Table of Contents:
The Benefits of Stretching
Video taken from the channel: mountaindog1
Stretching for Better Health
Video taken from the channel: Sutter Health
Benefits of Stretching
Video taken from the channel: Mercyhealth
Does Stretching Before Exercise Actually Help?
Video taken from the channel: SciShow
Stretching Science – How to Increase your Flexibility Fast and Easy | 32 Studies
Video taken from the channel: Yiannis Christoulas
Benefits of Stretching for ages 40 and over
Video taken from the channel: Bob & Brad
The current research on stretching and flexibility is flawed!
Video taken from the channel: Brad Walker
However, research has shown that stretching can help improve flexibility, and, consequently, the range of motion of your joints. Improve your performance in physical activities. Help your joints move through their full range of motion. Enable your muscles to work most effectively.Stretching keeps the muscles flexible, strong, and healthy, and we need that flexibility to maintain a range of motion in the joints.
Without it, the muscles shorten and become tight. Then, when you call on the muscles for activity, they are weak and unable to extend all the way. That puts you at risk for joint pain, strains, and muscle damage.Stretching before and after a run has often been advised for better performance, faster recovery, and reduced injury risk. But new research in the Journal of Physiology suggests the practice could.
Yet, along with cardio and strength-training, stretching also delivers significant health benefits. You probably already know that stretching extends your overall range of motion, while also elasticizing your muscles and enhancing coordination. But those improvements, in turn, bring about other health benefits.Overall, however, stretching after exercise can help you to optimize your joint range of motion. If you don’t exercise regularly, you may want to stretch a few times a week after a brief warmup to maintain flexibility.
When you’re stretching, keep it gentle. Breathe freely as you hold each stretch for around 30 seconds. Try not to hold your breath.Stretching is also beneficial to improve your posture. Poor posture—a common and increasing problem—can easily be reversed and healed with daily stretching.
Because stretching strengthens your muscles and encourages proper alignment, your body posture will.It is developed through the use of various stretching procedures. Presently, uncertainty exists about some proposed benefits of flexibility including its effect on injury avoidance, muscle soreness prevention, muscular strength training and performance improvement.Stretching just doesn’t have the effects that most people hope it does.
Plentiful research has shown that it doesn’t warm you up, prevent soreness or injury, contribute meaninfully to rehab, enhance peformance, or physically change muscles. Although it can boost flexibility, so what?This is not to say that static stretching should be eliminated from an athlete’s program, but it should be sensibly incorporated into the daily training regimen since chronic stretching can enhance the range of motion around a joint and potentially improve strength and power performance.The benefits of stretching in order to help improve tissue length have been proven over and over again in the research.
However, there is some mixed evidence that suggests that static stretching may actually hurt athletic performance.PHOTOGRAPHY: YULIA GORBACHENKO SUPER BABE CAROLINE KNUDSEN WEARING CHANEL FOR VOGUE RUSSIA JULY 2020 ISSUE MAKE UP: KATERINA ZOLOTO TRUBOVA HAIR: KRISTIN PIGGOTT Everyone knows that exercise is a part of healthy living, but do you consider a stretching routine part of your exercise program, or as an afterthought that gets done if Read More “The Amazing Benefits of Stretching”.Furthermore, 3 days of static stretching with aerobic endurance exercises did not adversely affect repeated sprint abilities (Wong et al., 2011). Much of the research would suggest that combining static and dynamic stretching may attenuate the deleterious effects of the static stretching within a warmup (Behm and Chaouachi, 2011).
There are a number of benefits associated with stretching — such as improvements in posture. Many people, especially those who sit in front of a computer for extended periods of time, develop poor posture as a result of overstretched back muscles and tight chest muscles. You get a hunched back and your shoulders hover just below your ears.Most stretching techniques (static, ballistic, and proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation) are effective in increasing static flexibility as measured by joint range of motion, but the results.
One research review noted the chronic effects of stretching, increasing ROM through time, as a benefit to performance involving stretch-shortening cycles (e.g., sprints, vertical jump, jump length, running tasks) (8).
List of related literature:
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| from Mosby’s Fundamentals of Therapeutic Massage E-Book | |
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| from Weight Training For Dummies | |
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| from Science of Flexibility | |
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| from Good to Go: What the Athlete in All of Us Can Learn from the Strange Science of Recovery | |
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| from Fit for Life: A New Beginning: The Ultimate Diet and Health Plan | |
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| from Advanced Marathoning | |
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| from Modalities for Massage and Bodywork E-Book | |
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| from Sports & Exercise Massage E-Book: Comprehensive Care in Athletics, Fitness, & Rehabilitation | |
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| from Methods of Group Exercise Instruction | |
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| from The New Rules of Lifting: Six Basic Moves for Maximum Muscle |
111 comments
Not going to lie I saw the Sabretooth action figure and immediately knew this would be a good video.
Keep these informative videos coming, I’m learning a lot from your channel.
What an amazing video, so sad to see such few views on this! Keep up this kind of quality and the views will for sure come!
Having a bad hip, if I don’t stretch at least every second day, I can barely walk. Stretching is vitally important. For me. Great job.
Great job done for real ������ it was hard for me to find accurate easy to understand information in a research, and you rock it ��������
I always stretch after each heavy set. Just the muscle group I hit on that body part. I find that it relieves the lactic acid build up when the muscle is maxed out and engorged in blood. The point about the placebo effect is valid too. Just the mere daily consumption of vitamin C, the hand popping the tablet in your mouth, triggers the immune system to get stronger. But it’s the exercise that has the most health benefits.I read an article about it in Muscle & Fitness years ago. And I haven’t stopped stretching since.
Can you do a video on how to grow muscle best? Especially if you are trying to loose weight at the same time? Great video by the way
Great content! You have answered every question one could have in a clear and concise manner. Really appreciate it:)
Is it possible as a very strong powerlifting athlete to obtain enough flexibility to do the splits? Thanks for the video, one of the best I’ve ever seen on this subject! ��
This is the best video i’ve ever seen about flexibility. A very accurate job! thanks
Hi, in a recent video from a fitness youtuber who also spends a lot of time reading scientific articles, she stated that cold stretching is actually more beneficial for increasing flexibility than stretching warm muscles. i noticed, that on this topic you said, that it’s common sense to stretch after a short warm up. have you ever read a study on this topic? i can’t seem to find any articles or videos that specifically talk about studies on this topic, but I’m also not the best researcher. would love to hear your input on this!
your videos is very cool and it really helped me structure my flexibility training sessions. thank you (:
Warm up and stretch before. Warm down and stretch after. That’s how I’ve always done it and never been injured ����♀️
So are the active and balistics stretching useful? Or in which situations should they be applied?
I was told that before doing exercise is better to do active or balistic ones and after the exercise static ones. Is there any truth on that?
Wait a second I have too many questions after watching this video xd
Are these tips meant for a regular person who is not too serious with flexibility training? Like if I want to get the flexibility of a contortionist, there is no way that 10 minutes of stretching per week would do it?? (I recently read the contortionist handbook and it said that beginners should start with 1 hour per day moving to 2/3 hours per day, 7 days a week)…..
Or did u mean 10 min of stretching/week per 1 pose rather than total time? I guess that would make more sense…..?
Im so confuuuuuseeeed I keep hearing different opinions:(
Step 1: be born hyper mobile and able to dislocated your joints
No.
Shortest story ever?
PS If stretching was beneficial, we would not need to be taught, we would be instinctively doing it…
DOMS is not a result of Lactate build up. Delayed-Onset Muscle soreness is caused the damage to the skeletal muscle fibers during exercise. The symptoms related to DOMS, swelling and inflammation, are in response to the immune systems attempt to repair the damaged fibers. Lactate accumulation is cleared shortly after exercise has stopped, whereas DOMS symptoms usually occur 24-72 hours after exercise. Hence, you get the name Delayed-Onset Muscle Soreness.
This is great video. It actually teaches people. Nice work. This is what I tell my work colleagues or research colleagues in my research lab when they ask the basic exercise questions to me. I greatly appreciate the real information that can help people in their training regimen, this is what I teach people.
I feel like streching serves me best after activity.
Maybe it works like a Massage in a way?
The current training for fitness instructors and personal trainers is to do some cardio to get the muscles up to temperature, then some dynamic stretching with the aim of maintaining the muscle temperature then the main exercise routine, then cool down, then static stretching.
The thing to bear in mind with stretching is that the more flexible a joint is, the less stable it is, so for purely strength athletes, they only want enough flexibility to allow for the range of motion of the exercises they are performing.
Dynamic Stretches fellow gym bros. For those that scroll before watching. #JeffCavalier
Stretching is Good, as long as it’s the RIGHT Stretch for what you’re about to do. And don’t forget some Potassium & Magnesium for that muscle soreness…
AND lots of water.
if you stretch before exercising you are actually just going to tire yourself out what you want to do is stretch after or do it like barre class and during so that way its an exercise in itself
i can now have my hands touch each other with the other the shoulder behind the back stretch with either hand
thx for this ha bisky vid
I noticed that if I am sore that stretching right before allows use of the muscle at close to full power yet it still hurts
Gymnasts do static stretches as part of their warm up and I would say they are pretty damn strong and perform incredible jumps. So it can’t really be that bad for you
I going in Gym and I first take at least 5 min on orbitrec, lightly adding levels in time and that is enought.
Very interesting to get the opinion on this topic by somebody so experienced.Best of health and happy holidays to you and your family John!
I haven’t watched this video yet, but I have doubts that stretching before exercise is a good thing.
One of my friends in college used to go to the gym and workout without stretching. One day he decided to do lots of stretching before a workout, because people kept telling him to, and he tore a ligament in his leg.
it is safer to strecth before to loosen up muslces so you dont get a pull, a tight muscle will cause a injury! most coaches do static then dynamic. you must strecth after the workout or game to loosen the muscles that get tight from the workout. shoalin monks strecth before and after and they are the best athletes in the world, anciet wisdom is better than confused science
I’ve been dynamic stretching this whole time and I didn’t know it. I think I learned it from yoga.
For those who don’t want to watch. The answer is no. Do a dynamic warm up. Google it.
I was expecting a degree of failure for some reason, but I’m glad to report that everything was according to the curriculum I memorized before starting my education to become a fitnesscouncelor:-)
I heard that stretching after the workout decreases soreness
you ever see a lion stretch before it takes down a gazelle?:P
Very well and simply put. I tell my clients that. And to make it so simple and clear can be difficult. Bravo!
thanks John… ive injured my lower back lumbar region to glutes because of deadlifting.. what advice can you give?
Whelp, I stretch before dance and boy does it make a difference
0:13 “Supposably” Really? I guess it’s SciShow, not WordsThatActuallyExistShow, but still.
Did -Show get acquired? Also, companies and apps that are named after adverbs automatically make me hate them.
He i just wanna say thanks. it probably took you a shit load of time to read all this literature. i want to go back to doing splits and i’m gonna use exactly the protocol you discribe. i’m sure i will have the splits back in no time:)
I read that it’s better to stretch during the middle of exercise and after, but not before.
Only static stretching after exercise helps me avoid the tightness and soreness of the next few days. Warm ups are far better before exercise than static stretching.
Dynamic stretching (e.g. Frankensteins) before a workout and a bout of static stretching before you are about to sit for a long time is what I’ve started to do lately. Helps a lot.
“I don’t believe in it. You ever seen a lion limber up before it takes down a gazelle?”
I would have liked to see a mention of Sever’s disease and Osgood-Schlatter disease. They’re very, very, very common amongst teen athletes! They are the main reason why young runners, basketball players, volleyball players, etc are supposed to stretch their knees/calfs/heels.
Uh yeah, I strained my calf not long ago because I didn’t warm up.
Ok first of all. The last time i injured my shoulder was the time i didnt stretch before lifting weights. I got injured a lot during that time. It wasnt until i added stretching in my routine before exercising that i stop getting injured. I never been injuered yet since i added stretching in.
Stop
I do light stretches as part of my warmup before I do light isolation exercises to get blood to the muscles, then I’ll do my compounds.
general hip and leg flexibility has improved somewhat since I started diligently doing so about a year ago. I hadn’t stretched much from ages 17-30. And as I got stronger, i tightened up even more and started hurting my back on deadlits/squats. After doing stretching I can do these with better range, no pain. I do the stretches when I’m not at the gym.
If I don’t stretch before I workout, I usually strain a muscle. Also, it gets all my old man joint popping out of the way. Why is there so much studying being done on something that takes a minute or two and doesn’t hurt anything? Now if I believed eating pizza and smoking was the best way to warm up, there would be cause for concern.
I like to “warm up” my food before “stretching” my stomach BU DUM TSSSHHH!
Stretching a “cold” muscle it’s like reving a cold engine you need a warm up by movement
I need to show my gym teacher this so the class doesn’t have to stretch before every run…
You mean lactate. Not lactic acid. That is a common misconception
I can never tell if sarcomeres are being serious or pulling my leg
Uh, no. it is good it enhances endurance, ease of range of motion, and prevents and helps reverse a cramp even as it is starting. I see you’ve never started walking up a mountain and then realized that you didn’t stretch because of the tired feeling in your legs. After stopping and stretching your leg muscles for about a half a minute each you resume your up hill walk with no tired feeling and it doesn’t come back, atleast not for a long while. There are more benefits but those are the most obvious.
You’re starting to gain some weight lately. How could an intelligent person who knows about science and a lot of things let this happen!
Yes. I think we don’t have a free well and I suggest making a video about it.
Thanks.
Never played football? We always stretch prior to a workout, and so do the pros.
Fake, stretching is because the same humans injure the nerves by pinching them and they lie they call it acupuncture which is a very bad thing
This was an extremely interesting video! Holy crap. This is one of those where I learned something that I can’t wait to share!
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i mostly stretch to stop my shoulders and back from hurting after sitting all day.
My cross country coach always made us warm up before we stretched (like jumping jacks) then stretching, then running 6+ miles, then stretching again to cool down after. EVERY DAY. I miss being skinny, lol!
You ever see a lion limber up before it takes down a gazelle?
NEVER STRETCH BEFORE A WORKOUT… DO A WARM UP INSTEAD. THE STRETCHING WILL CAUSE OVER COMPENSATION AND POTENTIAL INJURY BECAUSE OF IT DURING A WORKOUT. CHECKOUT ATHLEAN-X VIDEO ON THIS SUBJECT.
Idk about stretching but thumbnail helped me nut ty for that
Lactic Acid cannot be produced in The body because of the physiological pH of the muscle and proton consumption during glycolysis. Lactate is produced instead with hydrogen ion excess from ATP hydrolysis. This build up of hydrogen ions “metabolic acidosis” is considered a main factor in muscle fatigue.
This is why I quit my cross country and track team. They spent, it seemed, more time stretching than actually running. Before doing those two sports I ran by myself, with no stretching at all, and had no injury at all. All you need for a warm up for running is what he said, Dynamic Warmup. Jog for maybe five minutes, before doing your main workout.
Warm up before working out and stretch after working out. That’s the formuolli
Saw the thumbnail, thought the woman was holding a club in her hands…
static stretching if you want to injure yourself
dynamic stretching if you want to look stupid
working out to become swole
pick one
I personally get some really bad low back pain. Stretching my hip flexors allow me to use my abs and allow my low back to relax.
John, i hurt my piriformis while deadlifting over a year ago (was actually a really good day, altough i felt a little burn in my left butt cheek, and then it happened when i flexed my glutes at the top and it felt kinda like i ripped my ass off:P) I can still feel it in my hamstrings when i go into that position like i would when lifting heavy stuff of the ground. It’s gotten much better over the past few months (started stretching ;)), so im acutally squatting heavy again and pushed a new PR. But i still feel like it’s not a good idea to start deadlifting again as long as i can feel it in my hamstrings. Do you have any recommendation what i could do to fix it?
What about how the lack of stretching causes muscle spasms in the long run
What about stretching once you have completed an exercise routine?
every time i stretch BEFORE my workout for more than 5 mins….I AM NEVER SORE! when i don’t i am sore:(
Ask a Lion if it stretches before hunting a Zebra….and after sleeping for 20 h straight.
This is a fairly simple concept. If you are training with weights, you need sufficient flexibility to allow for full range of motion of each exercise. Anything beyond that is not beneficial. Given that the more flexible something is, the less rigid it is, you don’t want to increase flexibility too much, if you want to lift heavy weights. Maximum performance with weights is achieved through having a rigid base to push from or against, in the same way that you would be able to jump higher or run faster on pavement than on mud or sand.
In my experience stretching after the workout definitely improves the soreness the next day. By a lot. If I skip it, get cramps and horrible soreness. Otherwise, almost none.
JOHN THE MOUNTAINDOG!! YOU ARE THE GOAT OF THE INDUSTRY!!! FIRST COMMENTTT!!! You are one of the main reasons that I started posting fitness content on my youtube channel!! I follow your advice and tips all the time!! Thanks for the advice!! Please like so John can see this!
your take-away is that the most important things is actually to raise muscle temp. So what about literally warming up your muscles e.g. by starting off with extra warm clothing? And does this support the view that we need more of a warmup in winter than in summer? What about post-workout stretches/warmdown etc?
Placebo or not. Stretching makes me feel more relax and ready for the exercise.
I was always taught dynamic stretches before the workout, and static after.
Oh man haha. That thumbnail had me convinced that person was dragging someone by the ankle hahaha.
DPT here. I agree with his approach to research and addressing impairments.
Every single time I stretched before a hockey game, I’d get injured.
When I stopped the pre-game stretching I never got injured….well….except for that stick in the face.
Great line from the movie Zombieland. Woody Haroldson character. ” Stretching i don’t believe in it. You ever see a Lion strech before chasing a gazelle? “
Why don’t people like the video if they like it and are benefitted from it?���������� You(people) keep the knowledge though
I used to read tons of studies and argue about what worked and what didn’t. Then I realized that didn’t get me anywhere. So I decided to just be my own experiment and try things out. Stretching and foam rolling have saved me. That is my own experience. It might not work for others but I know it is a must for me.
I think dynamic stretching pre workout and stretching under load during the workout and ensuring I’m working a given muscle through it’s full range of motion works great for me.
Just like I always wondered… Did cave men stretch before hunting and gathering? Did Native Americans stretch before the went on a hunt, or folded down the village before they moved? Do 3rd world tribals stretch today before taking on exerting tasks?
from Abbott and Costello:
Mr. Fields: You know why you can’t do it? It’s because your brain is tootenths.
Lue costello: Too tense?
Mr. Fields: Too tenths the size of a normal brain.
This is the most comprehensive stretching talk I’ve ever watched. I learned alot thanks for sharing and Merry Christmas!
Don’t know about stretching, but warmup (better full body) before physical activity definitely decrease chance of injury and soreness. Also if you have muscle pain after workout you overworking them take a break from exercise till you muscles recover (little warmup should suffice to ease soreness/pain). If you regularly workout and increase load a bit each time (weight or number of takes) there shouldn’t be pain and/or sore muscles.
If you took a long break from exercises and then don’t go easy at first, then you definitely will get muscle ache.
Awesome video thank you so much for this information I appreciate this so much. Best video I have found on flexibility I hope you will have increased success on YouTube.
I can relate to stretching too much. I used to do a ton of shoulder dislocations everytime before pressing and once my left shoulder got dislocated during a bench set. Thankfully it dislocated at the beginning of the movement and I managed to put it back. I am still anxious to bench due to that experience.
Fantastic video, but if I may suggest an alteration to your final conclusion. How about suggesting a dynamic warmup at the beginning and then a static stretch at the conclusion. Increased flexibility does reduce injuries and increase agility in most sports. Stretching while your muscles are all warmed up makes your stretching more productive and less prone to injury during the stretch. Warm up first, exercise, stretch.
Oh no, I can no longer tell video dates by the growth of the bleached patch…
All time is lost…
I think it depends on the individual’s physical state and what they are trying to achieve. I spent my early years of lifting obsessed with Kelly Starrett and movement prep, but I found too much stretching and joint mobilization decreased performance if I was already mobile enough to get into a good position. There are newbies in my gym who I often see stretching their rear delts before bench pressing, and I don’t understand the logic. They probably spend much of the day hunched over with already chronically lengthened rear delts. They might benefit more from activation like facepulls
I definitely know what you mean about stability loss ( squat for me as well) due to gaining flexibility, kinda awesome to get more ass to grass but any loss is too much for my stubborn ego to work around if I’m honest. Any videos coming up for your top upper body stretches?
Great as always. When you speak it feels like experience is speaking. Love all your videos, thank you. Thank you:)
I do 10-15 second static stretches in btw sets and I feel like I get more out of the workout. I have been injury free for 10+ years.
Hhmmm… Well I guess I don’t have to stretch before my kegels workout anymore.
Dont confuse this with warming up though, getting ball and socket joints active is very beneficial
martial arts Bruce Lee
He wasn’t as big as bodybuilders but he was put together well.
I can’t get a bar to my chest. If i stretch maybe it would help growth. Range of motion thing
come on john this is your third consecutive video on stretching…..
I’m french it’s possible for you to create a vidéo with only exercices with no explanation.. for do the routine at home in the same time?
It amazes me how many guys I see lifting heavy, put the weights down and then just walk straight out of the door.
Stretching is as fundamental to getting into good shape as lifting weights and diet.
I love your content! It’s so thoughtfully put together and incredibly useful! Thank you ��
Ive been told stretching before a work out is more harm than good. I never stretch prior to my work out. I start slow, and like a cars engine only when i get hot will i go full out. Works like a charm every time. Same for sprinting. I dont stretch there either. I walk, jog, run, and finally sprint. Its a gradual ramp up. After that i can bang out sprints w/ out the walk, jog, run, i just throw down another one full blast.
I stretch after a few light warm ups snd continue to stretch between sets. If I dont stretch between sets I get tendonitis every single time. I also get bad charlie horses if I dont stretch.
I just started stretching this month and I’ve gotten better gains and better definition. It’s AMAZING the results. I also feel more alert and less drowsy.