Meditation

[ZeaLitY]

I have found my scientific health book. My scanner is broken, so no illustrations.

Standing Toe Touch

"Puts excessive strain on the spine."

Standing Ankle-to-Buttocks Quadriceps Stretch

"Puts excessive strain on the ligaments of the knee." If I had a nickel for every time I saw someone do this at the track...

Full Squat

"Puts excessive strain on the ankles, knees, and spine."

Prone Arch

"Puts excessive strain on the spine, knees, and shoulders."

Standing Hamstring Stretch

"Puts excessive strain on the knee and lower back." (Ditto for seeing people do this at the track.)

Yoga Plow

"Puts excessive strain on the neck, shoulders, and back."

Hurdler Stretch

"Turning out the bent leg can put excessive strain on the ligaments of the knee." (Did I mention the track?)

Neck Circles

"Puts excessive strain on the neck and cervical disks."

~

And with that, another funny thing is that stretching before a workout can decrease muscular performance by "5%" according to some study (my health book is from 2004, though). Yet in every athletic sport I attend, I see stretching take place before the game begins under the guise of "warming up", which is totally misguided. Warming up means physically raising your temperature through exertion to a level of activity conducive to exercise, not tearing your muscles so they'll heal more flexibly in a couple days (which is, of course, stretching). Stretching is to be done after the workout, and the benefits of flexibility and range of motion manifest in weeks after implementing a stretching routine.

[placidchap]

running:

"puts excessive strain on lower body joints.  jars the spine"

[Kebrel]

Yawning may result in hyper-extension of the TMJ. Stretching helps, contorting does not theres a vast difference.

[ZeaLitY]

Oh, this all might sound harmless. But you should see the illustrations and scientific citations of injury. The yoga plow looks like a Homer Simpson back remedy, and the others also appear painful. I resent that I was taught to do toe-touches in elementary school.

[Burning Zeppelin]

Dr. Homer's Miracle Spine-O-Cylinder Patent Pending?

[MsBlack]

My mother's side of the family has a history of arthritis. I think we suspect one of my aunts probably has it, but she does yoga every day and teaches it, so she doesn't seem to be affected by it.

I was always getting a sore and stiff neck, so I started stretching it multiple times a day. Now my neck muscles seem a noticeable bit larger and I haven't had an uncomfortable neck in months.

[placidchap]

I question your book, Zeality.  Is it scientific health for 60+ year olds?  If you are healthy and don't have any injuries, a quick stretch before or after a workout is probably not harmful.  Over stretching or stretching when you have a back injury, knee injury etc, is probably not a good idea and you should consult your doctor.  Stretching can be good or stretching can be bad.  What is the name of your book or better yet the ISBN?

[ZeaLitY]

What is it with modern society in that scientific conclusions based on observable evidence are dismissed as meaningless while thousand-year old crocks of unquestioned ritual and tradition developed in absence of modern physiological understanding are treated with respect?

The book is http://www.amazon.com/Fit-Well-Concepts-Bind-Nutrition/dp/0073252085. Every assertion and chapter is backed up with studies. It is completely scientific. I revile often and bitterly the sorry state of the fitness world with its obsession of fads and misguiding archetypes.



How in God's name is that good for your back?

[placidchap]

Well I was talking about every stretch you listed but that one.  Probably should have mentioned that.  The "balls on chin, mmm" or "yoga plow" is just stupid.  Reaching down to touch your downs for a quick stretch or doing a couple neck circles to "loosen" up, there should be no problem.   If you are doing neck circles for 5 minutes or a standing Ankle-to-Buttocks Quad stretch for 5 minutes then you are over doing it.   Over stretching is harmful, regardless of what you are doing...

[Thought]

What is it with modern society in that scientific conclusions based on observable evidence are dismissed as meaningless while thousand-year old crocks of unquestioned ritual and tradition developed in absence of modern physiological understanding are treated with respect?

Well it might have something to do with the fact this has nothing to do with "scientific conclusions." Check out the January 2008 edition of the Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing, Distasio SA's article "Integrating yoga into cancer care." Or perhaps the January 2008 edition of Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavia, Jha A's artile entitled "Yoga therapy for schizophrenia." Or the January 2008 edition of Dynamic Medicine, Durden, Cress, and McCully's article: "The influence of physical activity and yoga on central arterial stiffness." Research on the health benefits and health detriments of yoga is ongoing, not concluded.

Out of curiosity, does that book ever have a rheumatologist weigh in on the subject? The three authors are reasonably well published, but only Fahey comes anywhere close to specializing in physiology, let alone joints (and even Fahey’s expertise only touches on the subject about as much as a sociologist’s research might). There analysis of the literature would be dubious without such a collaboration.

Modern society isn't necessarily dismissing "observable evidence" in favor of "thousand-year old crocks." Like science, modern society hasn't made up its might about yoga (or a host of other issues).

[ZeaLitY]

There is nothing, nothing, that yoga does that a scientific, laboratory-tested stretching regime can do better. Yoga gets special treatment because it's old, venerated, trendy, and easily identifiable. Same for pilates and all the other fads. A yoga practitioner holding doctoral prestige can easily test and observe benefits of yoga, but it is doubtless that more benefit could be derived from a tailored system free of 2000 year old constraints and patterns of exercise.

[MsBlack]

I think the shunning of scientific criticism (e.g. of Yoga) is due to compelling anecdotal evidence. Many people will have heard first-hand of the benefits of Yoga and how it has helped people. And personally, I've found that if I 'stretch' before physical exertion, I'm less likely to injure myself. However, I've never injured myself when I've combined stretching and more cardiovascular-oriented 'warm-ups'. On a side note, I tore a groin muscle today when playing soccer without any warm-up of any description.

[Patchy]

I don't want to detract from the proper discussion taking place, but I just wanted to share a thought that popped into my head while reading through this thread.

I don't recall seeing Crono and his group stretch before taking on Lavos, so that about rules out the efficieny of pre-workout stretching.

Chrono Trigger has an answer to all lifes problems, see?