I got "The Formula" like you advised (well, actually, right now I have "Formula 101, Maintaining 40-30-30, Nutrition For A Lifetime" and I have "The Formula" (their first book -- with all the recipes) ordered!

The question that I have. Chapter 2 is titled,[B "Stretch After Exercise" [/B]

From the book:

quote:

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We used to think it was important to stretch before you exercise. Stretching before you run, play tennis, lift weights, or perform any exercise warms up your muscles. But new research is suggesting that stretching before exercise can decrease muscle strength and increase the risk of injury. One study showed that stretching decreased muscle strength for about 15 minutes. This study revealed that muscle electrical activity was decreased and the ability to turn on nerve-muscle fiber groups decreased with stretching. Several other studies in recent years also have shown that stretching prior to exercise decreases muscle strength.
But stretching is important. It promotes flexibility, reduces soreness, and relaxes the muscles you just used. Stretching also increases the range of motion in your joints and stretching after your workoutreduces the risk of muscle strains, tears, and ruptures. Stretching is particularly important for strengthening tendons as you age. Yoga is a wonderful way to incorporate stretching along with meditation and mental concentration.
We recommend you devote approx. 30% of your total exercise time to stretching. So remember to stretch. It's best to stretch after exercise, when your muscles are warm and less vulnerable to injury.

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AND THAT'S CHAPTER 2
Wish some of my chapter reading in school had been that short!!

Can you give me your thoughts on stretching and if this information applies to aerobic exercise, such as that which we do with sculpt, or if this is just for weight lifting?? I'm confused now!!

BTW... I love the book. I & my 9-yr-old daughter tried out the "THE BERRY-PEACH SMOOTHIE" (w/whey protein) last night. IT WAS GREAT!!

THANKS FOR ALL OF YOUR HELP!!

While this is very true there is a pretty large opening for error on the way it's interpreted. A more accurate way to put this would be to say slow static stretching, or stretching to increase flexibility. Some pre-exercise stretching helps to "lubricate" your joints. Specifically, there is a state called thixotropy when your body is cold and the fluids that protect your joints are solidified. A good warm-up loosens this up. Your joints become mobilized and ready for action, your muscles get some blood flow and get ready for action. The intensity of the warm-up depends on the action you are about to do. Less intense activity, like a long slow run, require little in the way of a warm-up since the activity itself is done at warm-up pace for a long time. High intensity activities, like 100 meter sprint, requires a vigorous and intense warm-up that goes through various levels to the point you actually do some anaerobic bursts before the event.

In relation to our workouts, we take you through a warm-up where you move quite a bit and do some easy stretches. These could be termed mobilizing stretches and are done to warm-up the body, and not to increase flexibility. In PHH Stretch or Cool It Off, you'll notice a pattern; slow mobilizing stretches done along with some movement to warm-up, then long slow stretches done to increase flexibility once the warm-up is complete. . The latter is the stretching referred to in the chapter above.

Perhaps further blurring this line are things like yoga, that feel like one long stretching session to some people. But usually you start yoga by holding some postures that don't require you to push your flexibilty (though there are individuals that must). So when doing yoga, you should follow this advice by starting slow and not pushing your flexibilty limits until you are thoroughly warmed up.

The loss of strength that is referred to is from elongating muscle fibers so that they don't contract as quickly, where maximal strength is compromised. I'd say that this isn't much of a concern to most of the people on this board and that the only time you'd really experience this would be if you followed a long stretching routine by trying to break you max lifts.