Stretching Before Exercising Weakens Muscles

Khemisty writes "Back in grade school you were probably taught the importance of warm-up exercises, and it's likely you've continued with pretty much the same routine ever since. Science, however, has moved on. Researchers now believe that some of the more entrenched elements of many athletes' warm-up regimens are not only a waste of time but are actually bad for you. The old presumption that holding a stretch for 20 to 30 seconds — known as static stretching — primes muscles for a workout is dead wrong. It actually weakens them. In a recent study conducted at the University of Nevada, athletes generated less force from their leg muscles after static stretching than they did after not stretching at all. Other studies have found that this stretching decreases muscle strength by as much as 30 percent. Also, stretching one leg's muscles can reduce strength in the other leg as well, probably because the central nervous system rebels against the movements."

Comments

And...

[Larryish]

In related "news": A new study funded by General Foods and Monsanto finds that working out and eating whole foods are really bad for you. The dietitians and trainers involved in the study recommend that everyone eat as much aspartame and genetically modified food as possible. And now back to your regularly scheduled American Idol.

Exercise is overrated for weight loss

[brian0918]

I've lost 15 pounds all by exercising less and eating only meat (fatty meat is a bonus), vegetables, nuts, some fruit, dairy (whole milk, cheese, lots of cream, etc). and cooking only in olive oil, coconut oil, etc. Of course, exercise is still good, but the people that do it 24/7 in a desperate bid to lose weight while still scarfing down refined sugars and highly processed vegetable oils are going to fail miserably. That is what has created this myth that losing weight is hard.

Re:Importance of warm-up

[blind biker]

Can we please cut it out with the everybody-interested-in-technology-is-a-fat-slob jokes? And the everybody-interested-in-technology-is-socially-inept-and-has-no-luck-with-the-opposite-gender jokes?

I think I know where these stereotypes come from: a lot of brainy people have Aspergers Syndrome - me included - and people affected by it have difficulty grasping social rules, including behaviour with the opposite sex. And also, people with AS tend to fall more often, have awkward body position and walking gait, so they are not the best atletes. That said, I don't think people with AS are more likely to be overweight, than normal (so-called "neurotypical") people.