More a blurb than an article, but still intriguing. Many studies indicate that stretching will not reduce DOMS or injury.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/26/health/26real.html?ref=health

My own experiences are, at best, inconclusive. Any thoughts?

More a blurb than an article, but still intriguing. Many studies indicate that stretching will not reduce DOMS or injury.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/26/health/26real.html?ref=health

My own experiences are, at best, inconclusive. Any thoughts?

My experience is as follows:

Stretch = Uninjured.

No stretching = Injured.

Simple enough.

Cycling : Never stretch, before or after. Never injured.

Racquetball: Never stretch, before or after. Never injured.

Golf: Never stretch, before or after. Never injured.

Start slow and easy, finish with a cool down pace.

Or spend time stretching both before and after and achieve the same results.

Stretching regularly still increases flexibility which is good on the bike.

This is a poor article, IMHO. It doesn't say what kind of studies these were, and who if anyone, was supervising the stretchers. Many people stretch incorrectly: bouncing or holding the stretch for too short a time. I enjoy stretching very much. But I don't do it much.

I have also observed that stretching does not reduce injury and if anything, reduces strength and power. I see people at the gym all the time stretching between sets. I just keep my mouth shut. Stretching also takes time. A short stretching set takes me about 15 minutes. My whole gym workout only takes 18, so I'm not about to almost double my gym time for something that I don't think does any good. Even if it does feel good.

I read that Lance stretched for an hour every day. If I were a pro, I'd do the same thing. Maybe some yoga, and definitely meditation. But I'm not, so the little time I have to train I prefer to use in ways I know work. So I don't stretch much. Maybe when I retire, I'll stretch more.

Personally, I don't notice that lots of bike time makes me inflexible. If anything, I notice the opposite. If I'm feeling crampy and stretch at a rest stop or control, I'm more flexible than I would be normally.

Cramps are something that stretching definitely helps. A good stretch while at the same time contracting the cramping muscle seems to reset the muscle or tendon sensors that monitor muscle length.

I have also observed that stretching does not reduce injury and if anything, reduces strength and power.

I know people are different'n'all, but why would stretching reduce strength? I thought a muscle with greater range of motion (ie stretched) was more efficient, as the range of morion during exercise was a smaller proportion of its overall range.

For me, if I don't stretch after a ride, I feel really tight the next day. This has got more pronounced as I've got older (now 40).

I used to never stretch, and had no issues.

Then a couple years back I started to get intense cramps after 2+ hours. My legs would simply lock up like a broom stick.

I tried salt, more liquid, bananas, electrolyte capsules, trace minerals, all the typical suggestions for cramping.

Still had the same cramping issues.

After I started to stretch, and doing yoga regularly, I don't experience intense cramps.

I think stretching to keep the muscle supple really help to prevent cramps. The muscles seem to be more relaxed and won't tense up under effort with regular stretching.

As far as performance is concerned, I don't think stretching helps.

Best regards,

Michel
http://www.freetrainingplan.com

Much to be figured out in this area. I do look with envy, (and lot's of other ways :rolleyes:) at the 40 yr. old swimmer, Dara Torres. Her recent achievements, and likely participation in the Olympics this summer, continue to support my lust, uh, belief in her abilities. Use of Pilates in her training almost 10 years ago got me motivated to add Pilates training to my daughter's swim team training program.

I commend you to another recent NY Times article, which points out that her current support staff includes "two full-time personal stretchers". Man, did I ever mess up on career choices!:D

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/18/sports/othersports/18torres.html

Many studies look at stretching before engaging in athletic activity, but do not look at the long term effects of stretching as an activity in itself.

Try to look for studies that look at strength and injuries in people who stretch regularly as a exercise in itself. Not at studies that only look at short term effects of stretching before exercise. In other words stretching is done as a routine or part of a training programme, not as something that is done before engaging in exercise.

There are also many different types of stretching that can be done at any time. To generalise one type of stretching routine, done in one particular circumstance, will tell one only about that situation, and not be able to conclude that stretching in general does or does not contribute to injury prevention or precipitation.

Take a look at the sliding filament theory. Check out this (http://www.mhhe.com/biosci/esp/2002_general/Esp/folder_structure/su/m4/s11/sum4s11_9.htm) video that gives a very basic explanation of the sliding filament theory. Another theory that can lend perspective is Starling's law of the heart.

By stretching on a regular basis, but not before exercise, you elongate the muscle. In order for muscle to adapt to stretching by elongating you increase the amount of troponin and myosin creating more cross bridges, as well as other structural changes. This allows the muscle to for more toponin and mysoin to join together creating a stronger contraction. Conversely stretching before exercise elongates the muscle and causes there to be fewer cross-bridges between the troponin and myosin allowing for less cross bridging between the tropinin and myosin leading staining of the muscle under load.

This may be analogous to weight training, where the training itself damages the muscle and the recovery phase is what causes the muscle to be remodeled stronger and larger in some cases.

Stretching can also send your muscles into hypoxia and this may be another reason that some people will get injured more often when it is done before exercise.

An interesting study would be to look at blood troponin levels before and after different types stretching. In this way may be able to correlate how much damage is done or is not done by different types of stretching. Another interesting activity would be to compare this to other activities such as weight training and other sports. Or seeing how much muscle damage occurs after cycling where the cyclist has stretched or not stretched.

Gol dang it, it's good to learn something new every day! Guess I'll have to take up stretching on my off days. Note that Torres "stretchers" have her stretch against resistance, a practice that I have found to give relief from cramping.

My personal experience is that if I stretch after a ride or gym session I have fewer knee aches than I do if I fail to stretch. I have a very simple routine that takes me no more than five minutes but works wonders.

Just got back from the physical therapist with orders to stretch. I developed a Bakers Cyst (bulging fluid at back of knee) following a couple hard rides. The PT did a thorough exam, and noted that I've got large knots in the muscles above and below that knee. She thinks, and I agree, that a slight saddle raise prior to the rides resulted in me exceeding the limits of muscle flexibility.

So, I'm scheduled for 2-3 wks of treatment, will be purchasing a self-massage roller stick, and am committed to a regular course of hamstring stretching.

I've never, ever, stretched regularly before and I've never had any problems. I guess this is just another wonderful benefit of getting older...:o

I'd like to relate something I noticed about stretching before exercise. Four weeks ago I went to my first fencing class, without stretching first. No problem. The following two weeks, I thought I ought to make sure I was properly warmed up and stretched first, because lunging is quite an extreme movement, so at home I did ten minutes on the rower and then a good stretching session. Both times, lunging caused me to almost pull a hamstring. Yesterday, having read this thread, I didn't stretch beforehand - we did some warm-up and stretch at the session, but the stretching was much lighter than I'd been doing at home. I had no problems with lunging. Now I can't tell if this was because I didn't stretch much beforehand, or just because I was getting used to it, but it made me think of Someday's post above.

I believe in the difference between stretching and warming up.

Warm up = anything within your normal range of motion to raise your heart rate, using the primary muscles you are about to abuse. A few trips up and down the stairs as we get ready for a ride is my warm up.

Stretch= AFTER you are warmed up, stretching to your normal maximum assures that you are ready for your workout. Can't stretch fully? WARM UP some more. I stretch in this manner as we are staging with our club. If I feel stiff, I spin in a lighter gear longer than usual.

I reserve stretching BEYOND my normal limit for a time when I can focus on that task. Meaning warmup, s-t-r-e-t-c-h, and cool down; which could include ice, massage, cool shower, and rest

As an aside, I got two deep tissue massages between two centuries. Centuries were a month apart, massages were one and two weeks prior to second century. I have 'tight tendons', and I really got worked over. After the second century, I had NONE of the stiffness tenderness and related pain as I did after the first. Little else was different in my training/ prep.

P.S.
Articles about study groups reviewing studies are crap. You can find stats to support any hare brained ideas (no offense, Bugs)