I’ll level with you now…
This letter is will piss a LOT of people off.
Why?
Because StReTcHiNg.
I’m about to pick it up, tear it to shreds, throw it around like a rag doll and knock it the fuck out 🤜
Ding Ding Ding!
”Ollie, what are you smoking?“
The truth pipe my friend. Packed with a blend of 1217+ anti-stretching studies.
And these studies show us that a lot of the claims and benefits of stretching are… a stretch (lol).
Shit. I should have become a comedian (cue eye roll).
But hold up… how can this be so? Almost EVERY personal trainer, physiotherapist, strength coach and celebrity (Hey David G..G…G…Goggins) supports stretching.
To that, I’ll leave you with a thought:
”The more popular an idea becomes, the more people will accept it without question”
Even if the data CLEARLY shows the opposite of what people claim.
And here my friends, we don’t give a flying f*&$ about:
- Feelings
- Biases
- Ego
We care about TRUTH. And we care about DATA. So with all that said, buckle in – because we’re about to set the record straight… and it’s going to be a rocky ride!
We’ll rip the band aid off straight away:
Stretching improves flexibilty, but it does not improve mobility.
How can that be so?
Because flexiblity is passive -You are PUSHED into a (passive) non-functional range, and improving this range does NOT improve muscle function or translate over to performance.
Mobility on the other hand is active. You CONTRACT or move into a functional (active) range, and improving this range will improve muscle function AND translate over to performance.
IF you want to read more about this yourself,
This is one of the BEST papers I have ever seen on mobility, flexibility, resistance training & stretching.
It includes 70+ studies and everything is explained in great detail 👇
https://revistas.rcaap.pt/motricidade/article/download/20191/15228/75198
Conclusion: “Improving range of motion“ to “increase performance” and “reduce injury risk” are all legit… IF those range improvements are via mobility. But stretching and flexibility will not give you these benefits.
Sorry 🙁
Ps. We’re at the point where disagreeing with this is like disagreeing with “1 + 1 = 2”. If you want to do that be my guest, but just know you’re choosing your feelings and ego over better results.
So… if stretching doesn’t improve mobility, whats the alternative?
Resistance training + ACTIVE mobility drills.
Both of these involve muscle contraction, which is essential because increased mobiity comes from improving a muscles contractile ability in it’s shortest position (the shortest position is where muscles become weak first and where it can appear as though you have limited mobility).
There’s some nervous system stuff too, but that’s for another day.
ps. here’s a shoulder mobility drill example I recorded for a client a few weeks back 👇
The “best” warm up = a lighter version of the activity you’re about to do.
And it:
• Prepares muscles + joints
• Primes your nervous system
• Reduces your injury risk
Alright. So the benefits make sense. But what does a good warm up look like?
Well I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it’s NOT stretching.
In fact, multiple studies show that stretching does NONE of the things above – and sometimes it can make joints LESS stable and INCREASE your risk of injury.
Here’s an example of one of those studies, which showed stretching durations of 30-45 seconds had little to NO benefit when done before exercise 👇
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21659901/
”But top athletes and sports teams use stretching!”
☝ This is a common response I get when telling people that stretching is a useless warm up.
But truth is, many of these athletes and sports teams DON’T use stretching.
For example, the FIFA is a highly effective warm up program designed for athletes who want to perform at their absolute best during training and out on the pitch.
Guess what? No stretching.
None. Zilch. Nada.
No – instead, you want to do a lighter version of whatever you’re about to do.
We’re resistance trainers in these parts, so that means:
- The same exercise
- The same reps / speed
- 50% of the weight
And if you feel 1 warm up set isn’t enough, that’s fine. Do a 2nd with 75% of your working weight.
For example, lets say you’re about to participate in international chest day and dominate your first 8 rep set of 90kg bench press – you’d do 8 reps with 45kg for warm up 1, and 67.5kg for your 2nd warm up set.
Make sense?
This is ALL you need to release adrenaline, improve your reaction time, increase blood flow…
Whilst preparing your muscles, joints and nervous system.
Twitter seems to be FULL of posture threads.
”Sitting for 6 hours a day destroys your posture – do these 6 stretches…”
Have you seen them?
I have, and it FUCKS me off. Because every posture thread with 5000+ likes signals to me that 5000 people have just consumed inaccurate information and been misled. Unfortunately, it’s an uphill battle.
And EVEN worse than that:
It shows me one more closed-minded fitness professional or fat loss coach who lacks the ability to read studies and think critically- it’s these peoples RESPONSIBILITIES to have the right info at hand.
Ps. Dear fat loss coaches, STAY IN YOUR LANE PLEASE.
(The all caps are out. Ollie mad.)
Truth is, posture is NOT linked to tight muscles – but is MORE often than not a result of:
– Your habits
– Bodily awareness
– Your anatomy
Resistance training can help improve the first 2 on the list, but you will never change anatomy, and you’re WASTING your time if you’re trying to improve posture by stretching:
– Tight hip flexors
– Overtrained chest
– Tight hamstrings
ps. Here’s a study of that last one, showing just how useless stretching is…
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22935854/
58 women came together to see if stretching the hamstrings would affect standing posture.
What they found?
Stretching improved flexibility (we already knew that), but had NO effect on standing posture.
Stretching has been revered and supported by MOST of the fitness community for years.
But despite that, the research CLEARLY shows it:
- Does not improve posture
- Does not improve mobility
- Does not help you warm up
My advice? Avoid stretching for the reasons above IF you want to save time or frustration.
And if you MUST stretch, you’ll be glad to hear it DOES help you relax and unwind (after a long work day or before bed) and/or reduce short-term pain – a bit like taking an aspirin for a headache.
We’ll explore these points further in the future.
Till next time my friend,
— Ollie E. (The Jacked Investor)
