she/they/it // powerlifting the pain away
It’ll just do other things than other forms of exercise. Some train intensely for flexibility and so stretching is most of what they do! Most athletes except gymnasts, aerialists, etc don’t have the same demand for flexibility and so don’t need as much static stretching. But I think most people could benefit from a few stretches, especially as they get older.
absolutely this!
I also think static stretching has its place in injury prevention for day-to-day sprains and injuries. Longer, more pliable muscles = not tearing your hamstring if you accidentally fall into a split. They can be great teaching tools too, and can incorporate some core training.
But otherwise foam rolling, banded distractions, dynamic warmups get the job done just fine. Even just starting right into a warmup set if the motion feels good already.
sameeeee! It’s a form of self-massage, and massage is well understood more generally. it won’t make muscles longer but it’ll help a lot with adhesions, tender points and postural tension.
recently I’ve been getting some great results out of using a harder plastic massage ball for some areas, seems to get deep into my psoas, quads and calves especially. also love using a racked barbell to mobilize triceps, rotator cuff, and hamstrings! it hurts so good!