Stretching and muscle growth :) - UK-Muscle Body Building Community

**hackskii** · 26-11-2003, 11:19 PM

How Stretching Can Explode Your Muscle Growth!
By Nick Nilsson
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When you think about gaining muscle, stretching is probably not the first thing that pops into your head. But did you know that stretching plays a critical role in building muscle?

Every muscle in your body is enclosed in a bag of tough connective tissue known as fascia. Fascia is important for holding your muscles in their proper place in your body.

But your fascia may also be holding back your muscle growth. Think for a moment about your muscles. You train them and feed them properly. They want to grow and will grow but something is holding them back. They have no room to grow!

Because fascia is so tough, it doesn’t allow the muscle room to expand. It is like stuffing a large pillow into a small pillowcase. The size of the muscle won’t change regardless of how hard you train or how well you eat because the connective tissue around your muscles is constricting the muscles within.

The best example of this is the calf muscle. The lower leg is riddled with fascia because of its tremendous weight-bearing duties in the body. It is because of this fascia that many trainers have great difficulty developing their calves.

The solution: stretching.

Using the pillowcase example from above, imagine you can expand the size of the pillowcase by stretching it. Suddenly, the pillow within has more room and will expand to fill that new space.

By stretching your muscles under specific conditions, you can actually stretch your fascia and give your muscles more room to grow.

The key to effective fascial stretching is the pump. The best time to stretch to expand the bags that are holding in your muscles is when your muscles are pumped up full of blood.

When your muscles are fully pumped up, they are pressing against the fascia. By stretching hard at that time, you increase that pressure on the fascia greatly, which can lead to expansion of the fascia.

One of the major reasons Arnold Schwarzenegger had such incredible chest development was that he finished his chest workouts with dumbell flyes, an exercise that emphasizes the stretched position of the pectoral muscles. He would pump his chest up full of blood during the workout then do flyes, holding the stretch at the bottom of the flye. This gave his chest room to grow to amazing proportions.

Fascial stretching is more rigorous than regular stretching but the results can be amazing. When you stretch hard enough to cause the fascia to expand, you will really feel it! When you are stretching the fascia, you should feel a powerful pulling sensation and pressure as the muscle works against the fascia to expand it.

Be sure you do not stretch so hard that you cause the muscle to tear or cause injury to yourself. You will rapidly learn to distinguish the difference between a good stretch and a bad stretch. You should not feel any sharp pain, just a steady pull.

Hold each stretch for at least 20 to 30 seconds as you must give your fascia time to be affected by the stretch. Stretch hard like this only when you have a fully pumped muscle as you must give your fascia a reason to expand. If your muscles aren’t pumped, just stretch normally.

You can find instructions for stretching at:

http://www.fitstep.com/Library/Info/Stretching1.htm

One set of hard stretching after each set you do for a muscle group, besides the obvious benefits of increased flexibility, can have an incredible effect on the size of your muscles and their further ability to grow.

robin_3_16 · 26-11-2003, 11:54 PM

you have truly surpassed urself with this post hackskii
a truly great post infact i am incorpertating streches into my routine tomrorow
may not solve my growth problem but i have time
and i am guna play about with them
can't hurt
thanks mate

**hackskii** · 27-11-2003, 03:36 AM

No probs Mate, but you need to know that this stretching is done with pumped up muscles only, otherwise it is useless.

Desdicado · 27-11-2003, 12:17 PM

I only really stretch before a work out at present, Doh!, will need to change that I think.

BSF James · 27-11-2003, 06:41 PM

When I (to my shame!) briefly worked at a fitness first - there was a guy who looked a bit like Louis Theroux (skinny, speccy and spooky) who would come into the gym and do nothing but stretches for about 2 hours then maybe 15-20 mins of weight training. We all tried to advise him that this was not the best way to achieve his goals but he kept saying a top strength coach had told him to do this. Needless to say the guy never changed his physique in the six months I was there. All we could think is that the 'coach' probably had a really mean sense of humour to make this poor guy stretch for two hours four times a week - it was embarassing to watch! The guy was such an ass whenever we tried to help him though that we gave up on him. You get some barmy people in gyms sometimes!

Anyway, great post hackskii. You're right as well - Arnold was always big on stretching whilst pumped. Even between sets he would be both stretching and posing the pumped up muscles.

**hackskii** · 27-11-2003, 07:05 PM

Well, I always stretched before as I did not like to stretch a pumped muscle, it flet like I did not get the same range.
When I was a young man at about 25 I met a stripper she was the most flexible of anyone I knew. She taught me how to stretch. I focused most on stretching the legs and hips out.
To this day, I still can do the splits.

The funny thing about range is you never gain flexibility, you only loose it the older you get. I am not saying that you cant be flexible but look at little kids they can put their legs behind their heads and think it is funny. Ever seen old people with hunched over backs and walk with a 6" step?
If you want to be flexible then it takes time like anything else.
A stretched warmed up muscle is less prone to injury and about 25 percent stronger.
I was reading about calves and the amount of fascia involved in the weight bearing muscles that support your whole body and I believe that if your calves are not growing then get a really good pump and stretch the crap out of them this should help growth.
Up until a point a muscle with more range is a stronger muscle. Not just outside the range but in the middle of the range as well. If you did an exercise with half the movement then the whole muscle is not worked efficiently. stretching at the bottom and top of the lift is really important as long as an injury is not involved.
Oh another thing, when I stretch it makes me feel better and is one of the only things that give immediate relief from stress and stiffness. It relaxes me.

robin_3_16 · 27-11-2003, 08:38 PM

just tried this for my workout,
u know i said that guy was helping me today
well he never turned up,
so angry about it, thats the 4th training partner to let me down
anyway did the stretches after each excercise,
amazing i could do more reps then usual, and more weight
worked 3 muscle groups which i didn't like, but one of the best workouts i ever had,
my usual pump was multiplied by two after the stretch
and then the nexy excercise i was at least 25% stronger
strongly recommend this excercise
thanks hacksii
lost the pump now but look forward to 2 days time when my muscles recover abit and reach full size,
guna eat hard now and get good sleep!
thanks so uch i iwll be using this from now on, hope to increase my bench with this
thanks

Jud6572 · 29-11-2003, 04:37 PM

Another great post from a man who knows what he's talking about.

T-man · 29-11-2003, 09:01 PM

I wish I could find me a flexible stripper to help me!

I have also had good gains, better pumps and more soreness the next day since I have been streaching hard between sets for about a year now. Mostly for chest, back and bis.

A lot of old timers used to do light streaching pullovers after high rep breathing squats to streach and expand the rib cage. Also an exercise called the radar chest pull. I tried then a few times and man the next day it felt like I had been punched in the ribs.

Good info hackskii

robin_3_16 · 29-11-2003, 11:23 PM

whats this excercise to stretch the ribcage?
it sounds intreaging

Jud6572 · 02-12-2003, 12:56 PM

hey hackskii just incorperated your stretching into my routine yesterday. And I felt great! If you read in arnies books he always tells you to be hitting poses after every set so i guess this could have been his way of teaching people to do this.

**hackskii** · 02-12-2003, 05:13 PM

Robin, Pullovers stretch the ribcage and are best done after your chest routine. Basically you grab a dumbbell and lay your back across a bench. Across the bench and not like you are going to do bench but across it. Your shoulders will be in the middle of the bench. Sit the dumbbell on your chest and raise it strait up take a deep breath and lower the weight over and above your head at the same time you dip your hips down and lower the weight at the same time. The dumbbell will end up just below the bench at the end of the lift. Then at the start of the life it will be strait above the chest. Make sure you have a deep breath while stretching as this is part of the expanding phase of this lift. The breath gets held till the end of the lift after the stretching portion is done.

23-12-2003, 12:46 AM

hyperplasia doesnt trigger hypertrophy IMO

**hackskii** · 23-12-2003, 01:16 AM

hyperplasia
Definition:
Increased cell production in normal tissue or an organ. An excess of normal tissue.

I dont think we are on the same page on this.:(

I was talking about the benefits of stretching with a pumped muscle and more flexibility. The more range in the muscle you have the more strength you have within the entire range of that muscle. You only lose range with age, you dont gain it. What ever you are talking about is not the same as what I was saying. I am not defending myself as:
Arnold was always big on stretching whilst pumped. Even between sets he would be both stretching and posing the pumped up muscles.

23-12-2003, 02:55 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by hackskii
hyperplasia
Definition:
Increased cell production in normal tissue or an organ. An excess of normal tissue.

I dont think we are on the same page on this.:(

I was talking about the benefits of stretching with a pumped muscle and more flexibility. The more range in the muscle you have the more strength you have within the entire range of that muscle. You only lose range with age, you dont gain it. What ever you are talking about is not the same as what I was saying. I am not defending myself as:
Arnold was always big on stretching whilst pumped. Even between sets he would be both stretching and posing the pumped up muscles.

yes, hyperplasia is the rebuilding of the micro fibres in the muscle tissue, you said that stretching increases muscle growth/hypertrophy, i disagree, some say that stretching reduces strength prior to lifting by 15% thats why some people only stretch post workout, of course stretching helps prevent injury and improve flexibility but trigger hypertrophy, no

26-11-2003, 11:19 PM	#1 (permalink)
hackskii UK-Muscle Moderator Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Sunny Southern California U.S.A. Posts: 30,093	Stretching and muscle growth :) How Stretching Can Explode Your Muscle Growth! By Nick Nilsson -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When you think about gaining muscle, stretching is probably not the first thing that pops into your head. But did you know that stretching plays a critical role in building muscle? Every muscle in your body is enclosed in a bag of tough connective tissue known as fascia. Fascia is important for holding your muscles in their proper place in your body. But your fascia may also be holding back your muscle growth. Think for a moment about your muscles. You train them and feed them properly. They want to grow and will grow but something is holding them back. They have no room to grow! Because fascia is so tough, it doesn’t allow the muscle room to expand. It is like stuffing a large pillow into a small pillowcase. The size of the muscle won’t change regardless of how hard you train or how well you eat because the connective tissue around your muscles is constricting the muscles within. The best example of this is the calf muscle. The lower leg is riddled with fascia because of its tremendous weight-bearing duties in the body. It is because of this fascia that many trainers have great difficulty developing their calves. The solution: stretching. Using the pillowcase example from above, imagine you can expand the size of the pillowcase by stretching it. Suddenly, the pillow within has more room and will expand to fill that new space. By stretching your muscles under specific conditions, you can actually stretch your fascia and give your muscles more room to grow. The key to effective fascial stretching is the pump. The best time to stretch to expand the bags that are holding in your muscles is when your muscles are pumped up full of blood. When your muscles are fully pumped up, they are pressing against the fascia. By stretching hard at that time, you increase that pressure on the fascia greatly, which can lead to expansion of the fascia. One of the major reasons Arnold Schwarzenegger had such incredible chest development was that he finished his chest workouts with dumbell flyes, an exercise that emphasizes the stretched position of the pectoral muscles. He would pump his chest up full of blood during the workout then do flyes, holding the stretch at the bottom of the flye. This gave his chest room to grow to amazing proportions. Fascial stretching is more rigorous than regular stretching but the results can be amazing. When you stretch hard enough to cause the fascia to expand, you will really feel it! When you are stretching the fascia, you should feel a powerful pulling sensation and pressure as the muscle works against the fascia to expand it. Be sure you do not stretch so hard that you cause the muscle to tear or cause injury to yourself. You will rapidly learn to distinguish the difference between a good stretch and a bad stretch. You should not feel any sharp pain, just a steady pull. Hold each stretch for at least 20 to 30 seconds as you must give your fascia time to be affected by the stretch. Stretch hard like this only when you have a fully pumped muscle as you must give your fascia a reason to expand. If your muscles aren’t pumped, just stretch normally. You can find instructions for stretching at: http://www.fitstep.com/Library/Info/Stretching1.htm One set of hard stretching after each set you do for a muscle group, besides the obvious benefits of increased flexibility, can have an incredible effect on the size of your muscles and their further ability to grow. __________________ Power over others is weakness disguised as strength. Scott

27-11-2003, 03:36 AM	#3 (permalink)
hackskii UK-Muscle Moderator Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Sunny Southern California U.S.A. Posts: 30,093	No probs Mate, but you need to know that this stretching is done with pumped up muscles only, otherwise it is useless. __________________ Power over others is weakness disguised as strength. Scott

27-11-2003, 07:05 PM	#6 (permalink)
hackskii UK-Muscle Moderator Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Sunny Southern California U.S.A. Posts: 30,093	Well, I always stretched before as I did not like to stretch a pumped muscle, it flet like I did not get the same range. When I was a young man at about 25 I met a stripper she was the most flexible of anyone I knew. She taught me how to stretch. I focused most on stretching the legs and hips out. To this day, I still can do the splits. The funny thing about range is you never gain flexibility, you only loose it the older you get. I am not saying that you cant be flexible but look at little kids they can put their legs behind their heads and think it is funny. Ever seen old people with hunched over backs and walk with a 6" step? If you want to be flexible then it takes time like anything else. A stretched warmed up muscle is less prone to injury and about 25 percent stronger. I was reading about calves and the amount of fascia involved in the weight bearing muscles that support your whole body and I believe that if your calves are not growing then get a really good pump and stretch the crap out of them this should help growth. Up until a point a muscle with more range is a stronger muscle. Not just outside the range but in the middle of the range as well. If you did an exercise with half the movement then the whole muscle is not worked efficiently. stretching at the bottom and top of the lift is really important as long as an injury is not involved. Oh another thing, when I stretch it makes me feel better and is one of the only things that give immediate relief from stress and stiffness. It relaxes me. __________________ Power over others is weakness disguised as strength. Scott Last edited by hackskii; 27-11-2003 at 07:18 PM.

02-12-2003, 05:13 PM	#12 (permalink)
hackskii UK-Muscle Moderator Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Sunny Southern California U.S.A. Posts: 30,093	Robin, Pullovers stretch the ribcage and are best done after your chest routine. Basically you grab a dumbbell and lay your back across a bench. Across the bench and not like you are going to do bench but across it. Your shoulders will be in the middle of the bench. Sit the dumbbell on your chest and raise it strait up take a deep breath and lower the weight over and above your head at the same time you dip your hips down and lower the weight at the same time. The dumbbell will end up just below the bench at the end of the lift. Then at the start of the life it will be strait above the chest. Make sure you have a deep breath while stretching as this is part of the expanding phase of this lift. The breath gets held till the end of the lift after the stretching portion is done. __________________ Power over others is weakness disguised as strength. Scott

23-12-2003, 01:16 AM	#14 (permalink)
hackskii UK-Muscle Moderator Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Sunny Southern California U.S.A. Posts: 30,093	hyperplasia Definition: Increased cell production in normal tissue or an organ. An excess of normal tissue. I dont think we are on the same page on this.:( I was talking about the benefits of stretching with a pumped muscle and more flexibility. The more range in the muscle you have the more strength you have within the entire range of that muscle. You only lose range with age, you dont gain it. What ever you are talking about is not the same as what I was saying. I am not defending myself as: Arnold was always big on stretching whilst pumped. Even between sets he would be both stretching and posing the pumped up muscles. __________________ Power over others is weakness disguised as strength. Scott

26-11-2003, 11:54 PM	#2 (permalink)
robin_3_16 Getting HUGE! Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: england Posts: 1,459	you have truly surpassed urself with this post hackskii a truly great post infact i am incorpertating streches into my routine tomrorow may not solve my growth problem but i have time and i am guna play about with them can't hurt thanks mate

27-11-2003, 12:17 PM	#4 (permalink)
Desdicado Gym Addict Join Date: May 2003 Location: Edinburgh, Scotland Posts: 153	I only really stretch before a work out at present, Doh!, will need to change that I think.

27-11-2003, 06:41 PM	#5 (permalink)
BSF James UK-Muscle Sponsor Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Telford Posts: 1,256	When I (to my shame!) briefly worked at a fitness first - there was a guy who looked a bit like Louis Theroux (skinny, speccy and spooky) who would come into the gym and do nothing but stretches for about 2 hours then maybe 15-20 mins of weight training. We all tried to advise him that this was not the best way to achieve his goals but he kept saying a top strength coach had told him to do this. Needless to say the guy never changed his physique in the six months I was there. All we could think is that the 'coach' probably had a really mean sense of humour to make this poor guy stretch for two hours four times a week - it was embarassing to watch! The guy was such an ass whenever we tried to help him though that we gave up on him. You get some barmy people in gyms sometimes! Anyway, great post hackskii. You're right as well - Arnold was always big on stretching whilst pumped. Even between sets he would be both stretching and posing the pumped up muscles.

27-11-2003, 08:38 PM	#7 (permalink)
robin_3_16 Getting HUGE! Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: england Posts: 1,459	just tried this for my workout, u know i said that guy was helping me today well he never turned up, so angry about it, thats the 4th training partner to let me down anyway did the stretches after each excercise, amazing i could do more reps then usual, and more weight worked 3 muscle groups which i didn't like, but one of the best workouts i ever had, my usual pump was multiplied by two after the stretch and then the nexy excercise i was at least 25% stronger strongly recommend this excercise thanks hacksii lost the pump now but look forward to 2 days time when my muscles recover abit and reach full size, guna eat hard now and get good sleep! thanks so uch i iwll be using this from now on, hope to increase my bench with this thanks

29-11-2003, 04:37 PM	#8 (permalink)
Jud6572 Gym Addict Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Manchester UK Posts: 216	Another great post from a man who knows what he's talking about.

29-11-2003, 09:01 PM	#9 (permalink)
T-man Gym Addict Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: England Posts: 253	I wish I could find me a flexible stripper to help me! I have also had good gains, better pumps and more soreness the next day since I have been streaching hard between sets for about a year now. Mostly for chest, back and bis. A lot of old timers used to do light streaching pullovers after high rep breathing squats to streach and expand the rib cage. Also an exercise called the radar chest pull. I tried then a few times and man the next day it felt like I had been punched in the ribs. Good info hackskii

29-11-2003, 11:23 PM	#10 (permalink)
robin_3_16 Getting HUGE! Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: england Posts: 1,459	whats this excercise to stretch the ribcage? it sounds intreaging

02-12-2003, 12:56 PM	#11 (permalink)
Jud6572 Gym Addict Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Manchester UK Posts: 216	hey hackskii just incorperated your stretching into my routine yesterday. And I felt great! If you read in arnies books he always tells you to be hitting poses after every set so i guess this could have been his way of teaching people to do this.

23-12-2003, 12:46 AM	#13 (permalink)
WingS Guest Posts: n/a	hyperplasia doesnt trigger hypertrophy IMO