Be flexible with stretching

I shake my head every time I read articles like, 'Stretching makes you weaker' and, 'Studies show stretching does not reduce the risk of injury.'

Take a rubber band and stretch it. Now, let it sit out in the sun and become dry, hard, and cracked - then stretch it again. SNAP! Now imagine you are walking down the stairs and loose your footing. Your leg twists into an odd position. Tell me, would you rather have loose, pliable muscles that can stretch … or the tight, brittle muscles that are more likely to strain or tear?

I've mentored under some of the top strength coaches in the world. These coaches don't gain their reputation by giving bad workout advice and allowing their players to get injured. In fact, injury prevention is one of the key elements of any professional sports program, and for a good reason - someone with a million dollar contract is worthless to the team if they are sitting on the bench due to an injury. The strength coach with a reputation of reducing player injury and helping players rehabilitate more quickly after an injury is the one who makes a great living at their trade.

One thing I find all top strength coaches have in common: the integrate stretching into their programs. I even know some coaches who place more emphasis on stretching than any other part of the routine … and these coaches are known for having the lowest injury rates in the field.

The reason that stretching is a subject of so much debate is because people take such a narrow view. One time someone pointed out a study to me that showed stretching reduced leg strength. 'See, it's bad, these people were weaker after doing their stretches.'

I pulled up the study and ready it closely … to find out that the subjects were stretching for 20 minutes per leg before trying to perform exercise! I am a fan of flexibility but would never ask someone to hold a stretch for twenty minutes - this is an example of a study that doesn't really apply to the real world.

Assuming you agree and decide that flexibility does matter, how can you integrate this into your routine?

One thing most experts agree on is that it is not safe to stretch a cold muscle. The ideal workout would probably consist of doing some sort of cardio for about 5 - 10 minutes, followed by 5 minutes of light stretching. Then you would do your workout, followed by another 15 - 20 minutes of stretching.

Of course, who has that amount of time? Compromises include only stretching after the workout (some stretching is better than none) and doing shorter stretches. You can schedule some time on the weekend to do a thorough stretching session.

If you are training with weights, consider doing some light stretches between each set to make the most use of your time. Finally, yoga is a great discipline for improving flexibility. I do a short 20 minute yoga routine after my longer runs and then integrate some more on the weekends.

Don't have such a stiff schedule that you can't find time to be flexible. It's an important component of total health and fitness!