Weighted stretching

[Mhmud_Pharaoh]

Hello everyone,
Yesterday i did 3 sets of alternating single leg pike stretch ×45seconds holds & pancake ×45 seconds holds also, both using 30kg weight on my back. My hamstrings felt ok afterwards, but today they are very sore, and I'm tight as if i was did heavy DLs not stretching . Did i do something wrong or that was because my hams were short and i should have tried lower progressions?

[SwissDanny]

Welcome. Intense stretching can make you very sore, and can result in injuries if done carelessly or you get unlucky.

You dont really describe your stretching experience, or how you felt during the stretches, so it's hard to say, but 30kg for a first time sounds like rather lot.

Stretch therapy approach is to explore new range of motion in a way that convinces the brain it's OK to let the muscles go that far, not about brute force.

[Mhmud_Pharaoh]

Thanks for your reply.

Well. I think because of my work and life routines where i keep standing or sitting for long periods of time which i think eventually is causing my legs to be always stiff. So I regularly do stretching or pvc rolling or yoga as much as i can even if i don't exercise.

This stretch didn't feel so savage anyways although i was pushing as possible, i think the only error may have been the speed at which i released the stretch. I was mainly aiming to tilt my pelvis forward as much as i can with the stretch. It's just that i have never felt this sore although i strained an abductor once when i was trying the same weighted stretching - i mean i went this far before.

I still feel tight n short on hams, do i wait till the soreness clears or what?

[Kit_L]

Mhmud_Pharoah, the advice that SwissDanny has given you is very sound, even if you do not like his message's packaging. He has a huge amount of experience in strength training and conditioning generally, and has done a large number of workshops with me personally and, accordingly, knows the Stretch Therapy system well. 

So, let me ask you: did you read all the threads on the forum that I detailed to you in your registration email? If you had, you would have seen that problems like these have been addressed multiple times before, which is why we ask all newbies to read them.

You wrote: 

Quote

It's just that i have never felt this sore although i strained an abductor once when i was trying the same weighted stretching - i mean i went this far before.

And, if I may ask, why did you not pay attention to that important lesson? If going that hard before caused a muscle strain, what stronger signal would you need to know that this is not the way to approach this activity?

Sorry to be blunt too, but to go as hard as you did before—which resulted in an injury—and somehow expect a different outcome is not honouring what your body tried to tell you before. And if you pay close enough attention you'll find that your body is different proposition every day and you need to pay attention to what it is telling you every time you play or work out.

This is the guts of the ST system: only you can work out how hard to go (in anything) and you modify your approach on the results. Because you cannot know the response in advance of having the response, the sensible person takes a precautionary approach and the first few times you try a new exercise you go at it gently and easily. Wait and see what happens; if not sore enough, go harder the next time.

And my opinion is that starting the single leg pike with 30Kg is really, really WAY too much. Most likely you will not have damaged yourself, but the DoMS you are experiencing today could last a week (I have had similar experiences to you; but I was pioneering these approaches and did not have anyone to guide me). You do, and the advice above is sound. Over to you now.