Personal Training Article #4: Stretching and Flexibility Training for Fitness and Martial Arts
May 5, 2009
Flexibility is something that needs no advocate. We all know that stretching is good for us. We all want to be more flexible. And none of us want to work for it. And unless we practice something that requires a high degree of flexibility, there is little incentive to push past comfort levels into potentially painful stretching sessions. That said, I am an advocate of stretching, and I’d like to discuss the benefits of incorporating stretching into fitness sessions, and the necessity of including it in one’s athletic performance and sports training.
After a session with a client last week I was asked about the stretching I have him do. We perform about 10 minutes of stretching at the end of our sessions, and no stretching beforehand. He said to me that back in the day, stretching was done before training sessions to prevent injury, and he wasn’t sure why, in principle, stretching ought to occur at one time over another.
And while this is a simple and important question, there is little conclusive information on the best way to incorporate stretching into fitness training sessions. I have read a great deal on the topic (and unfortunately the best resources on topic are consistently inconclusive), and there are those that advocate stretching prior to training for the sake of injury prevention, a preparing of the muscles and tendons for dynamic movement to come. And then there are those that advocate stretching post workout, because as you train your muscles contract, and contraction is tension which can remain in the muscles for hours after training. Stretching elongates these muscles after they’ve shortened and this at a time when the body is fully warm and malleable.
And then there are those on the fringe who believe in doing both, like myself. But I reserve this for training sessions involving a large range of dynamic motion and a moderate to high level of intensity…martial arts training. Let me lay out briefly the pros and cons of pre and post workout stretching before we move into performance stretching methods.
Pre workout stretching can prepare the body for intense dynamic training. But this need not occur at all in sessions that have restricted range of motion, like weight lifting or jogging. The best preparation for these exercises is a warm-up set at lower weights or speeds until the body warms and naturally stretches. Stretching before weightlifting can decrease strength if you’re lifting heavily, and increase strength on more dynamic and fast paced circuit or bodyweight lifting.
Most sports have developed sport specific stretches that are performed pre workout, and this makes perfect sense. They should be performed religiously. But if training for fitness only with isolated ranges of motion one needn’t be too concerned with pre-workout stretching because, in truth, most people carry too much tension into the gym. And stretching prior to a long warm-up not only increases the length of our training sessions considerably, but may also increase the chances of pulling a muscle and causing injury in an attempt to prevent injury.
I find that for 90% of trainees, training post workout makes a lot more sense. Your body is warmed up and with any luck more relaxed after you’ve exerted yourself fully. You feel more relaxed, and so are able to let your muscles stretch without adding psychological tension. And believe it or not, the most important key to stretching is not physical, it’s psychological. Most of the tension in the body comes from the mind. Relaxing the mind is the basis for flexibility training.
If you intend to increase your flexibility you must work from a warm and relaxed state. You can enter this state through long and gradually intensifying stretching sessions, or my preferred method, stretching after you’ve finished a hard cardio session. The legs will feel like Jello and will stretch easily. If you’re weightlifting heavy, you may want to wait a couple of hours after lifting, as weightlifting causes intense muscle contraction and it can take a long time for this tension in the muscles to dissipate. But this will take personal discretion and attention.
So, to sum up the above, for 80 to 90% of trainees, post workout stretching of 10 to 20 minutes is sufficient for muscular health and better recovery time. If you’re relaxed enough, its also enough time to make gains in flexibility. It will elongate the muscles after they’ve shortened from exercise, and it will force circulation to clean out lactic acid build up which causes soreness. Now lets discuss the needs of the few, stretching for those in dynamic performance sports or arts.
Stretching for the purposes of increased flexibility, relaxation, and health will be fulfilled through static stretching. Static stretching is performed without jerking or bouncing movements. After a long deep breath is taken in from a good posture, the stretch is performed slowly to the point of tension and then held for 10 to 20 seconds. As you hold this position, allow your mind to focus on the muscle being stretched, and consciously work to relax it and stretch further. Repeat 3 to 10 times. This takes practice. This is the safest method of stretching.
When we speak of martial arts training (or any other high intensity sport with a large range of motion) however, we need to introduce another method of stretching called dynamic or ballistic stretching. This is something that most sports authorities will tell you is unnecessary and dangerous. I tried in vane to listen to these authorities, and it lead to some of my worst injuries in martial arts. I believe that they are correct for the average Joe, but martial artists must incorporate dynamic stretching into their warm-ups.
Dynamic stretching moves the body through a full range of motion at moderate to fast speeds. It should be performed with straight legs, erect posture, and without any element of snapping. It should look like a straight leg swing, either up, to the side, to the back, or in a crescent motion.
Naturally, if done improperly, this type of stretching can seriously hurt you. But for a martial artist, not doing this type of training can hurt you more. You see, our bodies have a protection mechanism that causes our muscles to tense when our movements threaten the natural and normal limits of motion. This occurs to keep us from doing things that will tear our bodies apart. This mechanism can be counter conditioned through training.
When we move dynamically we tend to have a larger range of motion then when we are stretching slowly and statically. But in order to actualize this dormant muscular stretch we need to be moving quickly, and this is where the danger lies. Dynamic stretching should not be, pardon the expression, balls out, at first. It should follow light to moderate static stretching, and then be gradually worked into from lower levels and speeds.
The easiest way to injure yourself is to swing your leg over your head right out of the gate with no warm-up or pre stretch. In preparation for ax kicking or high front kicking, one should do 3 to 10 ten sets of 5 dynamic straight leg stretches to the front, starting at slow speeds and raising the leg to waist level. In successive sets, raise the height of the leg swing as well as the speed until full range of motion at full speed is realized.
I do know people who, after a lifetime of training, need no stretch before moving into a full speed dynamic kick. And while I can if I needed to do so, I never do so in training. I have had the full splits for over 15 yrs, and to this day I don’t enter a hard kicking session without a warm-up of 5 to 10 minutes (typically jogging), static stretching for the hamstrings, and dynamic stretching which lasts about 10 minutes.
I begin at speeds of 50% and use only 50% of my full range of motion. I move up gradually in speed and range of motion until I’m at 90 to 100 % of both. Denying yourself dynamic stretching will increase your chances of muscle tears and pulls if you throw high and hard snap kicks. Dynamic stretching tells your body not to tense through explosive movements, and so will allow your antagonist muscles to remain relaxed throughout the movement.
Static and Dynamic stretching are complimentary, but are distinct enough as to where they need to be trained individually and for different reasons. Dynamic stretching prepares the body for intense dynamic movement. It should not be treated as a method of increasing flexibility in general, though it will offer some benefits there.
Static stretching should be treated as injury prevention pre workout, soreness prevention post workout, and training for improved flexibility. But static stretching will not prepare you to kick, and dynamic stretching will not be the safest or smartest method of improving flexibility. Static stretching should be the method of improving and maintaining flexibility, and dynamic stretching the application of acquired flexibility.
Flexibility has a few other psychological and sport specific benefits in addition to the above. For those who have attempted to stretch for any length of time know well, stretching can be painful. It’s painful because we’re are tense, and we’re pushing our body against its limits…at least its perceived limits.
In truth, our bodies have a great deal of stretch that the protection mechanism mentioned above keeps us from actualizing. In order to call this extra stretch into play, we need to be in a proper mental state. You can’t stretch and attempt to fight the pain. You will fail.
Stretching physically is much easier if it manifests our mental flexibility and relaxation. A hard headed and tense person is reactionary and defensive. When the world differs from his perceptions there is a clash of forces. When a person sees the world as it is and accepts it as transient, his mind will cease struggling, and he’ll be at peace.
One’s inner state plays a large role when fighting a lifetime of conditioned tension within the body. If you want quick results and want to force yourself through this discomfort, or avoid the pain all together, you’ll fail. If however you see the pain of stretching as it is, if you can accept it, breath into it and allow your mind to relax, flexibility occurs naturally.
Flexibility is much more than a physical state. It requires an open mind and a mind and body harmony that can’t be forced. At the moment of stretching, mind and body must coalesce and embrace the discomfort, not struggle against it. When this can be done you’ll find the discomfort is gone and the muscles are able to relax into that dormant potential.
This is a skill that requires dedication, as in essence you’re fighting a lifetime of contrary physical and psychological factors. But it can be done, and is well worth the effort. Likewise, learning to stretch improves our mental relaxation and opens the mind. Tension and stress in the mind and body are synonymous. Physical relaxation comes from the mind.
Another benefit of flexibility training is improved coordination and speed. Relaxation and flexibility are the opposite of tension. And our bodies are muscular machines kept in balance through opposing forces. In order to push something, your chest and triceps contract, and your back and biceps relax. In order to front kick your quads contract and your hamstrings relax.
It is in this coordinated muscular give-and-take that movement becomes possible. If a person carries extra tension in their bodies, or they haven’t learned to relax in motion, then they appear uncoordinated and weak. This is the leading cause of the stereotype of muscle bound bodybuilders as oafish and slow. People used to believe that big means slow, and this is because in the past bodybuilders were focused primarily on movements which create tension.
In recent years bodybuilders incorporate a tremendous amount of lifting variety and stretching methods which compliment tension causing exercises. They are much better all around athletes today than they were in the past. Nevertheless, muscular strength can apply great force, but power comes from adding speed to force. And speed is generated when that muscular force is not slowed down by contrary muscular tension.
You may be able to squat 500 pounds, but if you cannot relax your hamstrings while you are using those powerful quadriceps to throw a kick, then your movement will lack speed and power. This is the reason you can find a slim martial artist capable of generating the power of a heavyweight boxer. The key is not in muscular strength, but in muscular relaxation, which is the foundation of speed. Coordinating opposing muscle groups to work in perfect harmony creates blinding speed, and speed creates killing power.
For those of you who are still with me, let me summarize those points of worth for practical purposes.
For Fitness (Assuming your training doesn’t require a large range of motion):
-Stretching pre workout is optional and should be moderate
-Stretching post workout is mandatory for health, improved recovery time, and flexibility gains
For Dynamic Sports (assuming your training demands a large range of motion):
-Stretching pre workout is mandatory, and should include static and dynamic stretching
-Stretching post workout is optional but recommended for health, improved recovery time, and flexibility gains. Static stretching is sufficient post workout.
For Spiritual or Mental Purposes:
-Stretching is the physical manifestation of mental relaxation and openness. It is also a gateway to self discovery and promotes mental flexibility and openness. It’s a circular relationship.
Things stretching will not do for you:
Stretching will not tone your body. Muscle tone is the product of muscular development and low body fat. There are no exercises that directly tone the body. Resistance training builds muscle, and low body allows that muscle to show.
Stretching will not increase muscular strength. Stretching your quadriceps will not increase your squat poundage. It will however increase your dynamic and explosive movements, by improving your range of motion and improving your ability to relax the antagonist muscle of a movement (while tensing the quads while front kicking your hamstrings will need to relax).
Stretching will not burn fat. Stretching is a no impact slow moving activity, requiring just a little more energy than sitting on the couch. If done in conjunction with resistance training or bodyweight exercises like yoga or Pilates, naturally fat will be burned. But this is not a byproduct of stretching. It’s a result of the resistance training.
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