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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][b]I think that the evidence on stretching is mixed[/b].  Don’t do it if you don’t want to.[/quote]

I'm sorry what??  :lol:  :lol:   Oh such a controversial concept - stretching!! The newest, craziest fad to hit the market!

[/quote]

PP is right that there have been mixed evidence on stretching over the years. But that's largely because people stretch incorrectly. For years people were encouraged to stretch before exercising, before their bodies were warm. That's definitely wrong. Now people are more appropriately told to at a minimum warm their bodies first, but if you are older you may have gotten other direction as a kid.

Also, people have often viewed stretching as a way to increase flexibility -- literally how far your body can bend in a given direction. But proper stretching should be done to improve mobility, which is a much more complex metric. If you are highly mobile and have some baseline flexibility, it doesn't really matter how bendy you are (unless you are an athlete or dancer or something). And people with hyper mobility often have the opposite problem, where they are too bendy and it can make them injury-prone.

Also also, people tend to overemphasize static stretching -- the classic stretches where you move into a pose and hold it, maybe breathing into the position to try and lengthen the muscle. This part of stretching, but people with limited mobility often get more rewards out of dynamic stretching, where you move through a series of positions slowly. I am the PP above who mentioned how I learned a series of stretches that greatly reduce stress on my lower back. Only two of them are static stretches. Most are dynamic. Which also makes them less painful and easier to do.[/quote]

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