I have such the hardest time Stretching before a workout!! What Am I doing wrong..............

Guys

Believe it or not, I am one person that can not stretch probably or stretch enough. I know I am the one w/the problem.  Many traines that I have been with are puzzled by this.  I am so stiff that it prevents me from participating in some exercises.  I can't do squats, my body goes in all different directions.  This is bad, because I do alot of running.  Yes, I have taken up yoga in the past, didn't have any affects on my muscles.  I would like to be limber and loose.  I am a small frame woman and quite active.  Does anyone else have problems stretching?  I recently injured my hamstring and had to fall back from the gym for a few days.   Should I stretch after each exercise? What Techniques?

You have to stretch the muslce past where you are able to do it by yourself for the fastest increase.  Get a buddy and sit on the floor, put your legs straight out and try to touch your toes.  When you are at the furthest point you can get alone have your buddy put one hand on your lower back and one on the upper part and push you slowly further.  Have them hold for 5 seconds and push a bit further and hold 5 seconds.  Its going to hurt but you will quickly become more flexible.

You can use this for all large muscle stretches.  Don't worry about injury because there is no way you are going to be able to stretch a large muscle or tendon enough for an injury.

Also do some walking prior to stretching to get your muscles warm and blood flowing.

Thanks I will try what you recommended, but many of the times I am working out by myself. 

I'm the same way ctara. It seems like no matter how much I stretch my legs are still very tight.

I'm gonna try sszcar's suggestion and hopefully that will work :)

flexibility is like money; easy come, easy go.
stretching regulalry will help you become more flexible.
You should be pushing past what you can do. for example, with little stretching i can reach my toes, but to get a good stretch and become more flexible, i try to get my fists to reach the floor, and soon -- if i can -- ill try to get palms down.

stretch to a point of discomfort, but not complete and total pain lol. you should hold the stretch for 30 seconds. After stretching for about 12-15 seconds, your muscles should be a little "warmed up" you might be able to stretch slightly further. do so if you want to stretch more.

after time, it will get easier and you can push yourself to more "stretchy" stretches. but dont start way too fast. don't go and try to touch your toes if your legs kill you when your 4 inches away. go at your own pace and increase as you progress.

remember : flexibility is easily obtained, and easily lost.

Are you warming up before stretching? cold muscles are usually stiffer than warm ones.

Here are a couple of articles on improving flexibility for squats, one from t-nation and one from stumptuous.com.  Not being able to squat is probably more a result of lack of mobility in your joints than it is your muscles being tight or un-flexible.

I work out by myself as well.  To counter this you have to be willing to force yourself into the pain.  You wont push yourself as far as a buddy will so it will slower gains than if someone is helping you but you should still get benefits.

My stretching (I focus on legs).

Sitting toe touch legs together.  I grab my toes and try to lift my heals off the ground. (mass pain and I hate it)

Spread leg toe touch.  I spread my legs and grab my toes.  then I try to pull myself to the floor. (doesnt hurt as bad as the first one but still sucks)

I then bring the bottoms of both feet together and as close to my crotch as possible.  I then push my knees to the floor and hold (this one has always been easy for me, I like this one)

Using the same position as the one above I then try to put my head between my legs (stretches my back and quads I dont mind this one)

Splits - Spread your feet out until you are just starting to feel a stretch.  Then turn both feet to the right then both feet to the left.  This should cause your feet to spread further away from each other.  Keep going until you just cant stand it anymore. (if you have a friend then at this point have them pull one of your legs about 1 inch further.  This really hurts but you will be doing the splits in about 2 or 3 months.  Thats how long it took me and I am a male.)

Good luck and just remember to go until you cant stand it any more then go about 1 inch more.  Soon you will be impressing your BF, GF or Hubby with what you can do now. :)

ctara,

Do not stretch before running, just walk for 5 to 10 min to warm up before running....do stretch after running. Always warm up before stretching.

The good news is that new research shows that less flexible runners have a more efficent stride. Next week they will find something else we are doing wrong.

I was told to warm up first by walking or some other light cardio activity first and stretch after the cool down. 

Well, i cant even think about getting near touching my toes before i do cardio. After i do it, i can touch the floor. I would suggest doing stretching after cardio and see how that goes.

Stretching can be done at anytime.  It is nice to warm your muscles up and get blood flowing but that can be just walking a bit.  This is not a requirement though.  When I was rock climbing we did stretches as soon as we came in to work out.  No warming up no walking nothing.  In less that 3 months of doing stretching 5 times a week I was doing the splits and other things that are difficult to explain.

As my rock climbing instructor (once 5th in the world) told us, you are never going to injure a muscle group by stretching it.  Your muscles are tougher than anything you can do to stretch it. (unless your an idiot and do something totally stupid like tie your ankles to horses and smack them. You have to use your brain for everything you do).

 

 

However, passive or mechanical stretching prior to strength training is a really, really bad idea - it's been conclusively shown to reduce your force generation capacity by about 30%.

 Makes you weaker, in other words. Pre-lifting, stick to active mobility drills - leave passive stretching for post-lifting.

 I haven't seen anyone comment on whether this 30% reduction in strength makes a difference for activities which don't involve maximal strength work like running, biking or other cardio; my guess would be 'no' since it's only peak power output that's compromised. But it may still be a good idea to leave stretching to the post-workout period, since it's easier to get a good stretch in warm muscles.

Original Post by sszcar:

As my rock climbing instructor (once 5th in the world) told us, you are never going to injure a muscle group by stretching it. 

 You might not injure your muscles, but you can still do damage.

Wow!!! After reading everyone's comments.  I did go back in the gym.  I used the advice that sszcar and some of you have given me.  Although that leg still hurts, I continue to stretch until I feel discomfort.  I am glad u all reassured me that it would be nearly impossible to really hurt the muscles by stretching.  That was my fear but the pain felt like I was tearing/ripping something. 

I've been stretching before and during my workouts and it seems to be helping.  But does the pain ever go away.   I am also doing strength training so perhaps this will work out for me.

Thanks for all the sound advice.  I hope to be doing a split soon!!! Wow!!

Do you watch television? If so, take some time during commercials or even during your favorite show to do a forward bend. Remember not to bounce while you stretch because this can push you past your 'oh crap' point (a phrase my yoga teacher used quite frequently).

Trust me, as a former ballerina and a current yogini, I know how important it is to stretch. You'll feel so much better!

Does it ever stop hurting?  Well yes and no.  If you stretch really hard for a month and then go back to where it used to first hurt it will no longer hurt.  However, unless you are a pro gymnist (which I love their flexibility) then you can always stretch more so it will hurt.  I just started stretching again after too many years of neglect (got a career and wife and kids and forgot about fitness)

You are not going to damage, injure, tear, or hurt a muscle by stretching.  Muscles and tendons are extremely tough.  You have to really do something dumb to hurt yourself stretching (which does occur because there are some dumb people in this world, for example jump splits are not a good idea especially off the bench press bench).

Keep it up and you will be impressing people in no time with your flexibility.