Stretching before sets or not?

[Pich]

Is stretching before and during a workout is good or not?

Some say it's good and could help strengh gain , some says the opposite and could lead to injury.

What's the real thing?

 

[Mercere]

I wouldn't do a lot of static stretches before lifting. It's shown to decrease your strength and increase the risk of injury. I'd do dynamic stretches/warmups with light weights prior, static stretches after you lift.

 

[beerdrinker]

If I didn't stretch out my hip flexors, adductors, abductors, perifomis, and hams very well before squatting, I don't think there's any way I could do it. Age may be a factor.

 

[KickNitRight]

I've never known anyone to get injured because they stretched. Stretching looses up the muscles. You can overdo it. You just want to warm them up.

 

[mad_monkey59]

- If your muscles are stiff then stretch if necessary, if not I wouldn't bother. As stated above, studies suggest strength is detriment to stretching.

- Never stretch a cold muscle.

 

[NJL52]

Static stretches stay away from. Your athletic body movements(IE weight training) produces enough stretching to keep you at the stretchiness(can't think of a better word)
that you need to perform.

The important thing is to warm the tendons. A cold tendon is very prone to injury. A warm tendon is resistant to injury.

 

[Sub-Zero]

imo stretching is a highly under emphasized part of bodybuilding/growing.

i never saw anything about stretching or the need for it, and now that iv gotten bigger my mobility is very far down to the point that i was in discomfort even sitting in a fuckin chair.

now that iv been stretching regularly when i can i feel great and have slightly better mobility.

as for stretchignr ight after a intense workout, some say your ability to recognize the "pain" of too much stretching is hindered and you can tear muscles.

also right before lifting stretching weakens you to an extent.

but like the guy above, i have to stretch before squatting otherwise i am too stiff and cant get down far enough to do real squats.

but definately dont ignore stretching, its super important, i wish someone had told me that before i went to 2 years and gained 40 pounds of muscle without ever fucking stretching

 

[GUARDIAN]

I do light stretching when I first get to the gym and warm up with light weights until I get the blood flowing.

After I am done with the bodypart for the day I do some pretty extreme stretching, holding for 30-60 seconds. I don't know if it has made vast improvements since I have started doing it but it has cut down on injuries and I think helped some with recovery and soreness.

I don't think it hurts so why not. I did read some research awhile back that promoted streching for actual growth but I would have to do some serious digging to find the article. If you want I will do so when I get a chance.

 

[ceo]

I do light stretching when I first get to the gym and warm up with light weights until I get the blood flowing.

After I am done with the bodypart for the day I do some pretty extreme stretching, holding for 30-60 seconds. I don't know if it has made vast improvements since I have started doing it but it has cut down on injuries and I think helped some with recovery and soreness.

I don't think it hurts so why not. I did read some research awhile back that promoted streching for actual growth but I would have to do some serious digging to find the article. If you want I will do so when I get a chance.

This is pretty much what I do as well. Warm up for about 5 minutes on a bike to get blood pumping throughout the body. I rotate my arms while I'm riding to warm up my joints - shoulders/elbows/wrists. Then depending on what bodyparts I am doing (I'm doing a 2 way split), I will do some light stretching.

I then go into my warmup sets (usually 3-5 sets with increasing weight/decreasing reps) to get those muscles ready for the weight I will be moving. Then I do my working set (which is a double rest-pause set so it's like 3 sets).

After that exercise I do an "extreme" stretch for that muscle (which is now niiiice and warm!) and I hold that stretch for 60-90 seconds. This helps stretch the muscle fascia to promote muscle growth, and helps aid in recovery.

 

[BIGBUCK$]

i always stretch

 

[super_rice]

Dynamic mobility movements and LIGHT static stretching for select specific tight areas. This is most commonly around the hip: flexors (rec fem, psoas, etc), extensors/abductors (glute max/min/med, TFL)... for adductors I prefer avoiding classic groin stretches in favour for lateral leg swinging and lunging, but they can be done if you are exceptionally tight (ie: can't get into full squat).

 

[thebadguy54]

"Stretching and Flexibility, Everything you never wanted to know" is great guide.

Download it here: http://www.capoeira-school.be/download/stretching.pdf.gz

I agree with those that say dynamic pre-workout and static post w/o.

Enjoy the book bro's. Happy stretching.