Stretch — or maybe not

July 22nd, 2009 at 01:03pm Mike DeDoncker

I’m old school.

 I started exercising way back when fitness experts recommended plenty of stretching before and after a workout to maintain flexibility and help muscles recover. I religiously stretched my calf muscles, hamstrings and quadriceps before every running workout or race, convinced that I wouldn’t get 10 steps without pulling something if I forgot.

Sometimes, I pulled something anyway.

Interestingly enough, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons — in a news release offering exercise tips to Baby Boomers this week — still recommends it, saying, “A little extra stretching before and after exercise, for example, goes a long way.”

This is interesting because much of the recent information on preparation for and recovery from exercise advises against stretching (in some cases, saying it can actually decrease athletic performance by as much as 10 percent) in favor of a light warmup that mimics the intended exercise or athletic movement — for instance, a light jog to get ready for a running race or rotating the trunk to prepare for swinging a golf club.

I’ve recently been trying the light warmup without stretching before heading out for a run and, whaddya know, I didn’t pull anything. Of course, neither did I notice any appreciable difference in the quality of the run.

So, call me old school. I’ll probably stick with stretching, for the most part. I just may not be as religious about it.

Entry Filed under: healthyrockford.com