I’ve written about the real story of warming up, the real story behind stretching, and have introduced the concept of restoration of movement variability. Now I’d like to submit some… Read more Practical Applications: Warming up and Restoration of Movement Variability →
Stretching, the most common form of warming up, is not an effective way of lengthening muscle tissue. In order to add actual length to a muscle you’d have to stretch hourly, every day, for a looong time. Stretching may yet have value as a manner of increasing awareness of movement options. But, do we need to stretch? There are many ways to increase your movement repertoire besides stretching. I call these methods of movement variability training. I think that much of the reported benefits of many popular movement methods, like… Read more Do We Need to Stretch? →
One very common method utilized for warming up is stretching. Stretching is commonly assumed to add length to muscles, improve range of motion, and therefore improve performance. However, research has made it clear that adding any lasting length to a muscle requires stretching every hour of every day for a loooong time. This is why people so commonly say “it doesn’t seem to matter how much I stretch, I’m always tight!” So if stretching isn’t effective for adding muscle length, is there any value in it? How well we cope… Read more Option Variety: The Real Story Behind Stretching →
Forward Motion 