This is the fourth in a series of six articles on things I have learned from High-Intensity Resistance Training that have influenced my approach to martial arts.
If you missed the previous articles in this series, you can find them here:
High Intensity Resistance Training and Martial Arts – A Perfect Match (Part 1 of 6)
You Don’t Need a Separate Cardio Workout (Part 2 of 6)
Weightlifting Will NOT Make You Constantly Tense (Part 3 of 6)
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Before I begin, I want to say something. I know many martial artists consider stretching/flexibility to be one of the most important aspect of their training. For some, like Tae Kwon Do practitioners, it certainly is important because, since their art has a lot of kicks, they need flexibility to kick higher. Therefore, some people might not take too kindly to an article that disparages stretching.
However, this piece is meant to showcase two things:
- One person’s opinion on the matter (in this case, mine)
- That stretching does not necessarily lead to increased flexibility, and it does not have any of the benefits that have been assigned to them for so long
I realize some people will not agree, and that is okay. I did not write this to change anyone’s mind. My sole intention was to present a different point of view. I’m not an “anti-stretching missionary,” sent to a country of savages who worship stretching to the point of idolatry.
Conversion is not my game.
The sharing of ideas is.
I hope no one takes offense. Then again, if anyone does, that is beyond my control.
With that said, let’s begin our journey.
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Many people believe that strength, cardio, and flexibility are the “Holy Trinity” of fitness. This is not restricted to any one sport or activity; football players and martial artists alike believe it. In fact, it is so widely accepted that even couch potatoes have heard of it.
However, the truth is that stretching isn’t as much of a friend to the martial artists (or anyone, for that matter) as we are led to believe.
Flexibility In the Days of Our Youth
If you go to a martial arts school where some of your classmates are middle-aged, you will undoubtedly hear them talking about how flexible they were in their youth.
They lament their loss of flexibility, but they don’t know the real reason they lost it. The fact that you can no longer touch your chin to your knee during a split has nothing to do with the elasticity of their muscles.
There is a structure around our hip joint called a “hip capsule.” It helps to stabilize the joint and keep lubricating fluid in the joint. As we get older, our femurs (upper leg bones) get bigger, which makes for a tighter fit in the joint. This is what makes movement in the capsule more restricted, and why you can’t stretch as far as you once did.
Beyond Natural Range of Motion – A Dangerous Landscape
Every muscle and joint have natural ranges of motion. If you go any further, you risk damaging them or tearing the tissue that holds muscle in place.
Obviously, that is not good.
And that is exactly what you are doing when you perform a stretching routine. You are putting the joint in its weakest position and pulling it apart by its connective tissue.
Doing this won’t make you able to kick your classmates in the head like you could in your twenties. Instead, it is more likely to cause injury so you won’t be able to do any kicking for a long time or, in extreme cases, ever again.
“Warm Us Up, Coach, But Don’t Hurt Us!”
Most coaches include stretching as part of a warm-up routine for their players. Senseis and Sifus the world over also do this for their students.
Those of you who may have watched the video of me performing a High Intensity Resistance Training (HIRT) workout will notice one thing: I have no warm-up phase. A HIRT practitioner doesn’t need one due to the slow and controlled nature of the lift. (If you didn’t see it, you can watch it here: https://youtu.be/dp2ag_7vIJw)
However, you do need a warm-up for martial arts and sports. These are activities where you go from no movement to sudden, explosive movements. It is easy to damage (or “pull”) something when you move that fast.
It is important to warm up the muscles and reduce viscosity before you start kicking and punching. The thing is, stretching does neither of those.
There has been a great amount of research done on this subject. Check out this quote from Body by Science by Dr. Doug McGuff:
“One study oversaw a huge database of 1,538 male army recruits who were randomly allocated to stretch or control groups. During the ensuing twelve weeks of training, both groups performed active warm-up exercises before physical training sessions, but in addition, the stretching group performed one twenty-second static stretch under supervision for each of six major leg-muscle groups during every warm-up. The control group did not stretch. The researchers concluded that ‘a typical muscle stretching protocol performed during pre-exercise as a warm-up does not produce clinically meaningful reductions in risk of exercise-related injury.” (McGuff, p. 218)
QUESTION: What is a Warm-Up Without Muscular Contraction? ANSWER: Not a Warm-Up!
This is basic muscle physiology, folks, boiled down to the most bare facts: contracting is what draws blood into a muscle to provide the “warm-up” effect.
Do you know what does not happen during stretching?
You guessed it: muscle contraction.
Not only does stretching provide no warm-up, but putting that “cold” muscle in its weakest position makes it even more likely that you’ll sustain an injury. Stretching is encouraged to prevent injury, but in reality it has the opposite effect.
The Bendier You Get, the Weaker You Get
Martial artists want to punch and kick as hard as they can. Body mechanics can help even a small martial artist hit super-hard (just think of Bruce Lee, a small man, and his “one-inch punch”), but let’s be honest here: strong muscles help.
And do you know what a muscle is once it has been thoroughly stretched?
I’ll tell you: it is a weakened muscle.
To present you with proof, let’s go back to Body by Science:
“A study presented at the 2006 meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine looked into what effect stretching had on training. Strength is important in that it allows an athlete to perform with greater speed and power and also protects them from injury. The study featured eighteen college students who performed a one-rep-maximum test of knee flexion after doing either zero, one, two, three, four, five or six thirty-second hamstring stretches. Just one thirty-second rep reduced one-rep maximums by 5.4 percent. After their subjects did six thirty-second stretches, their strength declined by 12.4 percent. So stretching…makes you weaker, not stronger.” (McGuff, p. 219)
Conclusions About Stretching
These studies all reach the same conclusion: stretching produces a weaker muscle contraction. Also, it does none of the things that proponents claim it does. And what are those claims? Let us sum up the ways again:
- Warm up the muscle (NO. Muscle contractions are what warm up a muscle, and there is no contracting done during stretching.)
- Prevent injuries (NO. You need a warm-up routine that excludes stretching.)
- Stave off soreness (NO. If you spar for an hour straight or if you engage in a HIRT exercise session, you are going to be sore, period.)
- Enhance flexibility (NO. You can’t stop the ravages of time, or the growth of femurs.)
What it all boils down to is that stretching has the same effect as overtraining.
Speaking of that word, that is exactly what we will be addressing in article #5.
In the meantime, try to not hate me too much for this month’s installment.
~~~Steve Grogan
NOTE – Steve Grogan is looking for people to coach through this exercise program. If you don’t live anywhere near him, the workouts can be done via Skype or some other video chat platform. Contact him via email, with the subject line “saw your Martial Journal article on HIRT.”
geekwingchun@gmail.com
His YouTube channel (Geek Wing Chun) gives free training tips and ideas for people who want to get better at Wing Chun but can't make it to class as often as they'd like. Check it out by simply typing "Geek Wing Chun" into the YouTube search field!
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