Hey Barbell Medicine crew,
About to start the Bridge and have seen you guys strongly advice against stretching (the exact quote is something like NEVER)
A quick google search says it weakens the muscles but are you able to elaborate in terms of lifting and what would be the recommended action to replace stretching, i.e. if an area feels worked a day after training do you attempt any stretching or do you incorporate some kind of dynamic movements on off days?
Thanks
Hi Kevin, Glad to hear you’re getting ready to start the Bridge!
There is nothing needed to take the place of stretching. It’s not going to aid your training, takes up extra time, and won’t help anything that feels “worked”. You should be able to recover on your non-training days and then get back under the bar for your next training session, using the empty barbell to warm up for each movement.
Awesome thanks for the reply, I assume the best recovery is a balanced diet (fitted to weight gain/loss/maintenance) and consistent sleep.
Leah, I’ve been thinking about this don’t stretch approach all week. This may be a stupid question but for example when I feed my kid at 4:30 in the morning, I bend over the crib and I give they ol’ hamstrings a bit of a stretch. On any day because of the squats or deadlifts it gives my body some relief from the light stretch, or shoulders are stiff so I take a bar and go front and back with it to get some movement going. Is this a black and white thing or just don’t go to yoga before you workout.