# How often do you stretch?



## watching (Aug 25, 2018)

I guess stretching is something I never do enough. What is your stretching routine like? Do you stretch every day? For how long? Do you do it first thing in the morning or in the evening?


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## jobo (Aug 25, 2018)

Depends what you mean by stretching really, I have a stretch every morning when I wake up, to wake sleeping muscles, other than that, there's no real need to stretch, unless your trying to address a specific issue. The only purpose of stretching is to increase / maintain mobility, so if you are doing mobility training that's all the stretching you need !


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## TMA17 (Aug 25, 2018)

It's best to stretch (I'm told) after warming up or training when muscles are warmed up.  Training when not warmed up is not a good thing.  I don't stretch nearly enough but I'm about to really start focusing on it.  My flexibility is awful.  Always has been.  And it won't get any better at my age (42)unless I really work on it.


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## jobo (Aug 25, 2018)

TMA17 said:


> It's best to stretch (I'm told) after warming up or training when muscles are warmed up.  Training when not warmed up is not a good thing.  I don't stretch nearly enough but I'm about to really start focusing on it.  My flexibility is awful.  Always has been.  And it won't get any better at my age (42)unless I really work on it.


Unless you have an issue like an injured muscle that has contracted to protect its self, or muscle wastage, in which case building the muscle rather than stretching it is the answer then a lack of flexibility is a product of your nervous system restricting movement, stretching will do next to nothing to address that, movement, that reprogram your nervous system most probably will. Because movement is what you want for most practical purposes, movement is what you should train ?


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## TMA17 (Aug 25, 2018)

I’ve always noticed that doing actual movements is what leads to increasing flexibility, more so than stretching.  Is that what you’re saying?  A CrossFit guy I know once told me that too.


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## Monkey Turned Wolf (Aug 25, 2018)

TMA17 said:


> I’ve always noticed that doing actual movements is what leads to increasing flexibility, more so than stretching.  Is that what you’re saying?  A CrossFit guy I know once told me that too.


Not sure what he's saying, but doing dynamic stretching, and practicing the movements helps. I think what he's getting at is if you want to kick high, practice kicking high, so you build the muscles appropriately and can kick high. If he's saying just building muscle will improve flexibility, that's false.


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## Martial D (Aug 25, 2018)

watching said:


> I guess stretching is something I never do enough. What is your stretching routine like? Do you stretch every day? For how long? Do you do it first thing in the morning or in the evening?



Not as much as I should, probably. I generally spend 10 mins before training stretching out.


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## watching (Aug 25, 2018)

I have a Julian Michaels yoga DVD that I do sometimes. I guess that's kind ofnlike stretching.


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## lansao (Aug 25, 2018)

I try to stretch every day. Jumping jacks and a little jump rope, or a quick mile on the treadmill always helps me warm up. I put my heel up on an elevated surface about 5 feet off the ground to stretch my hamstrings and rotate the hip over to open up my hips (Muay Thai trainer taught me this one).

I also sink into a narrow squat (like a frog) while holding a vertical bar for support (side of power rack or something). When I’m down there I use my elbows to push my knees out (again for hips - carry a lot there).

Then I go to dynamic stretching for front kicks starting with chambers only and then including the calf. I like farmer walks and suspending myself from the pull-up bar for opening up my upper body. 

I also rotate my head in circles slowly to open up my neck before shaking it all out. Then I just try to stay “tonus” throughout practice.


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## LastGasp (Aug 25, 2018)

I haven't been taught MA in years, but now I have just recently got interested again, I do some stretching before every technique practice session, including (but not exclusive to) 'swing' kicks, straight leg (excuse my lack of knowledge of terminology!), which I start gently with until I feel loose. Being new to it, and no spring chicken, I'm careful not to overdo it, lol.


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## dvcochran (Aug 25, 2018)

TMA17 said:


> I’ve always noticed that doing actual movements is what leads to increasing flexibility, more so than stretching.  Is that what you’re saying?  A CrossFit guy I know once told me that too.


It certainly helps and is logical to a exercise regimen. But to significantly gain flexibility stretching is required. Think of it this way; if you wanted to build larger biceps then you would do more curls. If you wanted to be able to run 5 miles you would run more. If you wanted to run 5 miles faster then you would run more but you would do it with an emphasis on speed. Stretching for faster/stronger/higher/etc technique is along the same lines.


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## Kung Fu Wang (Aug 25, 2018)

watching said:


> What is your stretching routine like? Do you stretch every day? For how long? Do you do it first thing in the morning or in the evening?


You need to stretch your

1. arm - rotate one arm forward while rotate another arm backward, swing arms behind your head, next to your head, ...
2., spine - bend forward, backward, rotate left and right, rotate clockwise/counter-clockwise, ...
3. leg - kick leg back, kick leg sideway, static stretch, dynamic stretch, ...
4. groin - low stance. ...
5. ...

You may want to stretch everyday to develop it. You may only need to stretch 3 times a week to maintain it. It's better to stretch when your body is warm.


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## Danny T (Aug 25, 2018)

watching said:


> I guess stretching is something I never do enough. What is your stretching routine like? Do you stretch every day? For how long? Do you do it first thing in the morning or in the evening?


Dynamic stretching is the thing.
Move in the manner you are wanting to stretch for start lightly and increase the range of movement and the speed as you warm up.


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## Gerry Seymour (Aug 25, 2018)

watching said:


> I guess stretching is something I never do enough. What is your stretching routine like? Do you stretch every day? For how long? Do you do it first thing in the morning or in the evening?


Not nearly enough. And it shows. I stretch when I think about it, and I rarely think about it. When I teach classes, I stretch with students before and after class, but rarely do as good a job when I'm just doing my own workout. I'm just not very systematic about it.


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## Kung Fu Wang (Aug 26, 2018)

Besides MA skill/ability, which one is more important?

1. Strength?
2. endurance?
3. flexibility?

IMO, the flexibility is more important. If you stretch daily, your body can slow down the aging process. When you are 80 and if you can still swing leg over your head, your health condition is much better than average.


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## TMA17 (Aug 26, 2018)

Danny T said:


> Dynamic stretching is the thing.
> Move in the manner you are wanting to stretch for start lightly and increase the range of movement and the speed as you warm up.



My flexibility only seems to improve doing it this way.


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## jobo (Aug 26, 2018)

kempodisciple said:


> Not sure what he's saying, but doing dynamic stretching, and practicing the movements helps. I think what he's getting at is if you want to kick high, practice kicking high, so you build the muscles appropriately and can kick high. If he's saying just building muscle will improve flexibility, that's false.


I didn't say " just", but it's a simple question of fact that a big, plump juicy muscle that's full of blood, will stretch more or easier, than a withered skinny muscle that nearly dry of,  blood. So to that end yes increasing the CSA  of the muscle your having trouble with will help a great deal in increasing your mobility/ flexibility,


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## Gerry Seymour (Aug 26, 2018)

jobo said:


> I didn't say " just", but it's a simple question of fact that a big, plump juicy muscle that's full of blood, will stretch more or easier, than a withered skinny muscle that nearly dry of,  blood. So to that end yes increasing the CSA  of the muscle your having trouble with will help a great deal in increasing your mobility/ flexibility,


Last time stretching came up, you said muscles don't actually stretch.


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## Monkey Turned Wolf (Aug 26, 2018)

gpseymour said:


> Last time stretching came up, you said muscles don't actually stretch.


His answers arent consistent, nor based in science. But its not worth arguing, IMO, as long as OP notices all the other consistent statements regarding the best way to stretch.


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## jobo (Aug 26, 2018)

gpseymour said:


> Last time stretching came up, you said muscles don't actually stretch.


I think I said you can't stretch them to make them longer, you can increase the csa,/ blood to make them more elastic, if that's not what I said, it's what I meant to say


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## jobo (Aug 26, 2018)

kempodisciple said:


> His answers arent consistent, nor based in science. But its not worth arguing, IMO, as long as OP notices all the other consistent statements regarding the best way to stretch.


If I'm inconsistent i just May be correct some of the time, whilst quite a few are consistently wrong all of the time

But anyway, what's this science you have that says I'm wrong ?


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## Gerry Seymour (Aug 26, 2018)

jobo said:


> I think I said you can't stretch them to make them longer, you can increase the csa,/ blood to make them more elastic, if that's not what I said, it's what I meant to say


I don't think it's what you said, but I'm too lazy to go back and check my memory. It makes sense it would be what you were saying, since you were correcting my misunderstanding of stretching. In either case, thanks for the clarification.


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## pdg (Aug 26, 2018)

gpseymour said:


> I don't think it's what you said, but I'm too lazy to go back and check my memory. It makes sense it would be what you were saying, since you were correcting my misunderstanding of stretching. In either case, thanks for the clarification.



He did say that before.

And he also said it's not the case.

And he said dynamic stretching is better than static.

And he said static stretching is better than dynamic.

I think he covered all possible options over time...


Hit search, "stretch", posted by Jobo


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## dvcochran (Aug 26, 2018)

gpseymour said:


> Not nearly enough. And it shows. I stretch when I think about it, and I rarely think about it. When I teach classes, I stretch with students before and after class, but rarely do as good a job when I'm just doing my own workout. I'm just not very systematic about it.


That is a very good word to use to describe good stretching habits, systematic. For most people it is something that improves or decreases directly as much as we do it, or don't do it. There are a myriad of things that affect flexibility but consistency is the greatest.


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## Gerry Seymour (Aug 26, 2018)

dvcochran said:


> That is a very good word to use to describe good stretching habits, systematic. For most people it is something that improves or decreases directly as much as we do it, or don't do it. There are a myriad of things that affect flexibility but consistency is the greatest.


And my flexibility follows my activity. My program.is on hiatus, so I'm focused on mostly striking, and mostly hands. I do a good bit of heavy bag work, but not a lot of kocks, so my arms are showing better flexibility progress than my legs.


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## Monkey Turned Wolf (Aug 26, 2018)

gpseymour said:


> And my flexibility follows my activity. My program.is on hiatus, so I'm focused on mostly striking, and mostly hands. I do a good bit of heavy bag work, but not a lot of kocks, so my arms are showing better flexibility progress than my legs.


Entirely sidetracking the thread...what happened to your program?


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## Dirty Dog (Aug 26, 2018)

Stretching doesn't actually make muscle fibers any longer. What it does seem to do is stretch connective tissue slightly, and get the body used to greater degrees of muscle extension without sending off pain signals.


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## Gerry Seymour (Aug 27, 2018)

kempodisciple said:


> Entirely sidetracking the thread...what happened to your program?


A comedy of errors at the center where I had been holding classes. Irregular interruptions (they'd rent out the room without notice to me, close the gym without notice to me, etc.) made it tough to get new students into regular attendance and normal attrition whittled it down to nothing. Then they decided I needed to completely redo the contract since they had a new coordinator, and a miscommunication didn't get that to me, so they took us off the calendar (and didn't notice we were still having classes). Then they moved the mats out of the room and said they won't be putting them back. I could bring my own (which I actually own), but wouldn't be able to store them in or near the room.

In the end, though it was an easy place to work, they don't really seem to want the program there, though the last email I got was them reaching out to programs asking for referrals of other programs, so they could expand their offerings. I'm a bit bitter at the moment.

I was in discussion with the YMCA where we had started up, and thought we had some good negotiations going, but the director simply stopped replying. So, now I'm searching for a new location.


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## jobo (Aug 27, 2018)

pdg said:


> He did say that before.
> 
> And he also said it's not the case.
> 
> ...



It's entirely possible that I have contradicted my self over the last 18months or so as my understanding of this topic has grown / changed, but far more likely you have been selectively reading my posts, ??

Once you accept that you can't make a muscle longer, then dynamic and static stretching are equal but address current issues. Or one may be superior in one set of circumstances But inferior in another,


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## Gerry Seymour (Aug 27, 2018)

jobo said:


> It's entirely possible that I have contradicted my self over the last 18months or so as my understanding of this topic has grown / changed, but far more likely you have been selectively reading my posts, ??
> 
> Once you accept that you can't make a muscle longer, then dynamic and static stretching are equal but address current issues. Or one may be superior in one set of circumstances But inferior in another,


Did you mean to say "different issues" instead of "current issues"? (I doubt either is much good at dealing with current trade issues.)


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## jobo (Aug 27, 2018)

gpseymour said:


> Did you mean to say "different issues" instead of "current issues"? (I doubt either is much good at dealing with current trade issues.)


Yes it's my totally irrational predictive text again, that doesn't appear to have an off button


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## Gerry Seymour (Aug 27, 2018)

jobo said:


> Yes it's my totally irrational predictive text again, that doesn't appear to have an off button


It does a marvelous job of changing the point of the post.


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## jobo (Aug 27, 2018)

gpseymour said:


> It does a marvelous job of changing the point of the post.


Probably shouldn't have a Russian browser


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## Gerry Seymour (Aug 27, 2018)

jobo said:


> Probably shouldn't have a Russian browser


Are you using the Russian keyboard layout, too? I ran into that using the Hobbit's computer last week. It's really hard to type "google" in Cyrillic.


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## jobo (Aug 27, 2018)

gpseymour said:


> Are you using the Russian keyboard layout, too? I ran into that using the Hobbit's computer last week. It's really hard to type "google" in Cyrillic.


No, I'm using puffin fast browser, which I assume to be Russian as it keeps giving Google searches in Russian and asking me if I'd prefer them in english, that and the predictive text issue aside, it's fantastically a) fast and b) saves a shed load of data and works as a vp n to get round my countries restrictive internet policy


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## lansao (Aug 28, 2018)

Had a funny talk about stretching yesterday talking with my Sifu. The funny thing being that if you stretch every day you’re good but you get to a point where if you don’t for a few days, even just that slight difference in flexibility feels awful. That rang true to me for sure.

I’ve always feel like stretching regularly is as hard a positive habit to maintain as any other. I’m riding the consistency wave now but it’s possible I fall off the wagon some day (which will blow).


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## jobo (Aug 28, 2018)

Yes and no


lansao said:


> Had a funny talk about stretching yesterday talking with my Sifu. The funny thing being that if you stretch every day you’re good but you get to a point where if you don’t for a few days, even just that slight difference in flexibility feels awful. That rang true to me for sure.
> 
> I’ve always feel like stretching regularly is as hard a positive habit to maintain as any other. I’m riding the consistency wave now but it’s possible I fall off the wagon some day (which will blow).


, as discussed above , stretching has only two practicalpurposes , one to increase range of motion and two to maintain range of motion.

If your relatively happy with your range of motion, then all that is required to maintain it , is to move some where close to your full range of motion , say a couple of times a week, it doesn't magically disappear if you miss a couple of days.

Increasing it, is a bit more labour intensive. But still doesn't have to be come an obsession, that requires every day or else, it will increase slowly on its own if you keep pushing it a bit.

I put my music on, which is pleasurable and then do some pretty bad dancing to hit the movements i need, an hour of my favourite music isn't to hard a habit to maintain


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## Gerry Seymour (Aug 28, 2018)

jobo said:


> Yes and no
> 
> , as discussed above , stretching has only two practicalpurposes , one to increase range of motion and two to maintain range of motion.
> 
> ...


Great, now I have the mental image of the evil clown dancing like Elaine from Seinfeld. Thanks.


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## jobo (Aug 28, 2018)

gpseymour said:


> Great, now I have the mental image of the evil clown dancing like Elaine from Seinfeld. Thanks.


Quite possibly worse than that, I draw the curtains so the neighbours can't see, or they would be ringing the mental health unit


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## LastGasp (Aug 28, 2018)

lansao said:


> I’ve always feel like stretching regularly is as hard a positive habit to maintain as any other. I’m riding the consistency wave now but it’s possible I fall off the wagon some day (which will blow).



Stretching is the one thing about MA I don't particularly enjoy, never did. But as I'm just starting out again,  I need to. Just gotta buckle down to it I suppose.


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## dvcochran (Aug 28, 2018)

jobo said:


> Yes and no
> 
> , as discussed above , stretching has only two practicalpurposes , one to increase range of motion and two to maintain range of motion.
> 
> ...




I am guessing this is the wisdom of the youth.


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## jobo (Aug 28, 2018)

dvcochran said:


> I am guessing this is the wisdom of the youth.


I suspect Im some what older than you are ?


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## LastGasp (Aug 30, 2018)

I have just fortuitously discovered that my kitchen stool is the perfect height for me to pop my foot up onto, so now I intend to do a bit of stretching during any idle moments spent in the kitchen. Handy!


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## gucia6 (Aug 31, 2018)

watching said:


> I guess stretching is something I never do enough. What is your stretching routine like? Do you stretch every day? For how long? Do you do it first thing in the morning or in the evening?


I try to stretch a bit every day.
On the training days we do quite a bit of dynamic stretching as part of warm-up, and static during cool-down.
The gym sessions I also finish with 10-15 minutes stretching.

At home I stretch before going to bed to relax tensed muscles, and I hold each stretch no longer than 30 seconds and repeat the cycle 2-3 times. Whenever it starts hurting unpleasantly I stop, especially when it comes to hip flexors and groin stretch (oh, my problem zone  )


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## FriedRice (Sep 15, 2018)

You should stretch after the warmup and after the workout.


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## Kung Fu Wang (Sep 15, 2018)

gucia6 said:


> On the training days we do quite a bit of dynamic stretching as part of warm-up, and static during cool-down.


The correct sequence should be:

1. warm up,
2. static stretch,
3. dynamic stretch.


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## jobo (Sep 15, 2018)

Rather than go back to the beginIng here is an artical on stretching, where ,when and what type and what effect it has on performance , injury ir not

The 5 Dumbest Stretching Myths | T Nation

And another on the benifits of static stretching pre exercise
Long Live Static Stretching! | T Nation


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## dvcochran (Sep 15, 2018)

jobo said:


> Rather than go back to the beginIng here is an artical on stretching, where ,when and what type and what effect it has on performance , injury ir not
> 
> The 5 Dumbest Stretching Myths | T Nation
> 
> ...


That is an interesting article and I found several other articles that agree.  I suppose it is the extensibility mentioned in the articles that I always called muscle lengthening. The "older" term that was often used is elasticity. It is hard to argue that there is short term lengthening from repetitive stretching but it is not permanent. The change is the body and minds ability to ignore the signals hardwired to protect the muscles. In essence changing the setpoint of when those signals are triggered. I do think his use of cadavers was an invalid study as he was working with dead tissue. This practice was mentioned as bogus in some of the other articles I read.


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## Deleted member 39746 (Sep 23, 2018)

I don't stretch, i only do warm ups pre exercise.


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