It’s a common misconception that there must always be a trade-off between flexibility and strength. Actually, the two activities should go hand in hand. Many experts recommend stretching muscles after performing strength exercises, and performing strength exercises for every muscle you stretch. In other words: strengthen what you stretch, and stretch after you strengthen!
One of the best times to stretch is right after a strength workout such as weightlifting. Static stretching of fatigued muscles performed immediately following the exercise(s) that caused the fatigue, helps not only to increase flexibility, but also to enhance the promotion of muscular development (muscle growth). Stretching will actually help decrease the level of post-exercise soreness. Here’s why:
Condition of Fatigued Muscles: After you have used weights (or other means) to overload and fatigue your muscles, your muscles retain a “pump” and are shortened somewhat. This “shortening” is due mostly to the repetition of intense muscle activity that often takes the muscle through only part of its full range of motion. This “pump” makes the muscle appear bigger. The “pumped” muscle is also full of lactic acid and other by-products from exhaustive exercise. If the muscle is not stretched afterward, it will retain this decreased range of motion (it sort of “forgets” how to make itself as long as it could) and the buildup of lactic acid will cause post-exercise soreness.
RetainingRange of Movement: Static stretching of the “pumped” muscle helps it to become “looser” and to “remember” its full range of movement. It also helps to remove lactic acid and other waste-products from the muscle. While it is true that stretching the “pumped” muscle will make it appear visibly smaller, it does not decrease the muscle’s size or inhibit muscle growth. It merely reduces the “tightness” (contraction) of the muscles so that they do not “bulge” as much.
Healing Connective Tissue Properly: Strenuous workouts will often cause damage to the muscle’s connective tissue. The tissue heals in one to two days, but it is believed that the tissues heal at a shorter length (decreasing muscular development as well as flexibility). To prevent the tissues from healing at a shorter length, physiologists recommend static stretching after strength workouts.
Editor’s note: In answer to the question, “What is more important STRENGTH or FLEXIBILITY?,” the answer is BOTH are equally important.
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