Stretching - is de-loading needed?

Hi,

I need to do a lot of stretching. Can I do a big stretching routine every day without any adverse consequences? Or will it make demands of my body similar to those of (say) strength training? If so, do I need to think about recovery periods? And de-loading every 4th week?

Many thanks for any advice I get on this issue.

Andy K

It depends on your experience level of course, but for a beginner, the general advice is to have 1-2 hard stretching sessions per week. These are sessions where you are actively trying to achieve new range of movement (ROM).

Hard stretching on a daily basis could be counter-productive as your muscles may be too stiff/sore to explore new ROM, therefore defeating the purpose of the hard stretch session. If you still feel that you will get benefit out of daily stretching then a light stretching or mobility session will be a more efficient use of your time.

I don't believe that a deload week is necessary for stretching.

If you look at the mastery templates, you'll see the IMs aren't deloaded.  For the 5 Rep template, weeks 3 & 4 both have 3 IM sets, and weeks 7 & 8 and 11 & 12 both have 5 sets.  However, throughout the 12 week cycle, some weeks have 3 sets, some 4, and others 5.  So even though they're not deloaded, there's still some cycling that happens.

I actually like to up my mobility and stretching work during deload.

OK many thanks for that guys!

Andy K said:

Hi,

 

I need to do a lot of stretching. Can I do a big stretching routine every day without any adverse consequences? 

No, you cannot.  If you attempt to approach stretching with the same intensity, e.g. 'big', as your conditioning work you are guaranteed to eventually injure yourself.

Connective tissue remodels itself quite slowly.  Approaching mobility work with patience and consistency pays huge dividends.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

Much appreciated Coach!