freeflowme
Level 4 Valued Member
Hey all,
Something I've been really pondering is whether it's worth my time to do dynamic warm ups before PTTP and some static stretching afterwards. I've owned both Super Joints & Relax Into Stretch for many years now, although I happen to currently be following a dynamic warm up by Greg Everett and using a selection of static stretches from Yuri Elkaim.
I'm someone who's had chronic mobility / pain problems in their right shoulder & scapula for years (throwing a ball is out of the question, brushing teeth causes burning pain, etc.) and has herniated their L4/L5 multiple times over the years according to an MRI, so I figured I'd play it safe. However, I've recently seen a lot of talk about Barbell Medicine and the research they compiled that say shows that dynamic and static stretching don't really accomplish anything and are just a waste of your time. Mark Rippetoe seems to agree with this philosophy in general. His response to a similar question I posed on the SS forums was:
"If you are sufficiently flexible to perform the lifts and your sport through a full ROM, you don't need to stretch. If you are not, you need to stretch until you can. That is all."
In a way, I think Pavel agrees with this, talking in Relax Into Stretch about not everyone needing great degrees of flexibility before diving into talking about how to actually improve your flexibility if you want / need to.
So, I guess where I'm at is - does increasing flexibility actually help reduce pain and/or help you prevent injury on lifts. Barbell Medicine seems to say no. Rippetoe seems to say do the minimum you can get by with to do your lifts. If I'm looking for pain reduction and injury prevention, am I wasting time doing dynamic warm ups? Why does Greg Everett do them, then? He seems pretty knowledgable in the world of moving weight. Barbell Medicine and Rippetoe seem to say that strengthening yourself through the range of motion is what actually reduces pain and risk of injury (i.e. just get under the bar, warm up with the bar, and do the workout - don't waste time stretching).
I've been feeling better since I started PTTP, but it takes me about an hour to do the workout because it takes about 20 minutes before lifting to follow Greg Everett's foam rolling & dynamic warm ups and about another 20 minutes afterwards to do static stretches. My body feels great afterwards, but would it feel just as good just from moving the weight? I feel like the only way I'll know for sure is to stop doing any warm ups / cool down stretches and see how I feel, but I also hate the feeling of being tight all the time (although Barbell Medicine would say that doesn't really exist), and I feel like I've made a lot of progress doing these warm ups and cool downs for 4 months now.
So... thoughts, anyone?
@Pavel - I would love to hear your thoughts if you have the time. Thank you.
Something I've been really pondering is whether it's worth my time to do dynamic warm ups before PTTP and some static stretching afterwards. I've owned both Super Joints & Relax Into Stretch for many years now, although I happen to currently be following a dynamic warm up by Greg Everett and using a selection of static stretches from Yuri Elkaim.
I'm someone who's had chronic mobility / pain problems in their right shoulder & scapula for years (throwing a ball is out of the question, brushing teeth causes burning pain, etc.) and has herniated their L4/L5 multiple times over the years according to an MRI, so I figured I'd play it safe. However, I've recently seen a lot of talk about Barbell Medicine and the research they compiled that say shows that dynamic and static stretching don't really accomplish anything and are just a waste of your time. Mark Rippetoe seems to agree with this philosophy in general. His response to a similar question I posed on the SS forums was:
"If you are sufficiently flexible to perform the lifts and your sport through a full ROM, you don't need to stretch. If you are not, you need to stretch until you can. That is all."
In a way, I think Pavel agrees with this, talking in Relax Into Stretch about not everyone needing great degrees of flexibility before diving into talking about how to actually improve your flexibility if you want / need to.
So, I guess where I'm at is - does increasing flexibility actually help reduce pain and/or help you prevent injury on lifts. Barbell Medicine seems to say no. Rippetoe seems to say do the minimum you can get by with to do your lifts. If I'm looking for pain reduction and injury prevention, am I wasting time doing dynamic warm ups? Why does Greg Everett do them, then? He seems pretty knowledgable in the world of moving weight. Barbell Medicine and Rippetoe seem to say that strengthening yourself through the range of motion is what actually reduces pain and risk of injury (i.e. just get under the bar, warm up with the bar, and do the workout - don't waste time stretching).
I've been feeling better since I started PTTP, but it takes me about an hour to do the workout because it takes about 20 minutes before lifting to follow Greg Everett's foam rolling & dynamic warm ups and about another 20 minutes afterwards to do static stretches. My body feels great afterwards, but would it feel just as good just from moving the weight? I feel like the only way I'll know for sure is to stop doing any warm ups / cool down stretches and see how I feel, but I also hate the feeling of being tight all the time (although Barbell Medicine would say that doesn't really exist), and I feel like I've made a lot of progress doing these warm ups and cool downs for 4 months now.
So... thoughts, anyone?
@Pavel - I would love to hear your thoughts if you have the time. Thank you.