The 4S Rule: Static Stretching Still Sucks

For the long time readers of this blog, you will know I am not a fan of static stretching.   While it will not kill you or make your patella fly across the room and knock someone out, I still put it at the bottom of my list of things to try.

Carson at Boddicker Performance had a great video awhile back about static stretching that got me thinking again about it.

I did a MS in Mechanical Engineering, so I am familiar with the whole mechanical properties and geek speak that goes with it as most of my classes were in biomechanics and solid mechanics.  Solid mechanics is the advance study of how crap breaks.    I do confess that I can’t remember all the little details (ok, most of the details) from my Advanced Mathematical Theory of Plasticity class other than it made my life hell at the time.

Why No Love For Static Stretching?

My biggest concerns are

1) Push Into the Stretch

Somebody pushing an athlete into a stretch with no regards for the response from their body (again, not saying the viewers here are doing that, just in general) is a very bad idea.   I see videos of this all time and I have to shake my head about the risk/reward of doing it.

This just seems like a bad idea

I am sure there are probably some cases where it helps, but I don’t think the average trainer is skilled enough to do it and there are much much better ways to get athletes to move better. Pushing their limbs into an end range of motion and holding them there for a magical 5 count seems nuts.

2) What are you really teaching the body by stretching?

I believe you are teaching it weakness at an end range of motion.

Take any limb, push it to an end range of motion and hold it there until it gets “weaker” (yes I understand the differences in stiffness, vs flexibility etc).

I don’t want my athletes (nor myself) to be WEAK at END ROM.

3) Static stretching before an event reduces power output.

We don’t need more studies on this (see references at the end), but I see more and more studies on this all the time. Enough with the friggin studies, go find some better questions to ask.

Yes I know waiting or a dynamic mobility routine will change this, but if it decreased power and something else made them better, why would we waste time on static stretching?

4) Stillness = Rigid tissue

Thanks to Frankie for this one.  Holding a stretch is stillness (no movement) at an end range of motion = more rigid tissue.

The body will adapt by increased the rigidity (stiffness) of the tissue.   This is not a good idea.  Scar tissue is more rigid and is a good work around, but not as good as the original tissue.

Everyone agrees that the hip flexors and especially the psoas are “short” and tight now in most athletes.  How did they get that way?   Probably from all that sitting on your butt you are doing (myself included in that one too).

It is just an adaptation to a shortened position (the hip flexors are shorter in a seated position).  The body is ALWAYS adapting.

So why is it such a stretch (hahahaha, I make bad joke) to think that the body will not adapt to an end position of a static stretch? I agree you may “lengthen” the tissue a bit, but at what cost?  What tissue properties have you altered?

Movement = more flexible “happy” tissue

Making flexibly tissue rigid is a very bad idea.

Big Can o’ Worms Opened Up- Bonus Item!

Isometrics are not much better either.

Long plank holds are teaching tissue to be rigid.  Yes I understand all the studies that look at this, but it is also not very specific.  When does an athlete ever stay in a plank position for 60 seconds at a time in a game?  Hmmmm, how about never.

I understand that it is hard for many athletes to do long plank holds and they may shake like a leaf in a tornado and there is evidence that it may be a SCREEN for low back pain (reference McGill), but I don’t think athlete should be TRAINING this way.

I doubt a long plank hold will do crap for a fast volleyball spike in regards to core force transfer or a baseball player hitting a home run.

Low load, long duration movement has a very low chance of positively transferring to a very high output, short, explosive movement (hitting a baseball, volleyball serve/spike, etc)

We want the CORRECT tissue for the CORRECT job.

So If You Don’t Use Static Stretching, What Do You Use?

As I pointed out in this post on corrective exercise, I actually use exercise to correct issues.  Go figure.  But I don’t use tons of “corrective exercise work”

I have the athlete test the exercise (as shown in the Grip n Rip DVD) via range of motion and if it is good, the athlete is moving in the right direction.  The exercise is then showing a positive adaptation (instead of a negative one where range of motion decreases).    Simple.

Sometimes I will use some joint mobility work, but only when needed.  I only get as fine as needed and start with gross movements first based on this post on Purposeful Joint Mobility

Correct exercise under load is a powerful stimulus.

Yikes, off my soap box I go.

Comments

What do you think?  Do you use static stretching?  Has it helped?   What have you found that works?

rock on

Mike T Nelson

PS

If you want to make the best progress of your life just like over 100 other people, pick up a copy of Grip n Rip today!

REFERENCES on static stretching

1. Avela J., H. Kyrolainen, P. V. Komi. Altered reflex sensitivity after repeated and prolonged passive muscle stretching. J Appl Physiol. 86(4):1283-1291, 1999.

2. Behm D. G., D. C. Button, J. C. Butt. Factors affecting force loss with prolonged stretching. Can J Appl Physiol. 26(3):261-272, 2001.

5. Church J. B., M. S. Wiggins, F. M. Moode, R. Crist. Effect of warm-up and flexibility treatments on vertical jump performance. J Strength Cond Res. 15(3):332-336, 2001.

9. Cornwell A., A. G. Nelson, B. Sidaway. Acute effects of stretching on the neuromechanical properties of the triceps surae muscle complex. Eur J Appl Physiol. 86(5):428-434, 2002.

10. Cramer J. T., T. J. Housh, G. O. Johnson, J. M. Miller, J. W. Coburn, T. W. Beck. Acute effects of static stretching on peak torque in women. J Strength Cond Res. 18(2):236-241, 2004.

11. Cramer J. T., T. J. Housh, J. P. Weir, G. O. Johnson, J. W. Coburn, T. W. Beck. The acute effects of static stretching on peak torque, mean power output, electromyography, and mechanomyography. Eur J Appl Physiol. 93(5-6):530-539, 2005.

13. Evetovich T. K., N. J. Nauman, D. S. Conley, J. B. Todd. Effect of static stretching of the biceps brachii on torque, electromyography, and mechanomyography during concentric isokinetic muscle actions. J Strength Cond Res. 17(3):484-488, 2003.

14. Faigenbaum A. D., M. Bellucci, A. Bernieri, B. Bakker, K. Hoorens. Acute effects of different warm-up protocols on fitness performance in children. J Strength Cond Res. 19(2):376-381, 2005.

15. Fletcher I. M., R. Anness. The acute effects of combined static and dynamic stretch protocols on fifty-meter sprint performance in track-and-field athletes. J Strength Cond Res. 21(3):784-787, 2007.

16. Fletcher I. M., B. Jones. The effect of different warm-up stretch protocols on 20 meter sprint performance in trained rugby union players. J Strength Cond Res. 18(4):885-888, 2004.

17. Fowles J. R., D. G. Sale, J. D. MacDougall. Reduced strength after passive stretch of the human plantarflexors. J Appl Physiol. 89(3):1179-1188, 2000.

21. Knudson D., K. Bennett, R. Corn, D. Leick, C. Smith. Acute effects of stretching are not evident in the kinematics of the vertical jump. J Strength Cond Res. 15(1):98-101, 2001.

27. Marek S. M., J. T. Cramer, A. L. Fincher, et al. Acute Effects of Static and Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation Stretching on Muscle Strength and Power Output. J Athl Train. 40(2):94-103, 2005.

30. Nelson A. G., N. M. Driscoll, D. K. Landin, M. A. Young, I. C. Schexnayder. Acute effects of passive muscle stretching on sprint performance. J Sports Sci. 23(5):449-454, 2005.

31. Nelson A. G., I. K. Guillory, C. Cornwell, J. Kokkonen. Inhibition of maximal voluntary isokinetic torque production following stretching is velocity-specific. J Strength Cond Res. 15(2):241-246, 2001.

32. Power K., D. Behm, F. Cahill, M. Carroll, W. Young. An acute bout of static stretching: effects on force and jumping performance. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 36(8):1389-1396, 2004.

34. Wallmann H. W., J. A. Mercer, J. W. McWhorter. Surface electromyographic assessment of the effect of static stretching of the gastrocnemius on vertical jump performance. J Strength Cond Res. 19(3):684-688, 2005.

35. Weir D. E., J. Tingley, G. C. Elder. Acute passive stretching alters the mechanical properties of human plantar flexors and the optimal angle for maximal voluntary contraction. Eur J Appl Physiol. 93(5-6):614-623, 2005.g

Random Updates: How To Get Seriously Strong and Lesnar vs Carwin MMA Fight

Wanted to let you all know I have an article published at Faith and Fitness Magazine.

I need to thank my good buddy Jason Rhymer for the help on the article too.

Powerlifting: How to Get Seriously Strong

If you want to see how to get strong in record time while listening to YOUR body, check it out.

Lesnar vs Carwin MMA Fight

Wow, this is going to be a HUGE fight, quite literally.

My vote goes for Lesnar. I don’t think anyone can touch him when he is healthy.  I don’t think Carwin has a chance.

What do you think?

Comments
Let me know your thoughts on the article and who will win the big MMA fight!

Rock on
Mike T Nelson

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Motivational Monday: Fail to Succeed

I never get tired of watching this one!!

I am back from the ISSN conference and will have updates coming very soon!  I had a blast and learned tons of new stuff.

Rock on

Mike T Nelson

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Building Strength and Setting Personal Records with Gym Movement Biofeedback: An Interview with Chris Smith

Let’s get right to the point, you just recently did a powerlifting event and broke 2 state records, tell us about that.  You were even on the USAPL Powerlifting Watch.

First off Mike I want to thank you for contacting me for the interview!

I recently competed in the Orange County Powerlifting Championships in Pine Bush, NY. It was a USAPL meet and was my first powerlifting event. Everyone there was great and extremely helpful and I want to take this chance to say thanks one more time to everyone who took time to help me out. I competed in the Men’s Raw 148lb division and set two NY State Records: the squat with 303lbs and one in the bench press with 198lbs. Those were done at a weight of 137.4lbs. It was an amazing experience and I highly suggest that anyone thinking about competing give it a try. There is something truly awesome about going for a max lift and hearing people who you’ve never met before that day yelling for you.

Here is Smith’s 303 pound NY State Record Squat at 148

Here is Smith’s 198 pound NY State Record Bench Press

Here is Smith’s 402 pound deadlift

Awesome!  Are you doing another meet soon?

Yes and I can’t wait. I will almost certainly be doing another USAPL meet at the end of July, but nothing is 100% just yet. I’m training with that as a goal in mind.

What is your background and how did you get into powerlifting?

I’ve been working in health and fitness for about 5 years now, but I started working out and weight training when I was a freshman in high school. I was always the small kid and actually started training heavy right the start. I wanted to be as strong as possible and and that has always been my primary goal. Recently, I also started performing some feats of strength like nail bending and card and book tearing. I’m also a certified personal trainer with the American College of Sports Medicine and started Train Better Fitness in 2009.

With respect to powerlifting, I honestly just sort of landed on it. Like I said I have always trained heavy with strength and power as my primary objective, but never really with any competitive goal. It’s funny because I remember a while back a few people at my gym had suggested that I consider competing in powerlifting. At the time I didn’t even really consider it an option. Eventually it just ended up being something I decided I wanted to try.

I heard you were using some crazy biofeedback training as talked about in the Grip n Rip DVD, tell us about that.

I first heard about biofeedback training from Adam Glass when he posted his series of videos about it. I’ll be honest, I was really skeptical about it at first. But I trust Adam and believe that he would never promote something that didn’t work or that he didn’t firmly believe in. At first I just started playing around with testing ROM of different exercises, just to see if there really was a difference. I noticed other people I know say they were using the protocol and seeing some pretty good results so I figured I’d give it a try. I contacted a couple of people who I knew were following the protocol (such as yourself) for a little bit of help and started using it in different ways in my own training.

I’ve definitely noticed a correlation between exercises testing well with ROM and how well they feel while doing the movement. Recently I have been using my own intuition more and testing with ROM less. I remember hearing someone say that testing is a supplement to your intuition, not a replacement and I’ve found that to be true.

My favorite principles from the biofeedback protocol are the markers for terminating a movement. Stopping when you get excessive tension, posture shift, change in breathing pattern or when a rep becomes significantly more difficult than the one before it. I also watch for quality of movement and any speed changes. Those are great rules to follow, especially when looking to get stronger.

Nice!  Have you used biofeedback trainig on your clients?  What have been their results?

I have applied a lot of the biofeedback principles with my clients. When they first try the ROM testing most of them are really amazed at how different exercises can have such different results with respect to ROM. They’re even more amazed when I can tell them before they test whether the exercise will increase of decrease ROM. More than anything, just like with myself, I apply the markers for termination of a movement. They have been getting great results using it too. One of my female clients has recently gotten strong enough to do a few bodyweight pullups with no assistance at all. That’s something that a lot of guys in my gym even have a hard time with!

Thanks again for taking the time to chat with us today, how can the readers get ahold of you (shameless plug time, so plug away man).

No, thank you for having me here on the blog. If anyone wants to reach me they can check out my site at http://www.trainbetterfitness.com There is a contact form on the site that they can use to get in touch with me. While they’re there they can also sign up for my free newsletter. They can also follow me on Twitter@TrainBetterFit

Much appreciate your time Chris!

Comments!

Do you like these interviews?  What do you want to see here?  Let me know by placing a comment!

Rock on,
Mike T Nelson

PS

If you want to get the best gains of your life and reduce pain, you need to see THIS!!

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Off to the ISSN: International Society of Sports Nutrition Meeting in Florida

Just a quick note that I am off in a few hours to the ISSN conference in Clearwater FL.  It is a few hours later than I had hoped since Delta just pushed back my flight by 1:40 now.  Delta = fail.  Well, not quite yet, I just hope I get there tonight.

It should be a blast to learn some new stuff and meet new and old friends, despite the lack of sleep.

I will be wading hip deep through 2 days of scientific talks just to bring you the latest cutting edge information.

Don’t worry, I will be free to call BS when I see it too.  A statistical change of .005% may be true, but it is not going to help you.

If you see me there, please come up and say hi and introduce yourself as I would love to meet you.

Rock on

Mike T Nelson

PS

Come back tomorrow, as I have a great interview cued up that you won’t want to miss!