The Painful Truth about Stretching:
Passive Stretching=Bad...
Flexibility=Good...
STRENGTH+FLEXIBILITY=BEST!
Passive Stretch:
For decades, we've been told that it:
- prevents injury
- alleviates back pain and other muscle pain
- increases performance
- reduces post-workout muscle soreness
- is the only way to improve flexibility and range of motion
- should be used in a warm up or a cool down
But these are all myths. There is NO SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE to support any of the above claims.
- leads to injury
- only temporarily alleviates back and muscle pain, but ultimately aggravates dysfunction
- increases weakness and instability, compromising performance
- exasperates micro-traumas in muscle tissue, which is masked by the release of endorphins
- is the least desirable way to improve flexibility and range of motion
- should never be used anywhere in a workout program or routine (including warm up and cool down)
The Better Than Stretching Workout™ (above) creates supreme Strength and Flexibility
This may be new information to some of you. But remember, passive stretching does not equal flexibility. There are many other new and improved ways to gain flexibility!
To quote Emma Wilkinson from the British Medical Journal, on the subject of these new scientific findings:
"These findings are contrary to what many athletes and coaches believe and what is common practice, write experts in an accompanying editorial. Yet much of sport and exercise medicine and the management of musculoskeletal injury has developed empirically with little research evidence. The culture is changing, and this study makes a valuable contribution to the debate on stretching, they conclude."
Emma Wilkinson -British Medical Journal
Find out more about this new information on our "Science" page. And learn what you can do to increase flexibility, without compromising strength or increasing your potential for injury by checking out the rest of this site!
Try this!
Here's a clip from the workout:
