Comments on: Proper Warm Ups & Stretches

By: Static Stretching | Is Stretching Good For You? | Why Stretch

Static Stretching | Is Stretching Good For You? | Why Stretch — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 13:22:00 +0000

[...] in the scientific journals, so I can’t really claim credit!). You can read past articles here, here, and here. And related to recovery, check [...]

By: Inverted Tabata | Inverse Tabata | Tabata Variations | World Fitness Network

Thu, 28 May 2009 14:08:02 +0000

[...] course warm ups are critical. I do this by first doing dynamic stretches and then doing a 5 to 10 minute slow, steady [...]

By: Bodyweight exercises for children - kids | World Fitness Network

Bodyweight exercises for children - kids | World Fitness Network — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 12:08:17 +0000

[...] dynamic stretches – generally you want to do stretches that get the blood flowing, stretches that are active; we do some jumping jacks, some standing knee raises, walk around like a duck, light kicks, etc.; [...]

By: Questions and Answers on Building Lean Muscle Mass | World Fitness Network

Questions and Answers on Building Lean Muscle Mass | World Fitness Network — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 14:56:46 +0000

[...] but what I’ve read about seems grounded in science. The most important things are a) do not do static stretches beforehand and b) do something before hand. I tried to get the science behind this, and there are snippets [...]

By: Witmonger

Witmonger — Fri, 02 May 2008 00:58:20 +0000

Ah, thanks for both the clear ups (this + the Know Thy Pecs article). Sets across it is for me, then!

By: Jason

Jason — Thu, 01 May 2008 07:52:25 +0000

Witmonger- Probably the biggest downside to stripping the weight with each set is the possibility of overtraining. On sets across, you might do let’s say 3+ sets at a certain weight and fail on the last set or so. That means the first couple sets weren’t to failure. You’re describing a weight heavy enough that you can only get up for the first set, which trains the muscle to near failure early on. To do a second set, you must lower the weight and your muscles are trained to failure or near failure again. As you can see, this can be more stressful and takes the muscles past exhaustion.

You said you do it “sometimes”, which is good (and 2 sets at a time). It can be useful here and there to give your muscles a shock, but too much intensity on a regular basis can also lead to overtraining. But it’s a very individual thing as you know. Great question btw.

By: Witmonger

Witmonger — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 22:45:42 +0000

Hmmm, I attune this to the “listen to your own body” philosophy. Mine likes me to deep-stretch the hell out of it throughout an entire workout. I do both static and dynamic stretching before, during, and after everything from cardio to compound lifting. I have especially come to like performing a copious amount of arm swings while working my chest.

Never been a fan of pyramind sets. I try to keep it across, but sometimes do the opposite of pyramid sets and actually lessen the weight with each set, in order to still be able to do the same amount of reps each set (though it should be noted I usually only do 2 sets of any one specific lift). Is there any downside/negative effect to doing the opposite of pyramid sets that you know of?

By: Jason

Jason — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 16:11:02 +0000

Sean- Best to start any workout where legs are involved with the squat first. I’ve found that my body temp is feeling very warm after a warmup set with even just 85 on my back for warmup (still wearing a sweater). Starting with an empty bar and adding weight is a great way to ease into worksets without injury.