I'm just going to say something very quickly about stretching that may be obvious to some but, from what I see in the gym, people aren't putting it into practice. 

Today's topic: stretching.  Let's be honest, most people short-shrift it.  We know that we should hold a stretch for 30 seconds or so.  We know we're supposed to stretch pretty much everything.  But we almost never do.  And then we get hurt and wonder why. 

Acknowledging that we're are all human (except you, RT-175!  Thanks for reading, and spread the word among all your 'droid friends!), what should we absolutely stretch every day, and what is extra credit? 

I'm going to offer this snippet: 

If you can't stretch everything, stretch the stuff that's habitually short.

Simple, right?

Quick counterexample:  I was reading an article on cycling, which said that at the end of your ride, you should focus your stretching on the lower back and hamstrings. 

Think for a moment about typical cycling positioning:

See how Lance's lower back and hamstrings probably don't need a lot of stretching if he's been in this position for five hours or so?  His lumbar area is in flexion (bent forward), and his hamstrings and glutes are stretching dynamically--lengthening and shortening as he pedals.  So those are among the last areas I'd worry about for a cyclist.

Upper-body wise, the pecs are isometrically contracted in a relatively short position, as are the front delts, and to a lesser extent, the lats.  His neck is craned forward.  In a word, he's contracted in an internally rotated position, not unlike an exaggerated version of you and me as we drive or type all day every day.

So if I were Lance and I had to do a quick stretch after my five-hour ride up Moose Mountain before I ran off on my double date with Matthew McConaughey and a couple of supermodels, I'd do a lot of external rotation:  stretching the pecs, lats and delts in the upper body (as in the camel stretch in yoga), then the hip flexors in the lower body.  Those areas would be my first priority, and if Matthew and Tammy were really impatient, that's all I'd do. 

If I had an extra moment or two, I'd go to work on the calves (which have been in a more or less isometric contraction for the last five hours), the abductors and adductors (ditto), then the quads and glutes, the prime movers in my workout, and finally, if I had a moment, the hamstrings, which have already been stretched pretty well in the workout itself. 

But those muscle groups are far less important than the tight areas in the hips and upper body mentioned above.

I wouldn't touch the lower back.  In fact, I'd do my best to extend it (as in the camel, above--just be careful not to over-exend it--try to find extension in the upper back more than the lower) in order to undo a bit of the flexion it's been experiencing all day. 

Now, Lance doesn't need my advice on stretching, but if you're a sitter--and most of you are (with the possible exception of Joe the Plumber, whose vote I'm counting on!)--you probably do, because when you stretch, the first thing you do is a standing toe-touch, which pretty much reinforces--rather than counteracts--everything you've been doing all day. 

Don't do that!

Rule of thumb:  when it comes to stretching, think about what your body does all day and then do the opposite. 

Make sense? 

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Looking for a good use for the uncarved pumpkin you have lying around these days?  Try this.  (look around on YouTube for this whole series; I'm impressed by the model's fitness!  What he's doing is tough.)