i'd have to disagree with couple of those articles that suggest stretching isn't helping much. i do agree that for a lot of people stretching really isn't helping them. but i think it is probably because they are not doing it long or well enough to be truly effective. i've been doing bikram yoga on and off since 2005. each full session is 90 minutes long and when i went daily for 30 days, there are huge improvements/benefits. but do to it daily takes a massive amount of dedication. factor in shower time, and drive to/from the studio, it can easily take up 2.5-3 hours a day. a 90 minute session in hot heated rooms (usually 105f) is not only a great workout, you stretch the heck out of your body and the results is positive in many ways. although initially taxing afterwards you feel relaxed, restored, and energized. it is also very healing and enhances athleticism no matter what sports you do. and put in enough time and effort, you can increase your flexibility. granted it might be a very slow process for some but, never the less everyone can improve their flexibility.
i highly highly recommend fellow members to give it try. dedicate yourself to it for at least 2 weeks and i promise you will feel significant positive impact in multiple ways.
nice!
that's one thing i've always wanted to try.. or.. just the ability to stretch in such a hot environment. When I boxed at this one "hood as fuck" gym, they turned the heat on, even in the summer.. So the gym was like a toaster oven. You were drenched after only ~5 minutes or so. You would also feel soooo loose while training. Man did you feel good the next day, as long as you rehydrated properly.
I favor stretching being beneficial most entirely due to personal experiences with it. There's times where i've stretched a ton the day prior, then the next day I feel springier than ever. Then there's also days where i've injured myself stretching, or just end up much achier. Then there's days where I put my body into a position that it should be able to get into, and I end up getting sore/straining something due to lack of flexibility. Then there was the LTMP stuff I wrote about in that blog section, where you stretch in between lifting/sets/MSEM sets etc; man I felt so damn good during that period when I was implementing high freq squatting with LTMP and then dunking/jumping. It was "permanent" flexibility, in the sense that, when I woke up, I could easily get my heel to my butt without any "working into it".. legs just felt so loose/springy. Love that feeling.
As far as running goes, I do feel much better performing the actual act of running, when i'm consistently stretching. Not sure if it's simply mental, or a combo of physical/mental.
but ya i'd def love to try Bikram Yoga one day. Just searched, found a nice Bikram Yoga studio ~20-30 min from me.
pc!
edit: all I know, is that my body should not be this tight.. and I shouldn't injure my rib simply twisting lightly.. or my hip just doing some very light hip stretches. It's pissing me off possibly more than ever, hence my stretching a ton lately.
