The importance of stretch

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(quadancer @ Mar. 23 2007,01:31)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Looking at those pics makes my knees start hurting again!!!</div>
Hey Quad, looking at those pic makes me want a set of Eleiko weights!  
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Rob, I think the importance of stretch movements is mentioned a fair bit in the HST FAQs (&amp; def in Jules' Pimp manual too).

One thing I remember reading is how good deadlifts are as a biceps loaded stretch. Not something you really think about when you are doing the exercise.

It's usually difficult to get a complete muscle stretch when doing compound movements because there is submaximal rotation around several joints. This tends to limit the amount of stretch that would be possible if we were to maximally rotate any joint under load. Certain isos often allow for more stretch and so can be a good addition to a program.

Some compounds do provide a good stretch for certain muscles at some point in the movement. Eg. Deep squatting will give a good stretch to the sartorius and the adductors.

Rows and chins give a pretty good stretch to the lats in the start/finish positions too.

Something I've been experimenting with recently is heavy db pullovers for triceps stretch. My tris get sore as hell the next day after a few sets of 5 with a 105lb db. I am aiming for maximum (safe) shoulder rotation whilst keeping my arms close to my head which keeps a much strain as possible on my tris. Even though it's not really thought of as primarily a tri exercise, done this way it really seems to work for me.
 
<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Something I've been experimenting with recently is heavy db pullovers for triceps stretch. My tris get sore as hell the next day after a few sets of 5 with a 105lb db. I am aiming for maximum (safe) shoulder rotation whilst keeping my arms close to my head which keeps a much strain as possible on my tris. Even though it's not really thought of as primarily a tri exercise, done this way it really seems to work for me. </div>

I'm sure yoiu're going to enjoy the side effects, the serratus and lats as well as the chest will end upi saying &quot;thanks for coming mate!&quot; and will grow further as a result, but then we males do not mind bigget ti...
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at all
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Something I've been experimenting with recently is heavy db pullovers for triceps stretch. My tris get sore as hell the next day after a few sets of 5 with a 105lb db. I am aiming for maximum (safe) shoulder rotation whilst keeping my arms close to my head which keeps a much strain as possible on my tris. Even though it's not really thought of as primarily a tri exercise, done this way it really seems to work for me.

LOL do you do it with shoulders on a bench and arse on heals.
the only prob i have with pullovers is my elbows.
 
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(faz @ Mar. 23 2007,15:08)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">LOL do you do it with shoulders on a bench and arse on heals.
the only prob i have with pullovers is my elbows.</div>
Yup. So I'm perpendicular to the bench. I only drop my butt down as far as is comfortable as I'm not worried about treating it as a lat and pec movement. I'm just aiming to throw as much strain as possible on my tris in the stretched position. I seem to get more stretch than when I do standing tricep press and definitely more than skulls. I find they compliment my dips nicely.

Thankfully, I haven't had any elbow issues yet but this may be a problem as I push up the loads. Just have to wait and see...
 
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(Lol @ Mar. 23 2007,16:35)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE"><div>
(faz @ Mar. 23 2007,15:08)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">LOL do you do it with shoulders on a bench and arse on heals.
the only prob i have with pullovers is my elbows.</div>
Yup. So I'm perpendicular to the bench. I only drop my butt down as far as is comfortable as I'm not worried about treating it as a lat and pec movement. I'm just aiming to throw as much strain as possible on my tris in the stretched position. I seem to get more stretch than when I do standing tricep press and definitely more than skulls. I find they compliment my dips nicely.

Thankfully, I haven't had any elbow issues yet but this may be a problem as I push up the loads. Just have to wait and see...</div>
This may expose my lack of knowledge of the human anatomy (!) but I don't understand how you can get a greater stretch using db pullover than db extension? Surely the triceps are stretched to the greatest amount when the arm is as flexed as possible (if you see what I mean, as opposed to straight)??

Cheers

Rob
 
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(robefc @ Mar. 23 2007,20:23)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">This may expose my lack of knowledge of the human anatomy (!) but I don't understand how you can get a greater stretch using db pullover than db extension? Surely the triceps are stretched to the greatest amount when the arm is as flexed as possible (if you see what I mean, as opposed to straight)??

Cheers

Rob</div>
You are right Rob. To get the maximum stretch on your tris you need to be in a position where your upper arms are rotated as far back as possible and your forearms are rotated towards your upper arms as much as possible. I have done tri extensions this way for a while now and they are great. However, towards the end of the 5s my elbows do take a bit of a beating and start to feel pretty uncomfortable doing them.

I tend to find that the first few inches of the concentric movement (ie. from the most stretched position) is the sticking point for me. So, I decided to try db pullovers to see if I could continue to push up the loads without putting as much stress on my elbow joints. I get nearly as much stretch in the lowest position but there's much less rotation around the elbow joints throughout the movement. It seems like a good complement to weighted dips and so far my elbows have been fine.

It is an experiment right now, but if I can push the loads up higher than with extensions without bugging my elbows, I think that the slightly reduced stretch will be compensated for by the increased strain. There's still a lot more stretch than if I did skulls.

My main problem with the movement is that the dbs I use are rubber coated and so are pretty large and awkward. They make it difficult to avoid hitting your head once fatigue starts to take its toll. I'd switch to an EZ-curl bar but my left forearm is injured right now and that hand position is very uncomfortable. Rats!
 
I always like to stretch the tri's between sets. Give your eyes a break and do this now (I'm gonna show ya something I discovered long ago).
Make a fist and put it far behind your head, just below the bulge of the back of the head, thumb pointing towards the rear.
Now look up at the ceiling.
 
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