Stretching Typology and Stretching Duration vs ROM

[snovotill]

And so 2018 brings us the following meta-study which unfortunately, is cartelled but I obtained the PDF through work:

The Relation Between Stretching Typology and Stretching Duration: The Effects on Range of Motion, ISSN 0172-4622

Among the claims are the following. I've related these to my own experience for the sake of discussion:

(1) All stretching typologies showed ROM improvements over a long-term period, however the static protocols showed signifcant gains (p < 0.05) when compared to the ballistic or PNF protocols.

COMMENT: Really? With a certainty of 2 standard deviations? I notice that the trials spanned periods encompassing from 4 through 16 weeks. Fascia having a half-life measured in months, it seems that this claim could well provide insights into neurological adaptations and relaxation effects. I almost want to conclude that an optimal routine might be a two-technique compound routine, which ought include stretching for neurological effect one day, and physical adaptation effect the next. I wonder what the ideal compound routine would look like.

(2) Time spent stretching per week seems fundamental to elicit range of movement improvements when stretches are applied for at least or more than 5 min, whereas the time spent stretching within a single session does not seem to have signifcant effects for ROM gains. No difference was found between the “between 5 and 10 min” group and the “more than 10 min” group.

COMMENT: Again, these studies are short duration so the requirement for physical change is likely different. I'd love to hear what some of the "late bloomer" succesful stretchers have to say about how long to hold a stretch and what sorts of phsycho-active substances you have to ingest so as to stay relaxed and thereby build flexibility, rather than strength. I do a heart-rate baroresonance meditation with hypnotic counting, or sometimes I rap on my muscles with a stick during or between stretches because I've seen on an ultrasound that the hydrodynamic pressure shock-waves travel far and wide, thereby supposedly (my imagination) loostening tissue deep within. I find both techniques very calming but IMHO it's not the secret sauce.

(3) Weekly frequency is positively associated to ROM. Evaluated data indicates that performing stretching at least 5 days a week for at least 5 min per week using static stretching may be benefcial to promote ROM improvements.

COMMENT: It takes me time to ease into a stretch. If I have to ease into a stretch 5 times a week and then hold it for 1 minute, that's not nearly as efficient as easing in once per week, and holding it for 5 mintutes. I've tended to injure myself, sometimes quite badly by stretching too often uhm, in a hot tub. What happens is I'll stretch Monday and that causes inflamation which is still present Tuesday, but on Tuesday I stretch again to the same joint angle and so a week or more of this and it tears, because an inflamed muscle is a shortened muscle! Due to this, I've actually given up on stretching more than 3 times per week and that's pushing it.

(4) A reduction in flexibility has also been progressively noted across decennial age groups ranging from 20 to 49 years of age [18], with an average 10 % decrease every 10 years.

COMMENT: This is tragic! Ten decades leads to 100% loss of flexibility in the average person. Quick! Hand me the maintenance guide!

 

On a completely different topic, some insights regarding relaxation:
https://brainmaster.com/kb-entry/?id=524
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56nLZyG87oc
It seems they're leveraging some primitive aspect of the social engagement system.

 

snovotill   \at\   gmail.com

[Rik]

Many people have commented on this before, but the issue with stretching studies is that stretching is just so damn personal. There are certain things like extending your spine along your thighs as opposed to in front of it in pike (something I only learned very recently) that make all the difference, and just doing a specific stretching technique is going to get some people to that point, and others not.

[snovotill]

11 hours ago, 161803398874989 said:

extending your spine along your thighs as opposed to in front of it in pike

To me the former is a bum stretch which I do in child's pose (straight legs if advanced but I can't),
and the latter is a back stretch which I do in shoulder-stand pose pulling my knees to the ground by my shoulders.

When I first started doing the latter I found that I'd injure myself if I didn't let the inflammation dissipate before attempting a second time in the same week.

[MarkusO]

On 11/17/2018 at 6:06 AM, snovotill said:

I'd love to hear what some of the "late bloomer" succesful stretchers have to say about how long to hold a stretch and what sorts of phsycho-active substances you have to ingest so as to stay relaxed and thereby build flexibility, rather than strength.

Why would you not want to build strength along the way? As for staying relaxed, just keep breathing.

[snovotill]

Flexibility before strength, rationale being that I want my neurology to understand the range of motion first. While it's difficult to impart strength in the face of flexibility training, I find it much harder to stretch an already strengthened muscle if the range of motion is not already in my past-experience muscle-memory.

[Jim Pickles]

Anyone got the full-text version of the article mentioned, that they can send us?

[michaelsamsel]

On 11/16/2018 at 9:06 PM, snovotill said:

. I'd love to hear what some of the "late bloomer" succesful stretchers have to say about how long to hold a stretch and what sorts of phsycho-active substances you have to ingest so as to stay relaxed and thereby build flexibility, rather than strength.

I am a late bloomer, starting mobility work at 55 and changing my body considerably in 3 or 4 years (with Pilates as well)  Random control trials might at times capture what usually happens, but they do a poor job studying excellence, that is what can happen but usually doesn't because of human factors. I think members of this forum are attempting excellence and some of us achieving it. You can't think and talk your way into flexibility, you have to work your body consistently. Of course you have to work at the 'edge' but the consistency criteria will take care of that since if you don't work your 'edge' you will get bored and quit when the novelty wears off (what usually happens). As for strength and flexibility, if you develop an excellent amount of both you can feel how they are related Check out on instagram kineticX/endrangestrength.