Reasons to Refrain From Static Stretching Before Strength Training

For quite a few decades, the popular theory has been to stretch before a workout, especially before an intense stimulation of the muscles, such as weight training. However, this claim was based on no actual evidence, and now our understanding of the mechanics of stretching is increasingly leading to a different conclusion – that we should not perform static stretches prior to lifting weights.

Static stretching is the holding of the targeted muscle in a fixed, stretched position to the point of mild discomfort for a period of time, which is normally between 30 to 60 seconds. This differs from dynamic stretching where momentum in a strict form is used to extend the muscle’s range of motion. It also differs from active isolated stretching (AIS) where the opposing muscle is contracted and the relaxed muscle stretch is held for a much shorter period of time, usually two seconds.

While it is thought that dynamic and active isolated stretching may not do any harm before a weight training session, and may actually be beneficial, there are several reasons static stretching should be avoided until after lifting.

A U.S. Navy physical therapist assists a sailor in performing a static stretch. These are essential to do on a regular basis for flexibility, but should not be done before strength training.

Source: United States Navy

Static Stretching Before Lifting Will Not Help You

If there is a most obvious reason not to do anything – including stretching – this would be at the top. If it will not help you, why waste your time doing it? The popularly imagined benefits seem to be just that – imagined. There has never been any actual evidence shown that stretching before a weight training session has any added value from either a health or performance perspective. It will not make you lift more, nor will it help prevent injury. Most injuries in weightlifting are due to improper lifting.

Static Stretching Before Lifting is Stretching Cold

It has long been known that statically stretching muscles that are not properly warmed up increases the risk of injury. If you think of any material that is subject to considerable elongation, be it rubber, gum, taffy, its ability to elongate will depend on its temperature. Muscles behave in a similar fashion. Increasing the blood flow to your muscles before they are stretched will make them more elastic.

Some people may answer this point by recommending cardio training before lifting, in order to warm up the muscles. However, for optimal results from lifting, it should be done fresh. Performing cardio prior to lifting will take a toll on your lifting performance. If you intend to do cardio during your workout, it should be done after the weights, not before.

It Can Acutely Diminish Your Lifting Ability

Part of your lifting ability in each workout comes from your muscles “springing” back to contraction. Holding your muscles in a stretched position for an extended period of time will loosen the fibers, and elongate them. That has the temporary effect of making them less able to rebound at the beginning of the concentric part of each repetition.

It Can Chronically Diminish Your Results

It is only logical that if something is destructive to an individual workout, doing it before every workout will lead to long-term failure. An experiment conducted by the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research was designed, placing participants in three categories.

• Group 1 - Participants stretched prior to training.
• Group 2 - Participants stretched during training.
• Group 3 - Participants did not stretch at all.

The trial was conducted over a period of 10 weeks, after which the results showed that while all three groups gained strength over the time period, the participants that did not stretch at all gained more muscle than the other two groups. It was also found that there was an additional component to the results besides the temporary diminishing of the recoiling ability of the muscle. Stretching prior to or during exercise had the effect of lessening the stimulation of IGF-1 in the body. This is a critical hormone which plays a large role in muscle development.

Conclusion

Flexibility is an important part of maintaining mobility, especially in later years. Static stretching is not only useful, but is an essential part of increasing and maintaining long-term flexibility. However, in order to maximize its results, as well as not hamper the results of strength training, it should be done at the proper time. Refrain from making static stretching a part of your pre-workout routine, and save it for after the lifting is done. The muscles will be warm, and the strength training will not have been compromised by less stable fibers.

Keep Your Heart Healthy - Avoid the 'Roids

Any competitive athlete, and many non-competitive athletes, or people who just want to have the best body possible will understand their lure. In the arena of competition, there is a fear that if you do not have their help, you will not have a reasonable chance of winning, thinking that most of the competition is making use of them. Once you start on the path, they can be very addictive. Not addictive in the biochemical sense, where your body will suffer from painful and possibly dangerous withdrawals if you try to quit immediately. Their addiction is purely psychological. However, it is real nonetheless. The experience of loss of progress and diminished capability can be a powerful incentive to draw yourself back to them. On the other end, their high and rush is also equally psychological. It will not give you a biochemical high like heroin or cocaine, but that of personal pride and accomplishment. Breaking through personal plateaus, and the plateaus of others, is certainly a strong motive for not stopping. But the price to be paid in the end, the bill that may come due usually makes it not worth it in the end.

Winstrol, scientifically known as stanozolol. This is a popular anabolic steroid used by athletes, especially bodybuilders and weightlifters.

Author Nuklear, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.

This description speaks of course, to anabolic steroids. While in the short term, they appear to be your friend – resulting in increased lean body mass, rapid and enhanced improvement in strength, speed, and overall athletic capabilities, their dark side has the potential to be just as catastrophic as that of hard narcotics, up to, and including premature loss of life.

Most anabolic steroids are alcohol compounds that are derivatives of testosterone, the primary male sex hormone. In fact, synthetic testosterone is also used as an anabolic steroid. They are meant to, and very effectively mimic the function of testosterone, as many users and former users can attest. However, as useful as they are for boosting athletic performance, they wreak havoc on many of your internal organs, as well as the skin. They potentially also are personality altering; many people become aggressive to the point it gets them in trouble with the law. Today, we will focus primarily on its effects on the heart.

To summarize in the shortest of terms, the heart is essentially a muscular organ whose sole function is to pump blood through the body. Since it has muscle tissue, one may think that the application of anabolic steroids would strengthen it as well. However, steroids primarily enhance the skeletal type of muscle. Cardiac muscle tissue is of a different type. Many studies have shown that anabolic steroids actually weaken the heart on multiple fronts.

High levels of steroids have been positively connected to the enlargement and atrophy of the left ventricle. As noted in this study, the left ventricle ideally is responsible for 55 to 70 percent of the filling of the heart with blood on each pump. The taking of steroids enlarges the left ventricle and also reduces its strength and efficiency. Long term steroid use has been connected with a 50 percent or more loss of left ventricle operation. If the ventricle has a reduced pumping output, it means the heart has to constantly work harder to pump the necessary blood through the body. The result of this, of course, is chronically higher blood pressure.

In addition to raising the risk of sudden cardiac arrest, an impaired left ventricle also markedly increases the likelihood of congestive heart failure. If enough blood can repeatedly not enter the ventricle, it becomes backed up into the lungs.

In the realm of athletic competition, steroid use first entered into the bodybuilding arena. Their use has been recorded since the 1960s. It is indisputable that regular weightlifting has a host of benefits for muscles, bones, overall health, and is beneficial for the heart. Yet, premature mortality rates among bodybuilders are higher than the general population. Of these deaths, heart disease such as sudden myocardial infarctions are the most common cause.

There is more bad news. People who have abused steroids for a long period of time have been shown to have lasting negative effects years after they cease to take steroids. Many researchers are beginning to look into whether the damage may be irreversible. Hence, it is probable that the longer you continue to abuse steroids, the more permanent damage you will do to your heart along with its main vessels, both shortening your life, as well as lessening the quality of it as you age. The aging process can play its own role in weakening the heart, making one prone to less elasticity of the vessels and arteries, as well as partial blockages. When combined with steroid damage, it makes premature mortality substantially more likely.

Lift weights. Train hard. Get as strong and fast as you possibly can. Compete. But do not resort to the taking of steroids. In medicine, steroids can at times serve a valuable function for certain conditions. However, the doses in which athletes take them to achieve the enhanced results exceed the amounts used in therapeutic medicine by at least a factor of ten, and sometimes as much as a factor of 50. Winning a competition is not worth the disastrous complications that steroids will eventually wreak on your body.

Help Preserve Your Eyes With These Foods and Nutrients

While there are certainly genetic factors that play into the quality of your eyesight, there are also others within your control. Protecting them from the sun by wearing UV blocking shades, refrain from tobacco use and excessive drinking, and taking periodic breaks if you are in front of a monitor for long periods of the day. Another very controllable factor is your diet. Like any other part of the body, the eye will perform to its maximum capability if it is adequately nourished. This will be even more noticeable as you age. You stand a higher chance of developing age related complications with a poor diet. These are some of the foods that will best serve your eyes in both the short and the long term.

Do not underestimate the role of diet in the long-term health of your eyes.

Author: Laitr Keiows, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

Age-related macular degeneration is a growing epidemic in the United States. It is the leading cause of eyesight impairment in people over the age of 60. This condition is known for primarily attacking the sufferer’s straight-on vision. At onset, it is present at the very center of sight, and gradually expands outward. In addition to aging and sex (females have a significantly higher incidence than males), the two highest risk factors for this condition are both preventable. They are tobacco use, and improper nutrition. Insufficient intake of antioxidants, along with a deficiency in good fats will raise your probability of coming down with macular degeneration. Wild ocean fish such as salmon, tuna, and sardines are all very rich sources of omega-3 fatty acids that play an important role in reducing your risk of macular degeneration. Omega-3 acids also play a role in the prevention of dry eyes, a condition that can lead to complications such as inflammation and swelling. If for some reason you cannot get enough fish in your diet, you can choose a reputable omega-3 supplement.

Is there any part of your body that cannot be benefitted by consuming the incredible, edible egg? If such a part exists, it certainly is not the eye. Eggs contain healthy omega-3 fat, as well as lutein and vitamin A, which is an asset to the eye in more ways than one. It contributes to adequate sight of colors. In order to maximize your eyes’ capability of seeing colors, they must produce enough pigment for their retinae. Vitamin A fuels the production of these pigments. It also is a contributor to keeping your eye properly lubricated, preventing the condition of dry eye. In the developed world, lack of adequate vitamin A levels is a leading cause of blindness.

Beef is another good animal source for vitamin A. While red meat sometimes gets a bad reputation, a moderate amount is part of an ideal human diet. Apart from its quality proteins, beef has a high level of zinc, which aids the cells of the body in processing vitamin A.

Now we turn our attention from vitamin A to another popular multipurpose nutrient, vitamin C. While vitamin A contributes to color and lubrication, vitamin C works along the lines of omega-3 fatty acids in protecting against macular degeneration, as well as the development of cataracts. Elderly people with cataracts are much more likely to have a deficiency of vitamin C in their bodies than those without. Therefore, nutrient rich fruits such as berries – raspberries, blueberries, blackberries – as well as citrus fruits, are important in maintaining your vision as you age, especially if you have a family history of age related macular degeneration.

Lutein and zeaxanthin are two carotenoids that are found exclusively in plant material. Both are notorious for their versatile health benefits, among which are overall eye health and vision protection. Lutein has been known to boost the supply of the retinal pigment called epithelium. This has a more critical benefit than just preserving the aesthetic appearance of your eye. Epithelium is what transports needed nourishment to the cells of the eye. Zeaxanthin and lutein are both also responsible for the prevention of cataracts. People with adequate levels of both these antioxidants in their bodies were up to a third less likely to develop cataracts. Like omega-3 fatty acids, they also serve to protect against the development of age related macular degeneration. Leafy greens, most notably collard, spinach, and kale are among the highest in these carotenoids. Broccoli serves as the green cruciferous equivalent in the two nutrients.

If you are looking for a tasty source of healthy omega-3 fats, many nuts are loaded with them. Walnuts and almonds are especially high in these eye-friendly fatty acids. These nuts are also known for being heart healthy. One caveat to taking this approach – because they are so dense with these fatty acids, they also carry a high calorie content. A good way to get your fill is to adorn a leafy green salad with them, but be sure to limit your intake, as too many over a long period of time can result in weight gain.

Of course, the most well-known food for preserving your vision is the carrot. Because of its exceptional utility in maintaining eye health and function, it has also been subject to exaggerated myths. A significant portion of the quality of your vision is genetic. If you are nearsighted, eating carrots daily will not correct your vision. However, there probably is no food that is more useful to help your eyes reach their full inherent potential, as well as guard against age-related eye deficiencies and diseases. While it is true that most of the nutrients found in this tasty vegetable can be found elsewhere, carrots have an eye-friendly nutrient dense level, as well as being comparatively very low in calories. Not only do they carry a plentiful amount of vitamin A, they also are high in beta carotene, which gives the carrot its appealing orange color. Beta carotene rivals lutein in combating macular degeneration.