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Bodyweight Stretching after strength training - Is it necessary if I train with full range of motion?

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Minimalist

Minimalist

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Some trainers say that if your strength training is executed with full range of motion, you do not have to stretch after training if you want to keep your flexibility level.
I read somewhere that if you are doing GTG every day you should stretch trained muscles between sets. Is that true?
 
There are different philosophies about this. I recommend 3 books on the subject of stretching to you.

Pavel: Relax Into Stretch
Pavel: Super Joints
Jon Engum: Flexible Steel

-S-
 
I can't remember which book it was, but Pavel shared a study in one of his books that showed people who stretch after strength training showed a 20% improvement in strength versus those that didn't.
 
BJJ Shawn said:
I can't remember which book it was, but Pavel shared a study in one of his books that showed people who stretch after strength training showed a 20% improvement in strength versus those that didn't.
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Here is a quote from Pavel:
Practice one lift per workout, stretch, and get out. Faleev stresses that you must wrap up each strength workout with static stretches. “The benefits of stretching are enormous. Stretching can increase your strength by 10%. It is a lot.” The man explains that “when you lift a weight your muscles contract. And after the workout the muscles remain contracted for some time. The following restoration of the muscles’ length is what recovery is. Until the muscle has restored its length, it has not recovered. Hence he who does not stretch his muscles slows down the recuperation process and retards his gains.” Besides, tension and relaxation are the two sides of the same coin, “if the muscle forgets how to lengthen, it will contract more poorly. And that is stagnation of strength.”
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Source: Pavel: 80/20 Powerlifting and How to Add 110+ Pounds to Your Lifts

Also, stretching and massage help to trigger proprioceptors that lie closer to the bones, IIRC, and that stimulate the vagus nerve which is important for relaxation, well-being, and recovery. And stretching is a chance to breath deeply, as Geoff Neupert has stressed recently.
 
I found the quote, it was in Power to the People!:

" In a 1977 study by Yefimov, Russian weightlifters reported an average 9.4% strength increase when they added special Loaded Passive Stretches between their sets. In a recent US study by Westcott the subjects who stretched the muscles they have just worked with a strength exercise for twenty seconds gained almost 20% more strength than the group that did not stretch in the end of a ten week program! Dr. Wayne Westcott could not explain why but suggested that contraction and stretching are the two functions of a muscle, and by not training one of them you sell yourself short on the other one as well. The Yin and Yang of muscle function."
 
"Loaded Passive Stretches" is something like "German Hang"? It is not just relaxing muscles either contracting them, right?

I remember from Pavels book "Beyond Bodybuilding" that if you will do Loaded Stretching between sets you will get more strength. I'm wondering how relaxed stretching can help in building strength.
 
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Two cents:

Minimalist said:
Some trainers say that if your strength training is executed with full range of motion, you do not have to stretch after training if you want to keep your flexibility level.
I read somewhere that if you are doing GTG every day you should stretch trained muscles between sets. Is that true?
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High frequency strength training without stretching will likely lead to some issues. As far as full ROM and flexibility, I think I would say it depends on the movements in question. Deep split squats are a tool often used to develop front split mobility, and wide stance, straight legged good mornings (especially seated) are used to develop a better pancake. Loaded stretching is awesome, but I would not advise doing german hangs between sets of dips or handstand pushups. I would save them for after the main strength work is done, and do only lighter stretchin beforehand.

There is a fair amount of evidence that you do not want to do DEEP stretching of a muscle just before strength training it (or inbetween sets). I would recommend light stretching. Stretching a muscle too long/deep inhibits its ability to fire for a time after doing so. Stretch after your session for sure. If you are doing any sort of high intensity calisthenics fairly often and never stretching, your body will let you know about it one way or another.
 
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