I Hate Stretching!

BY HERB TOWNSEND

The following is bound to upset a number of people, but here goes anyway

For the first 30 years of my running career, I did only one type of stretch. This consisted of a single 30-second stretch of the calf muscles. This was done only because, when I first began running and developed a stress fracture of the shin, a podiatrist told me to do this stretch. Whether it did any good or not, I accepted on faith that it was good for me, and made it a part on my daily routine. For whatever reason, my running was mostly injury-free.

At least that was the case until about two years ago when I broke a foot bone while attempting to convert to barefoot running. This injury led to visits with various orthopedic surgeons, physical therapists, massage therapists, and sports-medicine doctors, all of whom noted how generally inflexible I was, and recommended additional stretching routines for quads and hamstrings. Consequently, I then began religiously stretching calves, quads, and hamstrings daily. This involved three sets of 30 seconds on each of the three muscle groups separately on left and right sides for a total time of nine minutes per day.

After two years of this daily nine-minute self-torture, I asked myself what benefits were earned in return. Was I more flexible? No! Was I any faster? No! Did I have less muscle soreness? No! Was I any more resistant to injury? No, if anything just the opposite! That is the main reason I hate stretching.

There are other things about stretching that I find bothersome. Some stretching advocates tell us to stretch before running. Others tell us to stretch only after running when the muscles are warmed up. So which is it?

The range of stretch times and number of repetitions is another peculiar area. For the identical stretch, the experts have recommended anything in the range from 10, 10-second repetitions to 5, 60-second repetitions. Come on, guys, which is it?

I also have to question the supposed relationship between bone fractures, and muscle flexibility. My stress facture of the shin was the result of early overuse, and the foot fracture was the result of running barefoot. So, how does stretching make bones stronger?

I also wonder which stretches are truly useful, and which are just something to write books and articles about? Some authors provide enough stretches to consume just about all of our available exercise time.

Finally, I have talked to a number of runners who tell me that they never stretch. Some of them are very talented, high-mileage runners who seem to be immune to injury.

Based on the above, I have given up on stretching. Guess what? After two weeks of no-stretch running, I am feeling stronger, running faster, and have less soreness.