Comments on: To Stretch, Or Not To Stretch–Who Knows?

By: Are You Setting Yourself Up For Injury? | Health, Fitness, Exercise, and Weight Loss (66 pounds in 17 weeks)

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 13:37:27 +0000

[...] of the absolute best ways to guarantee an injury is by refusing to stretch. There is absolutely no reason that anyone should not stretch, even if you will only be exercising [...]

By: Debbie M

Debbie M — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 14:31:36 +0000

I suspect that a lot of the advice we hear but that makes no sense when we are young, flexible, in shape, and uninjured actually starts making sense later. For example, I’m still not that old in the grand scheme of things (I’m 45), but I am older than before and more out of shape. Stretching feels better to me now than it once did. For example, when I wake up and when I go to bed, it feels good to stretch. So probably that means it’s good for me. So I try to do it sometimes.

I think other advice like that you should warm up and that you should not squat down too far and that you should not let your heart rate get too high (I have gotten mine above my supposed maximum before) also can go from being useless to helpful as you age or change in some other way.

By: Cash Prizes Weekend Roundup… see end of post for more details. | Health, Fitness, Exercise, and Weight Loss (66 pounds in 17 weeks)

Sun, 17 Aug 2008 13:42:07 +0000

[...] To Stretch, Or Not To Stretch-Who Knows? Get Fit Slowly examines the research. [...]

By: New Series of Posts - Back to Basics: Exercise, Nutrition and a Well Rounded Life | Quick To Fit

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 15:21:34 +0000

[...] To Stretch or not to Stretch @ getfitslowly.com [...]

By: Metroknow

Metroknow — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 03:13:09 +0000

There is a very simple test you can do, which we did in high school: See how high you can jump, cold, no stretching. And then stretch seriously, and try it again. For everyone in our class, myself included, there were dramatic performance improvements after stretching. Same with speed tests.

On a related note, based on advice from a friend who attended music school, I did this same test playing guitar – he developed a repetitive injury in his hands from overplaying, and was shown a series of finger and forearm stretches to help. It helped not only the injury, but his ability to perform.

That also worked for me.