Stretching Before Planting

[Scooter]

Here's an article about stretching before planting. I won't lie, I didn't get into it in depth, but it seems like something some people here would debate:

http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-me ... r-exercise

[jdtesluk]

I think stretching before exercising, and what we do before planting are two very different things. The problem with stretching is often that you are stretching cold muscles, and not really warming them up- the article indicates this, and points out you are just temporarily stretching the tissue. That latter part (warming them up) is much more relevant. " while it appears that stretching doesn’t appreciably reduce risk of injury, there’s good evidence that warming up does. An intensive, well-structured, active warm-up can substantially reduce risk of injury, so try doing that the next time you exercise."

Start the day easy, get the mobility and warmth in your arms and legs before you start pounding....this is different than a silly static quad or hammie stretch. For planters it is as much about the physical preparation of having the body firing, as it is about the mental preparation of having your control-center engaged so that you make good decisions with the way you move. It's not just about overloading a cold muscle and doing too much too fast...it's about a dynamic and highly variable activity (ie. not merely exercise), and being both physically and mentally engaged and ready to do it.

As for stretching, "It’s possible, but less certain, that stretching also has chronic effects on flexibility. Regular stretching could stimulate adaptations of muscles and other tissues that bring about lasting increases in flexibility."

They don't really provide much data for that. Intuitively it makes sense, and my own experience tells me that maintaining flexibility is important for avoiding injury. However, I would suggest that the specific type of flexibility and the particular range of motion that supports injury prevention is not well understood. I would suggest that flexibility and range of the muscles closest to the core of the body is by far the most important. Keeping a full range of motion in neck, back, and torso areas not only allows you to accommodate sudden undesired and unexpected contortions, but also gives you a heightened awareness of the condition of your body. This is very difficult to measure through studies like those in the article.

[_I3^RELATIVISM]

Great article. Thanks for sharing.

[_I3^RELATIVISM]

I feel there needs to be some balance in this topic, stretching is very important, given such activity will exercise muscles to begin such activity. But I totally understand the argument for not stretching cold, the thing is that when you are exercising you are in a way destroying you own tissue, that then get rebuild with more mass given such shock. So stretching is very important to help in such recuperation, and also especially as a hormonal warning for your body that such intensive activity is starting. but sure I agree active stretching is much better in the beginning of something and static more for the cool-down. Is not always easy to have the discipline to do so unfortunately though.