Mobility Myths with Dr. Quinn Henoch | Static Stretching

Dr. Quinn Henoch will be discussing the pros and cons behind several popular mobility ideas, next up, Static Stretching:

[pixelnoob]

Loving Quinn's stuff particularly recently

[francoisiswatching]

Both the content and the verbal form is high quality! Thank you for this!

[GeorgeOu]

The vertical jump study everyone cites had people not doing any kind of warm up jumps. The same study showed that people who static stretched but did low or mid intensity vertical jumps to warm up had no decrease in max vertical jump. There was another study that showed stretching the quad muscle weakened max quad extension force, but that study is misunderstood too. For a dancer or martial artist who need to generate power at extreme ranges of motion, we're stretching the opposition muscles (mostly hamstrings) and not the quads. So stretching allows us to generate more power at the extreme ranges of motion. It also means we're not ripping our abductors & hamstrings when we kick high or jump split in the air.

I saw a big jacked guy who used to play D1 football struggle and failed to push press 135 lbs because he lacked shoulder flexibility. I static stretched him laying on his back for a minute and he stood up and instantly pressed the barbell. This makes sense to Olympic lifters & Crossfit folks because they already know you need very high and abnormal shoulder flexibility to do overhead lifts. They're stretching opposition muscles to unleash the primary weight bearing muscles.

There was a huge study on joggers stretching. They took two groups of runners. One group liked pre-run stretching and another didn't and they made both groups to stretch before a run. This resulted in no increase or decrease in injury for either group of runners. The runners who didn't like pre-run stretches weren't adversely impacted. Then they made both groups NOT stretch before a run. This time the group that didn't usually stretch saw no difference but the group that preferred stretching got a higher injury rate. Moral of the story is to do what you're comfortable with. There's no right or wrong when it comes to stretch or not-to-stretch. You know what your body wants and not some opinionated self anointed expert who likes to tell you "you're doing it all wrong".

[Cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese]

So grateful for the free information.



Thank you.

[hobolobobolo]

Active Flexibility is the way to go!
Bridge Push ups
Archer (Cossack) Squats
these type of movements are golden for warmup and mobility training

[malachigreenidge]

as a gymnast, static stretching was an extremely important part of my warm-up, cool down, and many time blocks throughout the 4 - 6 hour long training sessions. In a 6 hour practice I probably devoted at least 90 minutes to flexibility training, much of it static.

I don't know what the literature says,
but my personal experience tells me that without all the extensive static stretching throughout the workouts, I would not have been able to last and perform for such long training sessions.
By that alone I would argue that long interval static stretching during workouts improves overall and immediate recovery and endurance. I don't know what the exact science is, but I know that holding a static stretch for 2-5-10 minutes did wonders for instantly rejuvenating my tired and sore muscles. I was a rings specialist, so if you've ever been on the rings, Im sure you can appreciate and understand the high intensity stress put on the body during rings training and routines.
Whenever my muscles were totally exhausted ( or as I matured as an athlete and I could feel exhaustion coming on) I would spend anywhere from 2 - 10 minutes in static positions, stretching them out extensively. This would allow me to continue on longer with my training sessions, than if I had just couch potato rested for the same amount of time.

I would also argue that mid to long interval static stretching in between each set of repetitions will give greater increases in muscle growth, muscle mass and muscle definition. And that you can even control (in part) the direction of muscle growth by using static stretching techniques between sets of repetitions!

For me, it makes static stretching not only a practical, but also an elemental and necessary part of all my workout routines.

:)

[djelliott]

How does this video only have 3.5k Quinn is on it and has been. This should have 50k views at least.

[MovingKorea]

Question(s): I just finished a book titled Relax into Stretching by Pavel Tsatsouline and am wrapping up Super Joints. He says, if I remember correctly, that you are most subject to injury if you have a gap between active and passive joint mobility. I believe you addressed that here to a degree. He uses techniques similar to PNF and Dr Ospina's PAILS and RAILS concepts. Are you familiar with those and will that sort of approach yield similar results? or is more serious loading through full ROM necessary?

Side rant: I wish there was a definitive text on mobility... Your ideas of breathing, developmental positions, PRI implemenation, Grey Cooks FMS work, Jill Miller's work along with Kelly Starrett, Dr. Ospina's FRC approach, coach Sommers gymnastics stretching all have varying views and approaches and I don't know where to start! AH!!!! I hate the internet.

[antoothbrush]

Man, learning human movement can all be so confusing if 1) you don't have high level education and the ability to read and digest scientific literature or 2) a mentor that exhibits the above properties lol. I guess all we can do is try and take in as much as we can from varying different sources and try to figure it all out in the most efficient and objective way. Yes or no? Idk.

[ibidesign]

A very talented powerlifter once told me this about any concerns re: a few percent being shaved off his single-lift max's: "In training, I'd rather safely stretch and be able to compete rather than not stretch and blow out a muscle and then not be able to compete or even train properly for 3 to 6 months." Nearly every training partner I've ever had who insisted on avoiding pre- and post-workout stretching wound up tearing a muscle or connective tissue within a few intense workouts. And some of those guys were half my age and in what I believed to be in far better overall condition.

[xXAkitokunXx]

Dr Aaron Horschig and Dr Quinn Henoch are mint, giving good info.

[cbcsucks]

When I did Muay-Thai we never stretched yet within months we were all kicking head high.
Judo/BJJ also very cursory warmups with some light mobility drills.

[Varune]

Just got here from the foamrolling video from 8th sept. And i must say, these videos are top-notch! Totally forgot about eccentric loading to stretch. Gonna try doing both for my supertight hamstrings to see if it improves ROM even more.

[jenniferp.]

Education, evidence based literature, breath work and critical thinking. Brilliant, sound and sexy science. Thank you.

[neiljudge]

Hey Dr Quinn, loving the videos so far. Could you provide on screen citations to the research you are referencing for thise of us that want to read into it a bit further? Obviously the anecdotal parts are more observational but i would love to have some material to bring to my professors and classmates.

Keep at it man.

[tiger]

Can you do a clip on stretching the whole body for example quads, lats, calves etc. Love your stuff just found it on YouTube.

[soniamahesso]

Thanks for the information.
I have some questions for you.
What do you think about the couple min of running for warm up?? Is it necessary?
Do We always have to do stretching before workout?

[deanbonilla]

Peace bro,

Appreciate the Brilliant break down.

Respect.

[gibbyboy]

Good to see more PT's in fitness videos, good info!

[Chaosdude]

Game changer. Thanks for the excellent work, Quinn. Been a long time since I tried to read your stuff on Juggernaut. I'd love to see a conversation between you and Kelly Starrett. I feel that K Star can be a bit, well, extra sometimes, but I have no background in PT.