Stretching is Dangerous?! (Why You Should NOT do Mobility Work)
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Make no mistake - stretching is dangerous. However, it’s probably not for the reasons you’re imagining.
Is Stretching Ever a Good Thing?
Before we talk about why stretching is generally a bad idea, it’s useful to cover a few instances wherein stretching might actually be a smart move.
In general, if there is a position you cannot achieve without a typical warm-up - e.g., squatting is the warm-up for squatting - then you might benefit from some stretching. Using the squat as an example, if you can’t get the barbell into that nice, low bar position on your back due to tight shoulders, then you may benefit from simply stretching out your shoulders. This shouldn’t take more than a few minutes each training session, and over time, your shoulder flexibility will improve. We’ve got a video below that covers the stretch to perform as well as the process, so be sure to check it out if you struggle to achieve the low bar position.
As an another example, if you perform cleans and front squats and the act of cleaning and front squatting is not sufficient to improve and maintain your front rack position (the position wherein the bar sits on your delts in front of your throat) - this could be due to inflexibility or long forearms - then you may need to spend some time actively stretching to improve this position. Again, this shouldn’t take a lot of time, and we also have a video that covers this process (see below).
How Do I Know if I Should Stretch?
The key in both of the aforementioned cases is that you are stretching because you can’t hit the positions you need to in order to successfully execute the lift (i.e., the squat, clean, or front squat).
With this in mind, if that situation describes you, then go ahead and stretch. However, if you can already achieve the proper positioning for a lift, then I would not recommend stretching.
But What About . . . ?
Some people might complain that they can’t hit proper squat depth when warming up with the empty bar. This is not a problem. The squat is an excellent warm-up and stretch for - not surprisingly - the squat, so it’s not unusual to squat a bit high for your first empty bar set, and then you squat a bit lower on each subsequent warm-up set so that you are achieving depth by the time your reach your work sets (and typically well before that point).
Squatting to depth isn’t an issue of flexibility - it’s simply an issue of sufficient strength and efficient technique.
Don’t complicate your training. In most cases, the lift you’re performing provides all the stretching you need to perform that lift, so your training already provides all the stretching you need for training.
Why You Shouldn’t Stretch
Remember, you stretch to increase your range of motion (ROM), and if you already have sufficient flexibility to go through your daily activities as well as your training, then you certainly don’t need to stretch.
If you enjoy stretching, feel free to do so, but since stretching is not necessary, I recommend avoiding it sheerly because it is a time suck on your life. For most people, stretching is a waste of time.
Most people need to get into the gym, train, and then get out of the gym in a reasonable amount of time because they have other things that they either need to do or they want to do. If you have all the time in the world to train, more power to you, but you are a unicorn. Additionally, even if you do have a lot of time, there are other things to do in life far more interesting and enjoyable than barbell training (remember - this is coming from a guy who promotes barbell training), so let’s be efficient.
Stretching is dangerous (I’ll cop to using that word liberally) because it wastes precious training time, so ditch the time suck that stretching represents, warm-up using the lift itself (gradually and progressively loaded), train hard, and then get out of the gym and move on with your life.
As always, we hope this helps you get stronger and live better.
-Phil
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