Stretching

[allison]

Just read this letter and the corresponding responses on CyclingNews today...

http://www.cyclingnews.com/fitness/?...letters04-30#8

Thought it was kind of interesting and wanted to get some interesting discussion going on about who stretches, how often..

Stretching confusion

I am a 30 year old cat. 3 male, and have been road racing for five years.

I was looking around the internet the other day looking for some suggestions on stretching routines. Some of the articles I found though (including Wikipedia), were claiming that stretching actually decreases athletic performance and does not contribute to injury prevention. I've always practiced before and after workout stretching routines as well as incorporating yoga into my weekly training. Could you please explain where these claims stem from and suggest an optimal routine?

Scott Saifer replies:

Thanks for the awesome question. This is a very controversial topic and here's my best effort to cut through the controversy and provide a balanced view. The evidence that higher levels of flexibility impair certain sorts of exercise performance (especially running and jumping sorts of exercises, and repetitive motion exercises like cycling and running) is incontrovertible. The absence of evidence for stretching preventing injury is pretty convincing too, but some people swear they have to stretch to keep their back or knees functional. What's going on?

The missing component in the discussion is something like "unless you need it". If you take a large group of people, split them into a stretching group and non-stretching group and compare their results a few months later, the stretching group will do the same or worse on running or cycling tests.

However there is also a subset of athletes who need to stretch to rehab from an injury or to avoid exacerbating an injury. For instance, some people clearly can clear knee pain or back spasms with appropriate stretching, and will suffer if they don't stretch. And clearly if one of these people were to have been stretching regularly before the first onset of their injury, they would not have gotten the injury or it would have been less severe.

So the negative results are probably in part the result of selection criteria for the studies: If you have knee or back pain you don't get into an exercise study. If you look at the whole normal population, you'll find that for the vast majority stretching is neutral or detrimental. For those few that are susceptible to injuries that are amenable to stretching, stretching is beneficial.
Now consider people who can't get comfortable on a bike. The majority of them are trying to ride bikes so poorly fitted to them that stretching won't help. If the position was bad enough to cause an injury, they'll mostly get injured whether they stretch or not. There will be a small group however whose positions are close enough that stretching makes a difference. Exercise and stretching studies are generally not done on large enough samples to identify such small effects though.

Stretching does improve performance in "flexibility sports" such as gymnastics.

Dave Fleckenstein replies:

The truth is that there is no one correct program for all. Ideally, we would all have a very individualized system of stretching and stability based on our specific needs. In general, I don't prescribe stretching as a short term performance enhancer. Flexibility is of value for those individual who have restrictions preventing them from attaining correct alignment due to soft tissue and joint restrictions. Often I have seen bike fitters adapt the bike to someone's pathology rather than correct the pathology (or guide them to someone who can correct it), usually because they do not recognize normal from aberrant motion patterns.

Here is a previous post that I wrote the last time stretching was an issue on the panel:
The main question here is what is the most effective way to lengthen collagen, the primary building block of connective tissue? I like to think of collagen as an unusual type of spring. With stretching we are trying to lengthen, or deform the spring. While force is the most effective way to deform a regular spring (how hard we pull it apart), time is the most effective way to deform the spring of collagen. Healthy, mobile tissue generally looks like nicely combed hair under the microscope - all the fibres are aligned in parallel, allowing the 'spring' of collagen to be mobile in certain directions and resistant in others. Restricted tissue tends to look like fibres of a furnace filter - randomly aligned (which is actually the cross-linking of collagen tissue) and generally resistant to any motion.

My overall thoughts regarding stretching are as follows, based on research and my clinical experience:

1) Low load, long duration (LLPD) stretches are the most effective ways to permanently lengthen tissues - in simple terms, time is a more effective way to lengthen tissues than force.

An interesting observation is that there are certain tissues that we want to stretch and certain ones that we don't. The same way that time is an effective way to lengthen the hamstrings; prolonged slumping (either sitting in a chair or sitting on a bike) can also lengthen the collagen fibres of the disc and supportive ligaments of the spine. This results in a loss of integrity of the disc and premature breakdown.

2) 30 second stretches, contract/relax stretches, AIS stretching, etc., do not permanently lengthen tissue, but can result in transient improvements in flexibility.
My clinic is full of patients who have performed this type of stretching for years, notice a short term benefit, but no cumulative improvement. Why? Because I don't think collagen is affected with these stretches, the nervous system is. The nervous system plays an important role in regulating how tissue moves. These types of stretches affect mechanisms that regulate the tone of muscle tissue - how much contraction is going through tissue at one time. These can be effective ways to reduce spasm or provide short term increases in mobility.

3) There is an optimum amount of flexibility. If there is not some resistance present in the connective tissues, we don't transmit forces well - it is dispersed within the tissue. Indeed, some professional athletes that I have seen demonstrate marked tightness, but they are able to prevent those forces from transmitting to structures that are not designed to disperse stress. I think that these are the athletes who picked their parents well and have a physical gift. I certainly have patients that are too flexible as well, but it is generally not their hamstrings, hip musculature, and hip flexors that are too mobile. It is usually the musculature and structures' surrounding the spine and this is not good.

4) Flexibility is not something that should just occur when we are "warmed up," it should be present permanently. This enables us to move correctly throughout our day, through all motions. My general rule is that I want local spine stability (to protect and maintain optimum alignment of these highly reactive structures) and lumbopelvic musculature flexibility, so that our pelvis can move correctly and provide a well-aligned base for the spine.

So, what seems simple is not so simple, after all. In many of the studies that found negative results of stretching, tissues that should not have been stretched were lengthened, creating problems. I often see athletes selecting very poor stretching techniques, such as bending forward to touch their toes thinking that they are stretching their hamstrings when they are actually placing huge forces and stretch on the disc and ligaments of the spine. Studies that look grossly at applying one general stretch across a highly variable population will generally end up with inconclusive findings.

Many thanks for a great question and I look forward to discussing this more!

Dario Fredrick replies:

If we examine the available research, there is no compelling evidence to support either the ergogenic or detrimental effects of stretching on exercise performance, and apparently none that directly examine endurance performance -- which is what's relevant when talking about cycling & road racing. Of the available research on the topic of stretching and exercise/strength performance, the evidence is divided. There are a few published studies that have looked at stretching and its effects on explosive muscular efforts or strength endurance (typically measured as maximum # of repetitions of a strength exercise such as a leg press at a percentage of 1 repetition max. weight), but as mentioned, the results are mixed.

I think it is useful to consider stretching as simply a tool, much like training or a heart rate monitor. A tool is only as useful as how it's used. Using a specific example of stretching & cycling, some cyclists who have tight external hip rotator muscles have difficulty pedaling in an aligned fashion. Their knees tend to draw laterally away from the bike, particularly as they reach deeper hip flexion at the top of the pedal stroke. This can require greater activation of the adductor muscles (inner thighs), resulting in more muscular work for the same power (lower efficiency). While we can accommodate these common pedaling mechanics to some degree through proper fit (wider Q-factor, wedges, etc.), increased mobility/flexibility of the external hip rotators can improve pedaling mechanics and efficiency in this situation over time. The evidence supporting this example is anecdotal, but experience and feedback from many cyclists over periods of months and years are worth considering.

Regarding yoga practice, as you probably know it is much more than just stretching. Yoga provides us with a set of tools as well, and its goal on the physical level is to develop harmony in the body. There are multiple styles of yoga that emphasize alignment rather than just increasing flexibility, which is what I recommend and have been teaching for more than a decade. My study and teaching of the postures is strongly influenced by the Iyengar method, and I emphasize to students the focus of balanced alignment at both the musculo-skeletal level and at the level of the nervous system. For example, enhancing parasympathetic function (counterpart to the stress response) of the autonomic nervous system using yoga postures is clearly beneficial to cyclists as a proactive means of improving recovery. Regarding a routine of yoga-based stretching recommendations, here is a sample of my Yoga Handbook for Cyclists with three poses that cyclists find helpful (http://www.wholeathlete.com/document...andbook_IT.pdf).

Let me know if you have more specific questions related to your pedaling mechanics and body expression on the bike.

Thought it was kind of interesting that they seemed to say studies show it doesn't really benefit cyclists. Not talking about yoga specifically, but cycling in general.

I was always under the impression that as cyclists our hamstrings got really tight from never really being stretched out, so it was better to stretch before/during/after to keep them from shrinking too much. I guess I never considered "performance" when thinking about stretching.

Anyway, interesting info. I'm not going to change my "routine". Lately after cycling, aside from a fairly quick stretching routine (including bending at the waist!), I've been doing a 10 minute "cycling" yoga mini-work out aimed at getting rid of the "rounding" cyclists get. I think this more pertains to roadies, but it still feels good to stretch out the upper body/back.

[Red Ryder]

I'm surprised no one has said anything yet. Interesting ideas on stretching.

The stretching I do is related to some injuries I've had. Twice a day I do a full range of movement stretches for my neck and lower back. If I don't, I'll stiffen up and I'll be in pain. Both my lower back and neck were injured in separate accidents 34+ years ago. The only other stretches I do are for sore muscles. Its the pain that reminds me to stretch. Its the pain that's the motivator.

Other than that, I don't stretch. You'd think on a long hard ride, I'd stretch, but I just do an easy couple of miles for a warm up.

For my "low" level of riding, I don't think I'm impacted by a lack of stretching.

[bighit8]

I have to strectch everyday from prior injuries also. If I dont I am so tense the next day it is hard to move.Mainly my lower back.

[L8 APEKS]

I just started stretching again 2 days ago. Have not been active in martial arts in a couple years, where I used to be "forced" to stretch...and I really miss my flexibility.

[sdyeti]

I like to stretch because it feels good.

Also, there is some evidence out there (saw it in a book a massage therapist friend of ours has) that stretching helps counter cell death (cells tend to die when they get too rounded). Over time, could this cell death have detrimental effects? The book purports yes.

Not trying to be vague (I just don't know all the specifics) but honestly, data can be spun in many ways.

[OMR]

I have such mixed feelings about stretching... I'm going on 67 and have never really stretched much during my life. I have never been prone to injuries and have done my share of damage to my body in biking, climbing, diving (sky & skin) tennis, snowboarding, skiing. etc, etc... I think the only time I've felt compelled to stretch was after a long bout of driving in the car or sitting on an airplane. Initially, I've always thought it was good for you ... but somehow have never done it.... I guess it comes down to each person is different and what works for one does not necessarily work for another.

PS Nice post Allison

[kanga]

Allison thanks for cross-posting. They're really interesting points of view.

I was a gymnast for 12 years and into martial arts for 12 years (overlapping), so stretching has always been a part of my routines. It is possible to over-stretch and do damage. A few years ago I was doing a lot of Ashtanga yoga and my hips got so flexible that they'd pop and hurt when I was doing certain maneuvers while surfing. I've since backed off to less frequent yoga sessions and a more moderate but consistent stretching regimen.

I find that stretching after a workout helps muscle recovery for the next day's workout, important if you ride or train almost every day. It doesn't take much, but a 20 minute stretch after a day of riding or snowboarding can make a huge difference in how quickly you warm up and can start hammering the following day. This is from my experience... others may have a different take.

While I can't say whether stretching will improve or hinder performance, I will say that being strong but limber definitely helps with bike handling and crashing. A defined musculature will protect joints by keeping them intact during a crash, and flexibility will help prevent things from tearing at the same time. Certain Yoga disciplines, like Ashtanga, do provide both strength and flexibility, as well as balance. For cycling, I rarely do anything before riding, whereas with gymnastics and martial arts, that was mandatory.

I would never NOT stretch.... like SDyeti says, it just feels good.

[Marshall Willanholly]

I've been following this thread with great interest, as my flexibility is horrible, particularly in my hamstrings.

Some of the reading I've done recommends dynamic stretching prior to exercise to "turn on" the muscles, and static stretching post-workout. I found this site with lots of info on the different types:

http://www.cmcrossroads.com/bradapp/...etching_4.html

I've been doing mat pilates at my gym, which always feels great and is a killer workout for my core muscles, but I don't seem to be gaining much range of motion.

[sdyeti]

sometimes, instead of stretching, i use the big white torture device (foam roller) to break up the fascia and move the lactic acid out...when i do this, i rarely get really sore muscles the next day, even if i've ridden hard.

[katonk]

If I don't stretch I can't ride. Cycling just hurts my knees too much without stretching. This is especially true of the knee that had a partial meniscectomy.

Funny, I never had to stretch with I was younger.

[L8 APEKS]

Originally Posted by sdyeti

sometimes, instead of stretching, i use the big white torture device (foam roller) to break up the fascia and move the lactic acid out...when i do this, i rarely get really sore muscles the next day, even if i've ridden hard.

I like to experience a self-myofascial release at least twice daily...

[Marshall Willanholly]

Originally Posted by sdyeti

sometimes, instead of stretching, i use the big white torture device (foam roller) to break up the fascia and move the lactic acid out...when i do this, i rarely get really sore muscles the next day, even if i've ridden hard.

Ah yes, the "pillar of pain." I need to get a new one, mine is now out of round.

[Nagaredama]

I created a thread a couple months ago about stretching and whether or not it is beneficial.
http://www.socaltrailriders.org/forum/racing-training/15566-stretching-beneficial.html

What I find works best is doing a multi joint movement over a wide range of motion is more beneficial that stretching. Call it active stretching, dynamic stretching or whatever.

If cycling is your prime form of physical activity your legs are using a very very limited range of motion which is teaching (or shortening) the muscle to function in a very limited scope of range. By doing simple air squats I can feel my diminished range of motion due to riding.

Probably one of the best things you can do for you legs is sprints. Go to the local track and do 5 100 yards sprints. You'll feel it the next day everywhere!

[Nagaredama]

Originally Posted by sdyeti

sometimes, instead of stretching, i use the big white torture device (foam roller) to break up the fascia and move the lactic acid out...when i do this, i rarely get really sore muscles the next day, even if i've ridden hard.

Lactic acid is completely out of your muscles an hour after exercise. It is also used as fuel by your muscles.

Any muscle soreness you feel the next day after a hard ride or session in the gym is "microscopic tears and trauma to the muscles and inflammation"'

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/16/he...gewanted=print

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/19/he...%20acid&st=cse

[sdyeti]

Yep, I know all about fermentation...I try to roll asap after exercise. Maybe it doesn't help with that but it can't hurt in general to roll...

I dunno...my soreness is diminished by rolling......

Originally Posted by Nagaredama

Lactic acid is completely out of your muscles an hour after exercise. It is also used as fuel by your muscles.

Any muscle soreness you feel the next day after a hard ride or session in the gym is "microscopic tears and trauma to the muscles and inflammation"'

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/16/he...gewanted=print

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/19/he...%20acid&st=cse

[Nagaredama]