Do You Really Need to Stretch? - Muscle Myth #3 

I've heard that one should stretch dynamically before workout and statically right after the workout

Warm up before exercise, ie: warmup your rotator cuff/knee. Keep the joints all ready and blood flow. Stretch after your workout

Stretching should be done after exercise and warmed up; not cold, before exercise.

I think it`s good to stretch after workout because as i know stretching is relaxing your muscles

I do dynamic stretches before I lift and static stretches after

Warm up before exercise, keep the joints all ready and blood flow. Stretch after your workout

Dynamic stretching before. Static stretching daily or after workout.

I had back pain, strengthening my back and stretching my back made the pain disappear. If you want to go for the long run, stretch your muscles seriously the right way after exercising

For years I stretch in between my sets and after my workout. My flexibility for my size was comparative to ballerina,I was very flexible and my muscle grew much better. Then I stop stretching in between my sets and after my workout, I had lots injuries and my muscles don't grow well. Every thing in my routine was the same. Then I started the stretching routine and I was right back to my good old days, no more injuries or muscle pain and I started growing my muscle mass. Wearied!

i find stretching before leg day so important especially when doing squats

well....tell that to bruce lee

I have found that people equate STRETCHING with WARMING UP. And they are not the same. A WARM UP prior to exercise is necessary, but the warm up should be appropriate for the exercise that is about to be done. As you said in the video, some activities benefit from stretching beforehand, but some do not. For some people - especially those in my age bracket - it is hard to let go of the outdated idea that stretching needs to happen before all exercise. But as you share science/studies have proven that it is not the best thing to do to prepare for all exercise. Thank you so much for such a great (quick and informative) video!

from past experience, noobs that just getting started at lifting weights (especially free weights) will get the most benefit from routine stretching.. I used to be not able to perform proper squat even with empty bar without stretching my hamstring, ankle and lower back first. after a while, my body become more and more naturally mobile, that I don't need stretching before doing exercise.. instead I do specific mobility work after my regular training session (resistance band, foam roller, etc)

I like how this guy doesn’t say STRETCHING LE BAD WAA and actually goes into the good factors equally with the bad and shows things where stretching may be necessary for things like gymnastics which Is what I do so I support this and It’s also entertaining to watch

Funny how I come across this video as I thought about the topic of stretching to relieve muscle soreness. The next day after our company conducted an APFT, my battle buddy noticed that I was stretching a bit. He said, "Hey battle, I don't recommend ya stretching because you could do more harm to your muscles in this state because you're not warmed-up yet." I was like, "Mhm, thanks battle. I'll look into this..." I stuck with massaging the sore muscles groups instead for the rest of the day. But it got me thinking... because I have always heard that it is "best practice." This video was a great tid bit to explore that idea. Thank you for the upload. ^-^

I feel better stretching before basketball or weight lifting.

Stretching before exercise decreases performance and increases chance of injury. It's not good to stretch if your muscles are literally cold. A more dynamic warm up is good before exercise and static stretching is good after the workout.

Stretching after a run is vital! If I just sit down and forget to stretch after a long run all my leg muscles tense up and I can hardly walk!

Adding physiology of stretching would be a real plus. If the physiology is known, outcomes of mentioned studies is very easy to understand.

The main thing everyone forgets about injury prevention is the longterm. Being very inflexible means you have limited motion and your body will get injured much more often from twisting movements. Also there is no study on it but because a flexible person can work out their body in larger motions the muscles are likely to get further lengthened than the inflexible person; shorter muscles create restricted movement and particularly with after workout swelling the 'tense' feeling. Relaxation activities help to relax the muscles, stretching differs on its relaxation quality. Sports stretching can gain from incorporating yogic techniques for deep breathing and relaxing the muscles as you stretch; this is what I view as the difference between a really good and an average stretch. Shorter muscles are also slower, in some situations you may not react fast enough to prevent injury. Combining the limited motion, tense muscles and slow movement is a recipe for injury in my experience, particularly in weight lifters who have a lot of strength. Beginners in martial arts who are most likely to get injured fit into this category; guys throwing lots of power into movements their body is not used to almost always cause light injury to themselves at the very least. Also if you get pushed, punched, etc most people think tensing up helps but that INCREASES the chances of injury; instead you must be relaxed and roll with the motion when possible. Tense and slow people cannot relax or cannot move fast enough to go with the motion. Now you may be thinking 'but this only refers to getting punched and kicked, how does that make them more liable to injury in general?' Well this simply illustrates how you will react to most accidents, if for eg you fall over same goes; you should not tense up, you should roll with the motion and react fast enough. In Australia there is a strong gym culture which largely frowns on stretching; I see a lot of inflexible friends who injure themselves easily.

Mobility movements before a lift and static stretching post workout is magic for hypertrophy training.

In my opinion stretching is a part of overall Fitness.As per my understanding of fitness a person should be efficient 1.musculoskeletal strength 2.Muscular endurance 3.Cardiovascular Endurance 4.Ideal Body composition 5.Flexibilty @PictureFit what is your Take on Fitness?it would be great if you could do video on this topic.

Can you do a perfect athlete video? As in a perfect soccer player, perfect football player, perfect swimmer etc.?

I stretch twice a day, when I wake up and before going to bed. It became an habit with time. I never stretch before or after exercise, because my personal trainer told me not to. Now I know why she instructed me that way.

As a distance runner, I do a dynamic warmup before my runs and then a static stretching routine afterwards.

Prior to lifting weights, it's a good idea to do about a 10 min warmup cardio session (I usually do it right until I break a sweat) then do some mobility work/dynamic stretching before I start to lift weights. Then when I'm ready to start, I always do a warmup set(s) prior to doing my working sets. After I'm done lifting I then do static stretching, which in my opinion should never be done before you lift weights.

when I took my son to see one of the leading orthopedic surgeons in my area due to injury, the doctor told us that static stretching before activity has never been shown to prevent injury. additionally, he said that it can actually send the body into shock thereby causing the inverse of the intended effect making the muscles less flexible. from what I've learned over the years, it seems the best course of action is a dynamic warm-up before activity and then some static stretching after.

are you talking about static stretching or any form of stretching?

I disagree. I used to have knee sore from all the jogging for weeks. After looking up the problem and finding the source may be tighten hamstring/quad, which can also lead to lower back pain, I started doing stretch before jogging and that certainly reduced knee sore. Now I do my stretch while waiting on my green tea to brew, then go for the jog. =)

What i have understood is do dynamic stretches before workout so that ur body get heated up. A warm body is safe from injuries. And finally wind up your workout session with static stretching.

Dynamic stretching before (or none)exercising and static sometime before bed. That's the best advice I've had and what works for me anyhow.

I do warm up exercises before I lift light and medium weights. I don't lift heavy. I also hit the sauna after exercise. My routine has kept me injury free for decades. This was learned through trial and error. It's what helps me. You should find what works for you and stick with it.

The stretching mark on my left biceps say: "Do not stretch at any time!" (If you do enough sports outside of bodybuilding...)

As a capybara how much stretching should I be doing?

Stretching absolutely decreases the risk of injury in sports

There is a sweet spot for everything. Find it for yourself. David Goggins performs better after stretching. However his length of time for stretching decreased after opening up his tissues. It's about progression and you may have to stretch less as you progress in becoming stronger. Open up those tissues if you're extremely tight. Actually, while contacting one muscle, the opposing muscle lengthens.

Do You Really Need to Stretch? PictureFit : "yesn't"

please don't stop making these videos!!

To much to say, i'll try not get boring or mess the words: Stretching is a movement/exercise after an workout, with the goal to relax the muscle(s). You can stretch one or more muscles at a time, where the range (of stretch) is higher or fewer from your flexibility levels. If you stretch as you should, there's little to improve on flexibility from it. On other point, flexibility is an ability from human, you can really work, either active flexibility (the range you manage to achieve by yourself), passive flexibility (the range you can support to achieve), both of them static or dinamic way. Also will improve your range when you stretch.... If you don't stretch, you lose your range of motion, which means smaller biomechanical levels of strength (pure math), and as the army study mentioned on video, the age is primal, when your stiffness is quicker on muscles. Means you lose the range of motion faster.... Best regards

yes dynamic stretching definitely helps and prevents any muscle pulls for me. No more shoulder pain since I started doing dynamic stretches before

I fell off my stretching routine, my hamstrings and calves started to become so tight that they were pulling against my lower back and causing severe sciatic pain. I slowly regained my flexibility and my sciatica went away. I find that stretching is super important for managing strength and muscle imbalances.

Some mobility exercises before a workout and then a good stretch after is the right combination in my opinion.

You should be clarifying between dynamic and static whenever you say stretching. You should also do dynamic stretching before a warm-up to get the blood flowing and your joints warm. Ex. If you are going to sprint, you would want to do some knee raises and butt kicks before hand. If you want to max bench press, you should definitely warm up your rotator cuffs before hand. If you do not do dynamic stretching before hand, you're much more likely to get injured while performing intense exercise.

Stretching AFTER a hard workout can hurt your muscles and cause injuries. Only do stretching after light workouts

Stretching used to scare me because of muscle cramps. But I noticed since I started doing body weight and dumbbell exercises some what regularly, I almost never get muscle cramps anymore.

Why do most of these “stretching” studies emphasize muscle soreness? 1. Why worry about muscle soreness? 2. Who’s training regularly and is still getting muscle soreness?

I stretch before or after specifically to address any tightness or stiffness. If I know I am not utilising full range of motion due to reduced mobility I stretch, warm up and then squat etc. all the warnings about stretching reducing performance are about doing full blown long static stretching immediately followed by the the performance excersise. if I separate my squat from my stretching with box jumps and warm up sets the stretching will only help improve flexibility and only effect performance positively by helping me to achieve correct form

I like using dynamic stretches with 15 second holds before working out. Go any longer and you start to lose power. It's the sweet spot for increasing range of motion, increasing blood flow, and maintaining performance. You can also take advantage of the reduce power output by using it to reduce reciprocal inhibition in the antagonistic muscles. For example, do long static stretches on your hip flexors before squatting or deadlifting and you should see an increase in power as the antagonists will be firing less. For increasing flexibility, static stretching isn't super effective. PNF or loaded stretching is the way to go once you have a foundation of strength and your muscles/tendons can handle the load. When you start getting VERY advanced, you can even start doing ballistic work and cold stretching, but this is highly advanced and not at all recommended for 99% of people. The only ones who should go for this are circus performers, dancers, martial artists, and gymnasts.

Stretching prevents injury in all activities because it promotes greater flexibility and eliminate body pain. Almost all runners even boxers, it helps them to achieve their speed after performing enough stretching. Of course over stretching before running will reduce athlete's endurance. I do stretching almost every day and I've felt the great benefits in my body and even psychologically.

If stretching makes you feel better, by all means, stretch. Really depends on your objectives though. Martial artists may want higher kicks, so it would make sense to incorporate various hamstring and "split" routines into their training. A center fielder on a summer time soft ball team may have their own objectives for performing various stretch routines regularly. A 12 year old gymnast, may want better balance or just an increase in over-all flexibility to avoid injury. Whatever the desired end result is, self discipline plays a vital part of one's exercise regime. Once you know the reason WHY you'd want to stretch---simply follow thru on a regular and consistent basis. Not everyone will agree with what you do, and that's ok. They don't have to.

I'm 51--Athlete my whole life. Stretching is always important. Even more so as one ages. This is my firm belief.

I was taught to do dynamic stretching before an exercise to help a natural range of motion and to do static stretches after a workout to increase one's flexibility.

Before any physical activity, do mobility stretches instead of static stretches. Do static stretches on planned days to improve flexibility.

I running frequently, stretching to warm up, is always better to enjoy my running and get a best performance, and after that is most important too, the stretching avoids soreness and body hurt

Okay, understand the context in which these test were conducted. When it comes to studies on static stretching before lifting. The test protocol had athletes preform a static stretch hold and immediately preform a 1 rep max lift. They concluded that stretching reduced strength. That's how the test was conducted! Stretch prior to lifting and then warming up to a weight would have shown much different results.

1538 army recruits-no clinically significant reductions of injuries following stretches.

What stretching also can do for you is release tension on your muscles which helps you relax better.

I agree, stretching promotes flexibility and reduces injury before exercising. And a person like me that is on my 40s with lots of medical issues but wants to stay fit by going to the gym stretching is a must and I can totally feel my performance is better whenever I do my head to toe stretching with breathing exercises specially on my chest and legs day.

I never stretch. I warm up before a work out by jogging for about five minutes.

But there are 2 different kinds of stretching, dynamic stretching and static stretches. Dynamic stretching is when you are moving around done before a workout to get you warmed up and loose, think jumping jacks or leg swings. Static stretch is when you are motionless for a long period of time done after the workout to relax the muscle among other things, think 30 sec holds

My experience is that stretching does not prevent injury, it reveals injury. If the injury is mild enough, then you know how to exercise that day, taking care to not make the injury worse.

You absolutely need a warm up (even if its just stretching) because of the cells in your body and the way they work. Your muscles cannot instantly start working on 100% power. Ill go in more detail if anyone is interested

I prefer stretching after I workout, as a way to cool down my muscles and release knots of tension. I get tense really easily and stretching it out makes it a bit less sour later on. I don't really like stretching before workouts, unless it's a very dynamic/cardio kind, just because I need to be very warmed up before workouts.

I work construction, stretching in the morning helps me not pull any muscle, or hurt myself in general. I can feel it physically when I don't stretch in the morning, but that's just me

Stretching also increases the muscles to be more like a rubberband. Thus making it ideal for athletes who take physical contacts in a game. That’s why we say it causes less injuries.

I think most people confuse warming up your muscles with stretching. If you gonna do peak-performance you should warm up your muscles with some low intensity movement.

I am a taekwondo athlete and it is true that stretching beforeworkout lowers performance that's why I stretch lightly while warming up for a workout which doesn't lowers performance and actually prepares my body for the workout. After my workout is done I do a very intense stretching routine to actually get more flexible so I can do my sport better, it is also better to stretch after workout while still being warm because stretching while cold hurt a lot more.

I think the reason why stretching reduces strength is because there is lack of blood flow to muscle you're stretching, but if you shake that muscle out after along with quick warm up, then there should be no reduction in strength.

stretching is important if you're doing something that requires mobility. Increased mobility and flexibility is very important in running, so you can open up your stride and run faster. So I'd say yes stretching is important.

Well, as a martial artist, I would say stretching is extremely beneficial in conducting some of the movements.

stretch APART from your exercise, stretching prevent injuries, but it is a very stressful exercise. Most people confuse real stretching, which requires a session not shorter than 30 minutes or more, with simple flexibility warm up. IN SHORT: stretching is a tough exercise in itself. Personally, the day I do stretching I absolutely do not RUN or do heavy weight lifting. I can do no more than some punching bag.

i stretch since i got multiple injuries in 3 years of my early days. it helps relieve the pain and prevent injury for me

Static stretching my hamstrings, glutes, lower back and upper back after every weights session has completely eliminated the lower back pain and irritation I used to feel every day. I recommend stretching.

Back when I ran Cross Country in High School one of my best races was without stretching or a warm up. Not by choice though. Our bus driver got lost on the way to our meet and by the time he showed up the runners in my group were already lined up at the line ready to go. They heard that we just showed up and held the race for us. So I Literally got off the Bus after a good 60 minute bus ride, threw my warmups off walking up to the line then instantly ran a 5K with no stretching or warm up. And that was probably my second or 3rd best 5K I ever ran time wise anyway. Didnt even have my race shoes on either. Just normal street running shoes, lol. So maybe there is truth to this. I wasn't sore or injured afterwards.

I think stretching to increase your range of motion is one of the most difficult aspects of training altogether. Almost all other forms of training are slowly doing the opposite and shortening muscles. If your keen on resistance training but want to increase your flexibility to the level of let’s say a gymnast. You’ve a serious challenge on your hands. Body building and flexibility don’t go together very well and your flexibility routines will give you a slight increase at best. More often then not your just fighting to maintain your range of motion. Switch to circuits, and intervals as your main training component and you’ll see quicker results with increasing your range of motion. Static stretching every day held for a minute in the bind point. Another point worth noting is that sometimes you’ve got to use ballistic stretching and assisted stretching. Yes! they are dangerous but sometimes that’s the only way and it’s a risk you have to take An example would be a martial artist. He or she wants to be able to kick high sometimes you can stretch for hours every day and still not be able to kick high the only way is to use ballistic stretching. “You’ve got to go into the lions den” and put yourself in danger to achieve what you want. A lot of PTs won’t tell you this but it’s the truth. It’s a calculated risk but stretching is not always meant to be pleasant

+picturefit I've been competing in running for a while and we've always done two stretches with our workouts. Before doing a dynamic stretch while we are moving and a static stretch where we don't move after. But never to do a static stretch before.

Where the line is for over and under stretching before exercise is a bit of a debate, but flexibility is an absolute must for performance and injury prevention and no one will convince me otherwise. So the question is how does one increase flexibility in a health way? My experience is muscles stretch based on the load that is put on them during exercise so dynamic stretching is key versus static stretching.

dynamic stretching before exercise and after warming up and static stretching after exercise while still warm.

I actually need to stretch because I'm pigeon-toed and put together all wrong. So I get hip problems and back problems and knee problems unless I do it. And I've also found - and this is just me talking - that I never stretch unless I'm going to go exercise. So I will stretch before I exercise, knowing it's not really going to help to exercise.

If you're doing gymnastics strength training, theres a world of difference if you don't and do stretch. When I don't stretch the next day it feels like I got hit by a truck. It's not recommended, it's needed in this sport. It just depends on what sport you're doing

It helps me to relax after working out. I sleep better as well

Pretty sure I've read somewhere that you're more likely to cause muscle injury by stretching before exercising than after.

Typically you should stretch after a workout so your muscles are warm. However, as said in 1:24, if you have poor mobility and you're doing an activity which requires mobility, you should stretch first. A prime example is if you have poor shoulder mobility and you're going to do a weighted dip or overhead press.

Stretching definitely helps for workout recovery, not that I'm saying it's a guarantee for the first try. But if you do it consistently, you'll surely notice the benefits. Not to mention if you don't stretch for a long time, you will eventually into a stiff log. I have weightlifting friends who suffer from the same issue. I tell them to stretch, and they say they know they should do it, but they don't it anyway and so they suffer the consequences!

For the last 4 months I have preformed NO warm ups. I go straight into working out (full body, no bro splits or bullshit short cuts). On average I work out every other day but there are times that I say screw it and take 2 off. I can say from my own experience that I can preform a LITTLE bit better rep wise or trade for weight. Currently 5'7" at 187lbs with a 4 pack (genetics are a bitch). 31yrs of age and was 245lbs a year ago. Ima beast! (SOMETIMES on weekends I will do yoga. Seeing someone as short as me with my mass doing the splits or folding in half is just cool.) My own personal experience. Do what works for YOU and keep working on bettering your self!

Stretching helps with my flexibility and counteracting some acute injuries. If I don't stretch I'm prone to injury such as hamstring strain, low range of motion, foot cramps. Little things that release after i stretch.

IMHO: Short dynamic stretching routine before, static stretching routing after workouts. I found that not stretching at all for years only lead the injury and bad posture in my case. Since I stretch after workouts, I feel a lot better.

Simple dynamic stretching before exercise. Longer static stretching a few times a week after exercise.

I usually warm up before a workout and afterwards I cool down with a small stretch session.

I recently read about a study that found that changing your routine gives a higher chance of injuries. So if you stretch, you should continue doing that. If you don't stretch, don't start now ;-)

For those of you who think they shouldn't stretch anymore, that will all change the day you pull something. Happened to me. I started sprinting without stretching. Heard a pop in the back of my leg. My leg was sore for 3 weeks. Not sore like fro a workout, but sore in pain like something ripped. I was 24 at the time, and exercise regularly, so it wasn't because of age. After that kind of pain I don't care what research say, I'm stretching

I stretch after warming up a little to make sure I get the full range of motion without injuring the joints, like on squats.

Most people cant deadlift or/and squat properly , due to tight hamstrings, glutes, and lower back (but it doesn't require high level of flexibility), so i think stretching is important for all types of trainers.

Stretching should be done on the muscles that will be under tension. This means that you would want to make sure there is blood flow into your tissues that are going to be used. but, if you are going to stretch to lift I recommend stretching with weights and not 'Yoga style' where you hold a position in one place to maximum stretch. This will help you not be injured and also keep all your strength while moving the weights at the exact range of motion. Do stretch your max in Dancing and sports.

Stretching after doing weightlifting has actually DRAMATICALLY decreased my muscle soreness the next day, however i dont find it helps for other exercise. I stretch dynamically before any exercise to warm up, but im unsure if it has a big impact as i do just prefer doing it anyway to get my head in the zone.

I typically do some light stretching before lifting, but I mostly get loosened up by my warm ups (which is usually lifting lighter than my actual routine calls for)

Stretching is killing you gains -a wise man from YT

Stretching after exercise is just necessary. Every person that has made a workout knows that after exercising the muscles start to sore, which is something that doesn't happen when you stretch AFTER the workout.

Stretching before doing martial arts is probably beneficial, don't wanna start throwing head kicks without a little stretching, and stretching a muscle after you workout might not make it less sore, but saw a study that said that it made the muscle like 20% stronger or something like that compared to ppl who didnt stretch over a period of time. Would def keep stretching.

completely agree stretching never really promoted more injuries for me in weight lifting / bodybuilding aspect. i feel like it killed my mobility / range of motion. And for gymnastics type exercise or explosive sports exercise lack of mobility/range of motion promoted injury. But its funny just working out with free weights not stretching wasn't an issue for me all that much interms of strength. Though its very important to stretch for range of motion/mobility which is more important in later life. Also explosive power/plyometric based exercise your more prone to injuries because of lack of mobility/range of motion not some much your strength (i.e sports like wrestling, boxing , football ,..all are more prone to injuries from mobility lacking)