Stretching after training

Discussion in 'Injuries' started by Vomit, Sep 24, 2012.

  1. Vomit

    Vomit Regular Member

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    Just curious to find out if people tend to stretch after games or training sessions. If so what stretches and do you find it helps prevent stiffening up the next day?

    Stretching is one of those things I keep meaning to do after playing but rarely bother with...
     
  2. phili

    phili Regular Member

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  3. Vomit

    Vomit Regular Member

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    Really good video - thanks for that. Will need to give them a try this week.
     
  4. Ruffle

    Ruffle Regular Member

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    Hmmm. Stretching may make you feel better, but there is absolutely no accredited research which shows that it is beneficial in reducing post-exercise pain or stiffness, or in any way improves performance. In fact, there is a substantial body of research which shows that stretching before exercise is actually counter-productive.
     
  5. 96382

    96382 Regular Member

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    Please do some more research on this topic, both your answers are not the full truth ;)

    However this topic is about stretching after training. In fact you should not do stretching right after very hard excercises (giving new impulses/variation in training/max resistance and intensity training), when your muscles are already damaged. Other muscle groups that are not involved can be stretched as it will/may improve several aspects.
     
  6. Ruffle

    Ruffle Regular Member

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    I didn't do the research - I merely did a review of research literature. I won't go into all the evidence I found, but here is one snippet, the conclusions from a review of a set of research papers, by Herbert and de Noronha called "Stretching to prevent or reduce muscle soreness after exercise" and published by Wiley in 2008:

    "The effects of stretching reported in individual studies were very small and there was a high degree of consistency of results across studies. The pooled estimate showed that pre-exercise stretching reduced soreness one day after exercise by, on average, 0.5 points on a 100-point scale (95% CI -11.3 to 10.3; 3 studies). Post-exercise stretching reduced soreness one day after exercise by, on average, 1.0 points on a 100-point scale (95% CI -6.9 to 4.8; 4 studies). Similar effects were evident between half a day and three days after exercise.

    Authors’ conclusions

    The evidence derived from mainly laboratory-based studies of stretching indicate that muscle stretching does not reduce delayed-onset muscle soreness in young healthy adults.
    "

    We can argue that the samples were small, and the authors acknowledged that, but I've found other independent publications which come to the same conclusion.
     
  7. 96382

    96382 Regular Member

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    I agree with you about the muscle soreness. Stretching before and after excercises can have different effects, both positive and negative. It really depends much on the person and kind of excercises and stretching program. I think there are enough studies available on the internet.

    And if it makes you feel better, why does that not mean that it can improve your performance?
    It is really hard to make general conclusions here.
     
  8. Ruffle

    Ruffle Regular Member

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    It certainly is. The problem with measuring performance improvement is that it is very difficult to do subjectively. So people tend to fall back on objectivity, like "feeling better will make you play better" and other mantras. All I can do about that is to ask two questions to try to get evidence to support that kind of statement: where is the supporting research, and is there any vested interest in that research?
     
  9. 96382

    96382 Regular Member

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    And the problem there is that the performance improvement itself is very subjectively dependend. Many people adjust in different ways to certain training/stretching programs. That is probably the reason why sports science just isnt that far here.
     
  10. werplowsky33

    werplowsky33 New Member

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    Stretch a lot. Before, after, during. Keep the muscles loose. It allows you to make a quick jump or land hard without to much wear and tear.
     
  11. elohz

    elohz New Member

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    You should do some stretching before and after playing.It will relax your body. It works on me.
     
  12. |_Footwork_|

    |_Footwork_| Regular Member

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    scientific proof on stretching is mediocre...
    noone really knows if stretching is good, if you better stretch passively or actively.
    the only thing that is a bit more "proven" is that extensice passive stretching before sports may be counterproductive. it lowers the muscle tone and therefore your ability to jump and run explosively. you can compare it maybe to a lose rubber band that has too little responsiveness (of course your muscles recover, but that takes some time, so excessive stretching before a game is probably no good idea...).

    stretching after sports should be done with caution, too. your muscles are already "under-fire", so it's probably good not to stretch very excessively and hard. i personally have the feeling that some LIGHT stretching helps me.

    if you want to do something for your flexibility, it's probably better to do some extra session with a good stretching programme and not to incorporate excessive stretching in your badminton sessions.

    but yet again: scientific proof is very vague...
     
  13. Pakito

    Pakito Regular Member

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    As our body ages, more concern is emphasize on the durability of one's body to entertain the explosiveness of this sport. Also you might rather want to concentrate on retaining, if not improving, the durability of your body to handle the stress on your muscles and bones. In short, unless you want to be a champion for a day and no more, do light stretching. ( light or intense is quite personal to every individual). So unless the game you are playing involves the hand of your girl that you are betting, or your Ferrari that you are risking, don't go overboard without stretching or warm up.

    Preparation before and after a game

    ** Warm up and do stretching before a game. If you get injured or have cramps often, you can say goodbye to badminton faster than you think.
    ** Warm down after a game too. This is akin to divers going into depressurization chamber after a deep dive. If divers surfaced immediate after a deep dive, they will die of water in the lungs. If you don’t warm down after a game, your body will deteriorate and muscle cells will die. This is equivalent to being champion for a day, and retirement soon after. J
    ** No cold water drinks after a game. This is like pouring cold water on your car engine when it’s sizzling hot leading to engine failure. Drink warm water. Then you can enjoy cold drinks after, but not at least after 30mins.
     
  14. rogerv2

    rogerv2 Regular Member

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    I don't agree with your cold water theory.
    After ingested, it will still be in the stomach and would have heated up fast to reach body temperature. It is like pouring water into the water container in the car and not the engine.
     
    #15 rogerv2, Feb 20, 2013
    Last edited: Feb 20, 2013
  15. Pakito

    Pakito Regular Member

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    Taking into consideration that our bodies are not made up of metal and we do not run at speeds over 200km/h, the water container in the car does actually supply the same water to the engine (if you are talking about the radiator spare tank). More often than not, we pour just water that is slightly cold or warm into the radiator or tank, and not ice water, which we drink when we are hot. So in the same way, the water we drink does circulate around to the rest of the blood stream and does not stay in the stomach forever. You may not think it does anything to harm your body, but try doing this from young till old. when you reach 40s and 50s then you will experience the setbacks from feeding your body cold water when you running at extremely high temperature after a game. Maybe some of the older generation can share on this topic. Well I'm saying that I'm still very young :cool:. While you may think that our body temperature when hot will have heated up the icy cold water which we drink, take heed that heat travels from hot to cold, not vice versa. So in a way, you body loses heat real fast if we consume like one huge glass of cold icy water. That being said, you don't see professional players drinking water from a ice container at the 11 point stage. Even LD use it to say that the cold water caused stomach upset so much that he couldn't compete.
     
  16. rogerv2

    rogerv2 Regular Member

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    Lets face it, you dont have any proof to justify your statements. It is all hearsay and assumptions.
    Just because some players dont drink cold water does not mean the opposite is a fact.
    They could be blindly following some folklore stories they heard.
    I have relatives who ban their children from drinking cold water or anything cold because it will harm their health.

    I had a very good laugh seeing you use LD to illustrate your point with cold water.
    Everyone who is not a LD fanboy knows that was just a smokescreen to let CJ win.
     
    #17 rogerv2, Feb 21, 2013
    Last edited: Feb 21, 2013
  17. cappy75

    cappy75 Regular Member

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    Despite whatever scientific argument out there against stretching, I have personal experience that post game stretching does make a difference. A few years ago, I developed tennis elbow and golfer's elbow due to increasingly challenging games and improper technique. I went to a sport physiotherapist who cured me after 4 or 5 painful sessions with Intra-Muscular Stimulation (or IMS). The tendonitis stayed away for a good two years before recurring again. In that time after my treatment, I continued to play like I usually do without post game stretching. I stopped doing the stretching and other physio exercises prescribed by the physiotherapist once I felt 100% recovery.

    Bear in mind that I never seriously stretch prior to games or even after. So when the pain returned and kept getting worse, I went back to the physio but the effects weren't as productive as before. This time around, I took the physio's advice finally and kept up with the stretching even after treatment. My tennis elbow is still present but no longer debilitates and on a good day I won't even feel it. With regular stretching, I don't even use my elbow brace anymore. This anecdoctal proof is enough for me to keep doing it. In fact my body held up against harder and faster games thanks to my new habit.

    Now anyone can put out all kinds of argument against stretching and not do it, but eventually the body will breakdown. When it did for me, I could have given up the sport and rest or try doing something different to manage my pain. I tried stretching and it seriously works.
     
  18. rogerv2

    rogerv2 Regular Member

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    I agree on the post workout stretching. It works. If I don't do it, my body gets very stiff and sore the next day. If I stretch the soreness is about 75% less.

    I see a lot of people doing stretching before warming up. This is not right as "cold muscles" are usually very stiff. The muscles should be warned up doing some simple drills and jogging before the stretching.
     
  19. madbad

    madbad Regular Member

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    Agree. Prior to playing, best to start with some movement, gradually building it up and once the muscles have been warmed up, that's the time to stretch.

    As for post-game stretching, I try to do it as much as possible. The times I forget or simply don't do it, my body tells me in no uncertain terms the next day, haha :D
     

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