Pre-class stretching information

[Nidan Melbourne]

How do we choose, as to what is good and what is bad. Amongst the experts, expert 'A' will say one thing, and expert 'B' will say another thing. Being a layperson, how does one choose beyond the gut feeling(s)?!

Most perplexing, to say the least!!

Every 'Expert' is different, as their preferences and experience guide their views.

If you spoke to me during a session where i was training you and gave you advice on this and then spoke to a personal trainer (who say has a certificate 4 in personal training) they will give you different advice because of their training.

[JR 137]

How do we choose, as to what is good and what is bad. Amongst the experts, expert 'A' will say one thing, and expert 'B' will say another thing. Being a layperson, how does one choose beyond the gut feeling(s)?!

Most perplexing, to say the least!!

First and foremost, there's a lot of fake experts out there. Everyone's got some sort of nonsense certification. Personal trainer certification overall is a joke. The better ones are weekend long courses, and all they teach is anatomy. And they do an awful job of it. I say this because I actually unwillingly sat through one. My former boss thought it was a good idea for the athletic department to all get certified as personal trainers. She researched the various agencies, and chose the most respected one. No instruction on how to put together a program, let alone tailor one to specific needs. No instruction on proper lifting technique for any specific exercise. Nothing. I felt that much stupider for having sat through it.

The credentials you should respect here in the US are CSCS, PT, OT, ATC, or an exercise science, exercise physiology, human performance, etc. college degree. If they don't have a mention of any of that, skip it.

Now to realistically answer your question - trial and error. Be willing to try an approach from a credible source for a set amount of time. Be it 4 weeks, 30 days, etc. Listen to your body. Be methodical as possible.

[Nidan Melbourne]

How do we choose, as to what is good and what is bad. Amongst the experts, expert 'A' will say one thing, and expert 'B' will say another thing. Being a layperson, how does one choose beyond the gut feeling(s)?!

Most perplexing, to say the least!!

First and foremost, there's a lot of fake experts out there. Everyone's got some sort of nonsense certification. Personal trainer certification overall is a joke. The better ones are weekend long courses, and all they teach is anatomy. And they do an awful job of it. I say this because I actually unwillingly sat through one. My former boss thought it was a good idea for the athletic department to all get certified as personal trainers. She researched the various agencies, and chose the most respected one. No instruction on how to put together a program, let alone tailor one to specific needs. No instruction on proper lifting technique for any specific exercise. Nothing. I felt that much stupider for having sat through it.

The credentials you should respect here in the US are CSCS, PT, OT, ATC, or an exercise science, exercise physiology, human performance, etc. college degree. If they don't have a mention of any of that, skip it.

Now to realistically answer your question - trial and error. Be willing to try an approach from a credible source for a set amount of time. Be it 4 weeks, 30 days, etc. Listen to your body. Be methodical as possible.

I am not a fan of personal trainers because more often than not they create a program for people that would be unsafe for them to do so. One of my classes last semester was all about advanced resistance training and olympic lifting along with power lifting along with a couple of other things.

Exercise science and Exercise Physiology frankly are the only ones that should be prescribing exercise. Because they have been taught how to train people of ALL health statuses (apparently healthy, metabolic, cardio etc).

One thing i dislike seeing is where trainers have overweight and obese clients and they are having them do exercises that can do more damage than good. And they aren't monitoring the clients bp or hr at all during sessions

[Darkranger85]

I agree with sensei.

That's a problem in so many areas now. One person will fight tooth and nail that his theory is right and provide a logical explanation. But then the next guy seems to have a similarly logical explanation for why the first guy is wrong.

[Alan Armstrong]

I believe in pandiculation warm ups and not static stretching for the initial stage of preparing muscles for action. Stretching depends on many factors such as age and experience. Preparing muscles to do specific tasks need to be primed and ready first in a gradual way. Rotating all joints in the body in a circular motion should be considered first before any stretching movements. In this way the body is becoming warmer and the nervous system is awakening muscles to get ready to perform. Intensity of stretching should be in correlation to the heat of muscles becoming warmer. Both of these factors go together to reach the stretching peek for prevention of injury and for performance readiness. Rule of thumb is the older you are the slower and longer warm up time required. Asking cold muscles to perform without adequate warm up stretching equals trouble.