to this principal.

If you are ridiculously inflexible and it affects your lifts or training, the only stretching strategy that should be introduced is Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF). There are several reasons for this;

• Does not decrease the blood supply to the muscle, static stretching is notorious for this. As we all know blood supply is kind of a key element to any form of exercise.
• PNF facilitates better flexibility gains as opposed to static stretching, 3 or 4 repetitions can easily increase range of motion by 4-6 inches.
• Stimulates the fight or flight response, crucial if your lifting some weight, opposed to the parasympathetic streteching (static stretching) which is great for relaxing, but I wouldn’t want to be relaxed under a 200lb Olympic bar!

Remember only stretch if you have terrible flexibility, most of the normal population, providing you don’t spend your life only doing bench presses, should be ok to just mobilize through a low weight lift.