On 12/18/99, [log in to unmask] writes:
<<The little evidence that does exist in this area suggests that there is no
prophylactic effect of stretching or warming up. I am very interested to
learn why the standard advice of the medical community is to warm up and
stretch before exercise, it could even be harmful.>>
***An interesting true story was related about an amazing lifting feat
carried out by Russian former world champion Olympic Weightlifter, Dave
Rigert (90kg division) during the early 1970s.
During the warmup session before his division, Rigert stood in his sweatsuit
in front of the bar loaded with 170kg (current world record at the time) and
began several minutes of autogenic preparation - no movement, just eyes
closed and body being visualised into action. Spectators present in the
warmup room noted his growing energy and perspiration, culminating in an
explosive effort which propelled the bar overhead in one apparently
effortless movement.
While I was in Russia, I met his coach, Prof Medvedev and other scientists or
coaches who knew Rigert and they confirmed that he had enormous powers of
visualisation and concentration that enabled him to lift maximal loads
without warming up. They did not discount the value of active warmup that
comprises the actual sporting movements themselves, but regarded static and
typical aerobics session stretching (a la Bob Andersen's book and yoga
asanas) as being probably detrimental to performance and generally quite
redundant before any event.
Research by Iashvilii in particular showed that the greatest increases in
functional ROM are produced by full range work with heavy loads (translations
of this Russian work appear in our text: Siff & Verkhoshansky
"Supertraining" 1999 Ch 3).
Dr Mel C Siff
Denver, USA
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