Hey guys, I just recently started weight lifting and I find Im losing some of my flexibility. It's really bugging me and I was wondering if anyone knew of ways to stop my flexibility loss.
It's just normal, i think! By training the muscle of course it gets a bit shorter... I guess the only thing you can do about it is to stretch the muscles you strenghtend after your training (or any other time, but stretching before training leads to shortening of muscles and tendons and after training you're already warmed up...)
Maintaining flexibility is simply done through stretching. Stretch before and after training.
The dude who thinks that your muscles shorten when you lift weights, where did you get that from? Your muscles do not get shorter, thats retarded. You get more and bigger muscles that get bunched up.
It also helps to do multiple angles with your weights so as to balance your muscles out.
Actually, its not retarted. Muscles do get shorter and tighter, if you lift weight and don´t strecth at all. It is a fact. Ask anyone who knows about human physiology.
I agree with that as well. In fact I think Bruce did a fair amount of hypothesizing as to what muscles would after weight training impair his flexibility. I think he found that only certain muscle groups can be trained using weights without adversly affecting overall flexibility. I'd imagine you will limit the effect this has if you incorporate a flexibilty program as some have mentioned.
Where I got that from? No idea... But I know that it is a fact that muscles do get shorter! Believe it or not...
By the way, stretching before training is not that effective. Your muscles and tendons are loose (don't know if i can use this word her, english is not my mother tongue; hope you know what I mean) then and they get shorter by training the muscles again. Do just a little stretching for warm-up before training your muscles to avoid injuries and stretch after training or apart from it! That should be enough...
I never lost any flexibility! But, I think Im naturally flexible. However, when lifting, between sets, I'll stretch the muscle I was working. There are 2 reasons why I do this... 1) So I gain my flexibility 2) So I don't become too sore the next day.
Since I doubt there has actaully been investigation where by visual (e.g electron microscope picture) evidence that muscle fibres get shorter after training (unless I am grossly mistaken) I stand by my point.
When you train one of two thing will happen. 1) Your muscle fibres will be more efficient at producing energy i.e. more mitichondria 2) You will grow more muscle fibres. The reason why body builders become tight and inflexible is more to do with what muscles they train. Usually it is unidirectional i.e.up down, left right rarely it is multidirectional i.e circular e.g swimming. What happens is one muscle grows larger than the other impeding its function. Now you can stretch that one muscle as much as you like but eventually you will find you are not as flexible as you could be.
When you do multidirectional weight training you still need to stretch. The purpose of this is two fold 1) to stimulate lengthening of muscle 2) to help prevent injury by gently warming muscle.
Where do I get my info from? partly from having done a degree in the biological sciences, partly from reading around, partly from tutilage from instructors and also from comparing my training to body builder friends.
One execise which I am sure people are familiar, is where you lift two dumbells by raising you shoulders. I do this but by making a circular motion with my shoulders. My friend who is twice my weight, does the former method but can not 1) do it like me because he literally can not move his shoulders like that any more 2) he lifts less for fewer reps.
So to conclude, flexibility and weight training are linked but not in the way is generally understood. And for those who believe that there beleif has been physiologically proven I say nothing is ever proved absolutely. Secondly it sounds more like a gym myth, show me the evidence, I am genuinely intrigued.
Most things you mentioned were absolutely right, Jack. I have no proof for what i said, maybe i will do some research on this...
But I have always had the feeling (and many people I know experienced this too) that after doing strenght training (weight lifting etc.) you're becoming less flexible. Even if you trained the antagonistic muscles as well... I've heard that theorie and it seemed absolutely reasonable to me. Also i can't remember what exactly the theorie did say, why the muscles shorten, so i understand you doubt it!
As I said, maybe I'm going to inform myself on this topic. and when i know better, i will post the proof for the theorie or an excuse for giving wrong information to you...
Jack~> you made a number of good points in your last post. I will say that I have read that resistance training does make the muscle shorter, and it was not on some yokel’s site on the internet, but rather one or more of my textbooks while I was studying kinesiology. I will admit that I do not remember which books (sometimes they turn into one big book in my head), and I do not remember the studies that were done to reach that conclusion. I am just saying it is not just a gym myth; it might still be a myth but a documented myth that is being taught in respected learning establishments. I will try to look it up, I still have my books at home.
Everyone~> Myth or not…your muscles do feel shorter after training so stretching is one of the best ways to remedy this. If you are going to stretch before a workout please do something to warm up a bit. For most people it is a bad idea to stretch cold muscle, it can lead to injury. Do some research, there are some really dangerous ways to stretch that are being taught out there. And martial arts schools can be some of the worst places of all.
I also try to find stretching opportunities throughout the day…while reading or watching TV is a great time to stretch the legs. A quick stretch in the morning is a great way to get the oxygen to start bringing your body back to life. I spend a few moments on my break from the day job using the door jam to help my in my upper body stretches.
Just a thought.
Xline808
www.808fitness.com
*You cannot discard what you have never obtained.*
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