Frequency & Timing of Join Preparation/Flexibilty work

I am enjoying the BTGB book and videos very much and am progressing quite nicely. It now is very apparent to me, that most of my progress is limited by my preparedness level of my joints.

I can do a solid straight arm frog stand and can do a tucked planche for a few seconds even though my hips are low and my back isn't straight it is a lot of progress for me. But my wrists are starting to hurt and are sore next day after my planche training sessions.

Having said that, I wait anxiously for the forthcoming Liquid Steel™. Until that day, I have questions that hopefully Coach or other well-informed people could address.

1.) How often (many times a week) should joint preparation work be performed? Is daily too much?

2.) Should joint preparation work always be performed right before your actual training session ?

3.) Should flexibility work/stretching always be performed at the end of a work out?

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

I would recommend that you reduce the weekly frequency of your planche training until your wrist strength increases. There are a variety of wrist exercises available here in the forum. Wrist pushups are one such example. I would perform 10 reps of each movement prior to your planche training and then 5 reps after your planche training.

Joint preparation may be either performed before or after training. I prefer for the appropriate joint preparation to be performed in combination with that day's trainining.

I prefer for beginners to start with hard passive stretching once per week. After several weeks when the soreness from the stretching no longer seems to last the entire week , then it is time to add an additional day. Once again, stay with this frequency of stretching until the body once again adapts.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

Coach Sommer said:

I prefer for beginners to start with hard passive stretching once per week. After several weeks when the soreness from the stretching no longer seems to last the entire week , then it is time to add an additional day. Once again, stay with this frequency of stretching until the body once again adapts.

Sorry to to have my head in the fine print, but do you advise repeating only the hard passive stretching once a week while continuing with a general flexibility and/or leg conditioning programs? or literally just stretching once a week as a beginner.

Just when I think I've gotten my head around stretching, I find out I haven't!

Thanks,

George.

For beginners, I recommend beginning with a serious stretching routine once per week, on the same day each week. Please note that this is not twist twist, touch your toes a few times, but a correctly structured full body stretch that will take a minimum of 30 minutes hard work. As a beginner, if you have stretched correctly, you will be SORE. It will take some time for the DOMS (delayed onset of muscle soreness) to dissipate. For beginners this dissipation may take the better part of a week; especially the first time. The amount of time for the DOMS to disperse will then begin to lessen from week to week.

After 4-6 weeks, when you are no longer spectacularly sore after a thorough stretch, it is time to add an additional day and begin the process again. It may also help to remember that stretching is a separate endeavor from joint preparation and pre-hab. For example, I prefer for hip extensions to be performed after leg conditioning rather than during stretching.

Many people confuse stretching with relaxation. While you may feel relaxed after the stretch, the stretch itself should be hard work. For those who are interested, I will be going over and leading several of the stretching protocols that I use with my own athletes during the course of the upcoming GB Seminar.

Yours in Fitness,
Coach Sommer

Thank you for taking the time to respond Coach.

I will adjust accordingly.

How can you make a stretching routine that is 30 minutes long. I didn't even think there were that many stretches to do in 30 minutes. How are suppose to make a 30 min long routine.

Well, you could easily make a stretching routine with only one stretch last half an hour if you stay in the stretch for 30 minutes.

Oh and Cody, please start using question marks will you? I'm not going to say anything about correct grammar and spelling because English is not my first language. But I just can't look at questions that end with . instead of ? I know it's a silly pet peeve of mine but it really looks extremely lazy and disinterested.

Out of curiosity coach, with your juniors, how many times a week will they eventually be doing a full body stretches for this period of time (over 30mins) will it be every training day?

Does there come a point, once a very good level of flexibility has been achieved that this is toned down to once a week just to maintain this level of flexibility?

Stretching has always been for me the last consideration and previously with weight lifting i was doing this in between sets just for 20seconds to relieve the muscles, completely avoiding any sort of long term increase in flexibility.

DonGray, check this: http://www.xtremegymnastics.com/index.php?componentName=Section&scid=53733&action=sub&sectionid=16006&offset_Section=0 His beginners are only in the gym 2d/week

I could easily stretch for 30-60m if I want to. 30-60s per stretch 2-3x.

OK thanks Blairbob,

But I can't really gain a lot of information from that other than the beginners do 2 x 3 hour sessions a week, the elites do 5 sessions a week 4 hours each time..... but there's no way to see how this time is divided up and devoted purely to stretching.

simply figure this:

seal stretch

pike stretch

cat stretch (shoulder flexion)

german stretch (shoulder extension)

middle split

pancake split

right/left front split after warming up lunge and single leg half split

yoga plow

bridge

shoulder stretching

figure 30sx14x2. That's and easy 20m there. Or start off with half of that.

That seems very comprehensive Blairbob, thanks!

that's pretty basic, especially if you want to start using more than general stretches that target specific areas such as ITB, piriformis, pecs, triceps, etc

Not to mention liquid steel™ components. That's a great beginner list though, I like it.

I didn't really want to go into the Liquid Steel™ or GB stretches or mobility series. Just a simple basic stretch routine.

Look how long it takes, if you were to only do 2 sets of 30s. You can probably alternate pancake and middle split or front/side split days but the rest shouldn't.

Yea, I was just pointing that out since there was a question as to how in the world stretching could take so long! Heck, P90X has a 60 minute stretch DVD! A good one, too.

I know I've easily done an hour and a half sometimes and wondered where time went by on some stretching sessions.

Blairbob said:

simply figure this:

seal stretch

pike stretch

cat stretch (shoulder flexion)

german stretch (shoulder extension)

middle split

pancake split

right/left front split after warming up lunge and single leg half split

yoga plow

bridge

shoulder stretching

figure 30sx14x2. That's and easy 20m there. Or start off with half of that.

Is it possible to have some photo of this type of stretching? on Youtube i don't find some of it.

Thanks

how long should you spend in middle split? is it bad to stay for 4-10 minutes?

You can stay in a stretch as long as you want.

Opinions vary on what the best length to stay is, and the length will depend on what kind of stretching you are doing. Dynamic obviously can be a very short duration, and passive can be very long.

When staying in a stretch for longer periods of time there are some simple things to experiment with. Start in a very light stretch intensity, say a 4 on a scale of 1 - 10. Longer stretches are all about the nervous system, and getting it to allow the muscle to stretch. Letting your breath become slow, and full has a remarkable effect on this. Coordinate the stretch with your breath, looking to stretch more with your exhales, and adjust your position with inhales. These adjustments can be very small, but are the key to connecting to your nervous system, which will allow you to keep good form as your position slowly lowers over the course of the stretch. Try to keep the perceived intensity low over the cycle of the stretch, say 7 max, except perhaps for the last 5 of so breaths.

In fact i think of these very long stretches as being a drawn out cycle of micro PNF stetting, you will observe the muscles tense to get you more into the next phase of the stretch and release to take you deeper.

This is also a great way to relax and recover, i do this type of session when i'm very fatigued and find it will usually get my energy levels back up.

Coach Sommer said:

For beginners, I recommend beginning with a serious stretching routine once per week, on the same day each week. Please note that this is not twist twist, touch your toes a few times, but a correctly structured full body stretch that will take a minimum of 30 minutes hard work. As a beginner, if you have stretched correctly, you will be SORE. It will take some time for the DOMS (delayed onset of muscle soreness) to dissipate. For beginners this dissipation may take the better part of a week; especially the first time. The amount of time for the DOMS to disperse will then begin to lessen from week to week.

After 4-6 weeks, when you are no longer spectacularly sore after a thorough stretch, it is time to add an additional day and begin the process again. It may also help to remember that stretching is a separate endeavor from joint preparation and pre-hab. For example, I prefer for hip extensions to be performed after leg conditioning rather than during stretching.

Many people confuse stretching with relaxation. While you may feel relaxed after the stretch, the stretch itself should be hard work. For those who are interested, I will be going over and leading several of the stretching protocols that I use with my own athletes during the course of the upcoming GB Seminar.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

Came across this old thread while I was searching my bookmarks....

Coach, would this still apply now that Stretch series has been released? Or should Stretch series still be done only a maximum of once per week?

Each stretch course should be performed once per week.

The above reference is to a full body stretch that encompasses all three stretch course areas into a single workout.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

On 5/23/2015 at 11:14 AM, Coach Sommer said:

Each stretch course should be performed once per week.

 

The above reference is to a full body stretch that encompasses all three stretch course areas into a single workout.

 

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

Good morning,

I'm getting a bit lost lining up the information in this thread with what's in the current courses (I read this and various other threads before signing up for the courses). Does the content in this thread generally pertain to what are now called the "Mobility" courses in the Whiteboard section?

Thank you for your time.

-Jamie

21 hours ago, Jamie B Edwards said:

Good morning,

I'm getting a bit lost lining up the information in this thread with what's in the current courses (I read this and various other threads before signing up for the courses). Does the content in this thread generally pertain to what are now called the "Mobility" courses in the Whiteboard section?

Thank you for your time.

-Jamie

HI jamie, for everything concerned with courses refers directly to the course material.