posted March 17, 2000 03:57 PM            

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Would a powerlifting routine affect flexibility?

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posted March 22, 2000 12:34 PM         

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if you do not perform some type of warmup flexibilty training while doing any type of training or not your muscles will gradually loose their elasticity and you become stiff. so As long as you incorporate some type of full body stretch prior and after your workouts then you should be fine. Also by stretching prior to all workouts you increase your muscles ability to fire and function by like 20%, and greatly decrease the risk of injury, so its an overall good practice

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posted April 09, 2000 10:02 AM            

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I WAS TOLD SOMETHING DIFFERENT BY A STRENGTH COACH OF A PRO FOOTBALL TEAM. HE SAID TO WARMUP BUT DON'T STRETCH BEFORE THE GAME, B/C YOU WILL LOOSE QUICKNESS AND STRENGTH A MUSCLE THAT IS TOO FLEXIBLE BECOMES WEAKER. I WARMUP AND STRETCH BY DOING LIGHT SQUATS ON LEG DAY

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posted April 09, 2000 02:58 PM         

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not to flame you or anything but the advice from that coach is giving is some of the worst information that i have ever heard. Stretching b4 doing any form of exercise can increase the muscles ability to contract up to 20% more efficiently. By not stretching before any form of exercise one greatly increases their chances for injury. You can look this information up in almost any scientific journal and they all support stretching. If anything stretching out everyday is a good practice for all people of all ages. It keeps the elasticiy of your muscles up and helps release some of the toxins that get trapped in muscle fibers, and helps avoid stiff joints. Remember this is not a flame, just my thoughts on the matter.

He has one point that makes sense. Too much flexibility causes joint laxity and makes one prone to joint separation, and usually means that the muscles surrounding the joint are too weak to hold it in place. Most people that claim to be double jointed are examles of this. There really is no such thing as a double joint, rather the joint is so loose that the person is able to dislocate and relocate the bones that make up the joint. Which is the point im trying to make by saying that stretching and flexibility are good practices but you can take it too far [this usually takes a long time or can be caused from bouncing when stretching so don't bounce] Well i hope that you got something out of all that. train hard.

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posted May 02, 2000 01:18 AM         

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First off, I would like to comment on your posts and pay you a compliment. They are always well-written, intelligent, and informative. However, on this topic, I would like to add a slight rebuttal for others to think and ponder on. I, in no mean, want to bust heads with you intellectually, for you seem like an extremely intelligent and informed person. Well, here we go.

Five studies have examined the effects of stretching before training on injuries and none found a beneficial effect. Australian Dr. Rodney Pope and co-workers tried this again, but with a more controlled and larger group of men. They studied 1,500 male army recruits randomly assigned to stretching and non-stretching groups during basic training. At the end of twelve weeks there were "no significant differences in the incidence of injuries between groups. In retrospect, performance in the 20-meter dash, a test of speed and power, best predicted who would get injured. This study shows us that fitness and muscle power rather than pre exercise stretching, bets protects you against injury (MSiSE).

Until recently, popular wisdom and almost every coach and exercise book counseled people to stretch before exercising. Stretching, thought the experts, reduced the risk of injury and improved sports performance by allowing athletes to move their joints through a full rang of motion. During the past few years, a number of studies have cast doubt on this long-standing practice. Stretching before exercise decreased vertical jumping capacity and maximum weightlifting strength. The negative effects on performance may last as long as one hour after stretching. However, stretching also improves muscle compliance, which may prevent injury (theororized). So, we are faced with a dilemma: how can we warm-up to prevent injury without impairing physical performance? Based on current evidence, the best advice is to warm up using low intensity exercise and practice the skill at less than all-out effort. Stretch at the end of your workout when your muscles are war, and performance is no longer needed or important (SCJ).

Trust me, this is not a flame at all, or a crack at you. I just wanted to put this information out there, to be seen by others. This way, they may be informed from all areas, and make a wise, educated decision on whether or not to include pre-exercise stretching in their routines, thanks. Sorry for being so long.

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posted May 02, 2000 01:55 PM            

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A tight muscle rebounds quicker, but has a greater chance of injury. I stop the stretching 4 weeks out from a meet. I can tell a difference in my pop at the bottom of a squat.

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posted May 02, 2000 03:47 PM         

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KING
good job explaining all of that. I guess this is just going to be a topic that everyone has their own oppinion on. Althought the original question was "can a powerlifting routine effect flexibility"
my answer still is YES IT WILL. the entire purpose of stretching is to open up the muscle fibers and prepare them to perform greater amounts of work. By avoiding a stretching routine especially in powerlifting the muscle fibers will gradually loose their elasticity and become very tight. To illustrate this concept i will put it this way: As the muscle fibers loose their elasticity and tighten up they respond very similar to that of a denim bench press shirt and as you all know there eventually comes a time when those shirts will blow out when they have shrunk it too much or been used too much or you get to big for it or the weight just becomes too much for it, and POP it tears. The flexibility routine is just a preventative measure that we should all take to minimize the risk of ever blowing out a pec, delt, hamstring, quad, or any other muscle for that matter.

AND king as i read the study that you posted earlier it made me start thinking a little. here is my conclusion. Basic training and powerlifting are like apples and oranges. They are still fruit but different kinds. Basic training is a series of highly intense mainly aerobic and some anarobic training. As long as these men were running everday, climbing trees, and swinging from ropes they were ultimately putting themselves through a rigorous stretching routines also (ballistic stretching) . Their muscles are basically firing at a high intesity most of the day. And as they continue to nurish their bodies they push the lactic acid through their systems and their bodies are forced to adapt to the situation much more rapildy And as a result you don't really see any of these men come out of camp ready to bench 400 or more, squat 600 or more. But they can run a mile in 5 minutes and climb trees and shoot a gun acturatly.
MOST powelifters hit it hard in the gym for about 1-2 hours and that is it go home rest. this gives the muscles more time to build up lactic acid in the muscle fibers. And allows the muscle fibers more time to repair themselves and grow. Well that is my $0.04 on the matter. Good topic

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posted May 02, 2000 08:24 PM         

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Well oversized, you did it again and kicked my ass on a topic. Anyway, I do realize I got off of the original question and topic, but I thought that I would expand it, which, in turn, may expand people�s thoughts and knowledge. I agree with you that a stretching routine is a necessity to anyone who lifts weights. However, my purpose in posting my opinions was to question the timing of this stretching and not the importance. I fully agree with stretching and its effects (except for it preventing injuries in full). I believe and think that stretching after your workout might be more beneficial for a couple of reasons. First, your performance will not be diminished so maximum lifts will be allowed and permitted during your workouts, instead of being decreased. Second, this still accomplishes the muscle compliance people are looking for and increased elasticity in the muscle fibers as well. Three, in theory I would think that post-workout stretching rather than pre-workout stretching would, if consistently done, accomplish the same things, to a more beneficial level. If done after your workouts and maybe another time during the day, elasticity and compliance of the muscles would not be compromised.

Well, I suppose this is the time when you reply again and tear up my ideas. It was my incompetence that did not think about the army recruits� daily routines, which could have also effected the results of the experiment. Well, go easy if you care to reply.

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posted May 02, 2000 10:07 PM         

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IM GONNA THROW THIS GOD DAMN PIECE OF SHIT COMPUTER THROUGH A WINDOW. I TAKE HALF AN HOUR TO WRITE YOU A RESPONSE AND THE FUCKING PIECE OF MONKEY CRAP SIGNS ME OFF AS I AM WRITTING MY LAST LINE. FUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
DAMNIT BILL GATES FIX THIS OR IM PULLIN OUT ALL MY STOCK ASSHOLE!!!!!!!!!!!

sorry i needed to vent i think my NATURAL test levels are just makeing me a little to aggressive.

ANYWAYS king,
in no way shape or form did i intend to insult or flame you . Your post was so good that if anyone else read it then they would strongly believe that stretching was not important and since i believe so strongly in it i just couldn't sit by and not voice my opinion on it. i Still think that stretching before your work out is better then waiting until after. i believe it to be like a mini warm up set for the muscles that releases some trapped lactic acid and preparing the muscles for work. And in no way does it compromise the integrity of the muscle fibers, actually studies have shown that stretching increase the neuromuscular output. TRUE stretching does not make you invinceable to injury but it is a preventative measeure. That is mainly why i believe in doing it BEFORE the workout. If you are trying to prevent something then you do it before the activity. Think of it like this: a condom is used to prevent a girl from getting pregnant and prevent you from getting an STD right. well do you put it on before you start pounding away and dump you load all in her OR do you put in on after the sex is all over. Well try to think of stretching in that context anyway. Overall that is my final answer and good discussion

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posted May 02, 2000 11:19 PM         

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Likewise, i had fun.

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posted May 03, 2000 08:15 PM            

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Not if you keep stretching every oter day.

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posted May 03, 2000 11:38 PM         

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Whats your opinion, 2Thick?

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posted June 12, 2000 05:45 PM            

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Monstrosity, my strength coach told me the same thing about how you shouldnt stretch before working out, one of the principles of my program is to "never stretch a cold muscle!" Instead of stretching beforehand, I do a series of speed and agility drills, alot of form-running stuff that really can work up a sweat. Ive found that this helps me to get deeper during my post-workout stretches and has improved my flexibility, I havent noticed a difference in my lifting since I stopped doing it beforehand, but stretching afterwards has made me more flexible. I believe that stretching is an essential part of a workout, and should not be disregarded (which I see many of my friends and people at my gym doing). this is just my opinion and experience, I do not mention to contradict any of you other guys.

Snap-Dragon

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Its not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog- Paul "Bear" Bryant

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