Purpose of stretching

[Gwai Lo Dan]

Out of curiosity...are there other common stretches that folks here think are problematic?

For me personally, the worse one has been front splits. I'm not naturally flexible front to back (although I am naturally flexible side to side), and being able to put my body weight on the stretch has led in the past to slightly injuring myself as I did the stretch almost every day without let my body rest enough.

Now I still work the front splits, and am more flexible than I have ever been, but I am careful to take days off when I feel a slight nagging discomfort.

 

[tkdwarrior]

One of my pet peeves is instructors/masters yelling at students to stretch deeper or kick higher at the beginning of class. Even worse to me are instructors who go behind students while they stretch at the beginning of class and push the students farther.

If I have to lead warmups, I always say something like "Go as high as you are comfortable going. We're just warming up. Test your muscles and see how you feel". Then the Master comes and yells at the students to do deeper or higher and pushes them from behind .

One aspect of stretching and flexibility that Bill Wallace said was something like, "People think about flexibility as letting them kick higher. But more importantly, it lets you kick FARTHER, and in a bio-mechanically correct fashion."

The "bio-mechanically correct fashion" aspect is the part I think most people don't think about.

That is true what is biomechanically correct for you maybe different for someone else. We are all different. Stretching is a workout in itself and must be done regularly. And just like any workout you may have high and low days, during the high days edge it a little to get deeper in the stretch, the low days focus on breathing deeply even holding back a little. Yoga books are good resources for these stretches but as always use common sense and proceed with caution

It will take time. Be gentle with yourself

 

[RTKDCMB]

One of the best exercises for flexibility I have found is roller skating. Back when I did it every week was about the only time I could ever jump into the air and land in the full front splits without hurting myself.It's god for balance too.

 

[Laplace_demon]

People got smarter. We did a lot of stupid stuff years ago. Some stretches that were not the best for us Like "Hurdler's Stretch" kicking overly heavy bags. If I knew then what I know now i'd have taken better care of myself

Hurdlers stretch is done daily at my school. Guess they didn't get smarter...

 

[andyjeffries]

Hurdlers stretch is done daily at my school. Guess they didn't get smarter...

We used to do it at my school long after we should have stopped, but the head instructor wouldn't listen to me because I didn't have any proper scientific or medical references for it. When he passed away almost 3 years ago, the club immediately stopped doing that exercise and haven't done it since.

It's just not worth the damage it causes to the knee joints. It's also telling that places I've read online say that even elite hurdlers don't do this stretch, the warm up dynamically and stretch individual muscles.

 

[Laplace_demon]

We used to do it at my school long after we should have stopped, but the head instructor wouldn't listen to me because I didn't have any proper scientific or medical references for it. When he passed away almost 3 years ago, the club immediately stopped doing that exercise and haven't done it since.

It's just not worth the damage it causes to the knee joints. It's also telling that places I've read online say that even elite hurdlers don't do this stretch, the warm up dynamically and stretch individual muscles.

Outdated/harmful konditioning is indeed frustrating to have to put up with. Even sit ups is a regular over here, which I am told is very bad for ones body.

 

[TrueJim]

Outdated/harmful conditioning is indeed frustrating to have to put up with. Even sit ups is a regular over here, which I am told is very bad for ones body.

As I understand it, for some people classic sit-ups put too-much stress on the lower spine. As I understand it, double-leg-lifts (where your back stays on the floor, and you raise both legs at the same time) are almost as bad, but not as bad. I believe (though I could be mistaken) that it's the beginning-and-end of the classic sit-up that's the problem: the part where your torso is barely off the floor: for some people, apparently that puts too much pressure on lower vertebrae? The part of the sit-up where your back is mostly off the floor already is apparently okay? At our school, our instructors tend to replace sit-ups with:

• Alternating leg lifts, which apparently don't stress the lower spine as much? We often do these with a partner, where you grab your standing partner's ankles while you're doing this, and he forcefully pushes your legs back to the floor at the top of your arc. Personally, I find that these hurt my spine (but I have a weird spine: lots of upper-back problems instead of lower-back problems).
• Leg lifts where you keep both legs raised, and scissor one over the other, left-and-right, alternating
• Double leg lifts, where you keep both legs raise, and bicycle the legs
• "Crunch" variations of these, where instead of keeping your back on the floor, your torso is raised off the floor the entire time (these are difficult of course: you need a strong core for these)

 

[Laplace_demon]

We used to do it at my school long after we should have stopped, but the head instructor wouldn't listen to me because I didn't have any proper scientific or medical references for it. When he passed away almost 3 years ago, the club immediately stopped doing that exercise and haven't done it since.

Btw, which excercise(s) can replace the hurdles stretch, and not damage the knees?

 

[TrueJim]

From: What Are Hurdle Stretches LIVESTRONG.COM

Risk
The hurdle stretch carries a higher risk for injury than other stretches do. The hurdle stretch forces sideways motion of your knee joint, which is designed only to flex and extend, according to the “Personal Fitness Looking Good Feeling Great Teacher’s Resource Package,” by Charles S. Williams. The awkward torque on your bent knee places strain on the tendons and ligaments of the joint.

Modifications
You can modify the hurdle stretch to make it safer and less stressful to your knee joint. Instead of assuming a hurdler’s position with one knee bent at a 45-degree angle behind you, fold the leg you are not stretching so that the sole of your foot is tucked against the inside of the thigh on the leg you will be stretching. From there, bend forward to perform the stretch.

 

[TrueJim]

By the way, I just ran across this interesting guide as well:

http://www.public.navy.mil/bupers-n...sical/Documents/Contraindicated Exercises.pdf

And this:

The Complete Idiot s Guide to Short Workouts - Deidre Johnson-Cane Jonathan Cane Joe Glickman - Google Books

And this:

Safe and Contraindicated Exercises

 

[Laplace_demon]

I am looking for a direct equivalent of hurdlers stretch, not a modification of it, yielding identical stretching results, yet no (potential) damage inflicted on the knees

 

[Dirty Dog]

I am looking for a direct equivalent of hurdlers stretch, not a modification of it, yielding identical stretching results, yet no (potential) damage inflicted on the knees

Use the force, Luke...

Every movement carries the potential for injury.

 

[Laplace_demon]

Every movement carries the potential for injury.

But not for the knees, which is what I wanted to avoid in particular.

 

[Dirty Dog]

But not for the knees, which is what I wanted to avoid in particular.

If you're moving the knees, you can injure the knees. I've seen a tibial plateau fracture from a person stubbing their toe while walking. Walking. Stubbed toe. Trip to the OR.

It happens.

 

[Jaeimseu]

If you're moving the knees, you can injure the knees. I've seen a tibial plateau fracture from a person stubbing their toe while walking. Walking. Stubbed toe. Trip to the OR.

It happens.

Haha. My friend tore his ACL while standing on a bus. The bus hit a bump and BOOM. He had already had surgery twice before on separate occasions. This was his third.

 

[jks9199]

I am looking for a direct equivalent of hurdlers stretch, not a modification of it, yielding identical stretching results, yet no (potential) damage inflicted on the knees

The problem with the classic hurdler stretch is the p pressure on the bent knee. That knee bent to the rear doesn't really add any benefit to the stretch unless you actually are a hurdler - and I suspect it's not that important for them either. The simple adjustment of the foot position resolves the problem and let's you stretch the hamstrings and hip. I don't get what you are after. But if you really dislike it -- there are plenty of alternative hamstring stretches available.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

 

[RTKDCMB]

Hurdlers stretch is done daily at my school. Guess they didn't get smarter...

We stopped doing that stretch in my school about 15-20 years ago.

 

[Buka]

Btw, which excercise(s) can replace the hurdles stretch, and not damage the knees?

What body part are you trying to stretch, bro? We probably shouldn't use a replacement for a hurdler's stretch because it's an improper stretch to begin with.
The only people who should do that stretch are people who actually compete in the hurdles - and even then, it ain't good.

 

[Gwai Lo Dan]

I used to love the hurdler's stretch, but I didn't find it made a big difference in my front kicks. I found that doing hurdler's stretch made me better at ....the hurdler's stretch! I stopped doing it for many years, but started again about 3 months ago just to see if I can be where I was 25 years ago.

I don't feel any knee tension in the stretch, so the risk has never been something I've worried about.