Also inside TAS there was a hill, but they have construction there now.
Not sure. I uber there. Itās early in the am. And Iām carrying so much from bats to gloves.
The latest research is that stretching does indeed increase flexibility ā¦ but it turns out to be largely pointless. Some studies have actually found an increase in injuries as a result of pre-workout stretching.
I stopped pre- and post-workout stretching a couple of years ago and have had no (additional) injuries as a result. In fact I notice much reduced muscle soreness.
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Yeah. Thanks for pulling out the research @finley I stretch pretty much only after. I warm up the muscles slowly. Especially the ones I know I will use a lot. For example I do some hip warm ups before Muay Thai because I know Iāll be using the hips a lot kicking. But I didnāt want to say stretching before a run can be worse because I was to lazy to find th research and I didnāt want to debate with someone about it.
Yeah, warming up appears to be important - I donāt think thereās any controversy about that.
Warming up is more about getting muscles ready and loose. I found that injuries happen not from the lack of stretching but from tense muscles that put stress on other parts to compensate for it not being ready to handle the work load itās suppose to do. You canāt expect your muscles to go from zero to 100 all of the sudden like doing a violent Muay Thai kick and be able to handle it.
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The best full-body warm-up routine Ive ever come across
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsMPqP7hxRk&list=PLEiF1vuHk9tGkLpky14lX3KE8FXzdNR3X
Thats the full beginner routine. Do that a couple weesk at least before trying the intermediate, great for injury prevention, general looseining/warming up and also for enhancing body awareness. Generally makes you feel great.
Durian is a head case. Colorful character but heās barking up the wrong tree. Plus he goes on about cadence ad nauseum.
Lasted exactly one day in the recent Indian Pacific race.
A 5-8 minute warm up run. The pace should be slow enough where you can have a conversation with a person next to you without losing your breath.
The point of the warm up is to get your muscles loose and āwarm upā the body, from my experience, youāre very prone to injury if you go all out from a cold body. If you feel like any of your muscles are tight, do some stretches to loosen them up.
Ha, ha. Yes, colorful. He also goes on an on about the benefits of carbs and lets not forget power meters when cycling. He seems to be a decent runner, though. Plus, search ā5k runningā or something similar on YouTube and his videos start popping up.
Just quoting for truth. Guy is consistently in full retard mode.
Most of my stretching is to get my mind ready. At the pool, Iāll be looking at the lane Iām going to swim in while I stretch and preparing mentally. But with these running intervals, I do try to run a very slow 200m or so before I start. I know thatās probably not enough (and I never do a warm down), but Iāve always been bad about these things.
Thanks guys! Plenty of helpful infos here. Iāll get back to the treadmill tomorrow and would try some of these. I havenāt been working out, as in total couch potato mode for the last, what, year? Been wanting to get back into biking but I know I couldnāt just hop on the saddle without reprogramming my legs or cardio a bit.
Hey, curious here, does swimming help on the upper body workout more than running does? Or do you find that theyāre pretty much the same?
I would say for middle- and long-distance running, there is almost no benefit to the upper body. Just look at those skinny dudes with no upper body! But with swimming, even middle- and long-distance guys have some upper body mass. Check out even the girls that do long-distance swimming. Keri-Anne Payne, 10k open water swimmer:
Guess I better visit Wanhuaās newly reopened pools soon hehe. Thanks!
I love middle-distance swimming and think itās one of the best sports out there. But unless youāre already a decent swimmer, it may take a year or more to get to a good enough level to where youāre actually building muscle. I think it would be well worth the effort, but if your goal is simply to gain upper body muscle mass, then maybe doing some weights be easiest and quickest. I donāt mean to discourage you, but it does take some work to get the form down in swimming. You may already be a good swimmer, in which case you can just tell me to get lost!
Iām a so-so swimmer. I donāt know how you call folks that donāt have an athletic background on swimming but I do it for recreation. As for weights, well, I donāt really like it. And I think that for a beginner like me itāll help to have a personal trainer to do weights here in Taiwan. Are there good English-speaking personal trainers in Taipei? Asking off the top of my head.
Sorry this is becoming off-topic now. I probably should start another thread on swimming or dig it out somewhere hereā¦
Getting ready to get back on the saddle by running, may not be best way toā¦get back on the saddle.
Best way to get back on the saddle is to get on the saddle and put in some mileage. If you need a suggestion on a plan to get yourself rolling, Iād be happy to help.
Not sure if he accepts gummie bears and oreos as a terms of payment though. I tried that before and he wouldnāt give in.
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You can learn. I remember swimming less than 10 minutes in the beginning and being completely worn out. This is when I was running 30-60 minutes no problem. Swimming is great and if youāre doing other things- running, for example- itās a perfect way to give your legs and joints a break while you still work on your cardiovascular health.
I donāt remember seeing a thread related to improving swimming form, swimming as exercise, etc. I have a lot to say on that topic so I would be happy to see such a new thread!