OverStretching and Differences

[Brandan Nelson]

I also am curious as to the differences between stretching correctly on the muscle and  overstretching to the point you are stretching on a tendon or joint ligament. What are the differences in the stretch feeling. It is a bad thing to do but sometimes unclear to a novice who may in fact be over vigorous and have a different notion of stretch understanding. 

Example is stretching your chest for shoulder mobility or hamstring/leg muscles for hip mobility.

 

[Coach Sommer]

If you are feeling more than moderate discomfort, you are overstretching.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

[Julian Aldag]

I like to go by the unwritten rule of: you need to 'own' the stretch. During the stretch should you feel a moderate discomfort, but over the duration of the set should feel slightly more tolerable.  If you start a stretch and cant maintain it for the set (You have to keep easing off every 5-10sec etc), then likely you dont 'own' that range and are trying to reach beyond your current limits.   

(I find this with myself sometimes during weighted pike stretching. If I am too over zealous to begin with, the body has a way of letting me know i've started too far down) 

[Eva Pelegrin]

Seconding what Julian said so well, once you own a certain active range, you have the advantage that you can pretty much visit that range, or very close to it, without doing a bunch of preparatory stretches or what's typically considered a "warm up" for a stretch. Meaning you can drop cold into your level of split, pancake (high kick or whatever) and without grimacing, or fear that something may snap. Not recommending go try this, just painting a picture.

Furthermore, stretching should feel "normal" instead of torturous. When your body craves it, you know you are in a good place.

Of all the people I've met who are anywhere from tight to ridiculously tight, they have this one thing in common: they never stretch/ed properly or consistently to make a difference, duh.

And one more thing, you cannot make up for "lost time" with mobility work by pushing and pushing your body's thresholds now. They're there for a reason, to protect you from screwing up! You have to progress at your own pace and compare to NO one but yourself.

[Luka Kopusar]

i really like what Julian said. for me it really is a great cue:   If you start a stretch and cant maintain it for the set (You have to keep easing off every 5-10sec etc),