Bill Starr - Before & After

7/22/2019 Bill Starr - Before & After

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How Warming Up and StretchingCan Boost Your Size and Strengthby Bill Starr Photography by Michael Neveux

Before

uman beings never cease to amaze me. Athletes who watch their dietsreligiously, take an abundance of supplements, make certain that theyalways get plenty of rest and plan their weekly workouts to the letter

frequently walk into a gym and start lifting without doing anything to pre-pare their bodies for the work ahead. More often than not, they leave thegym immediately after they’ve completed their final sets. The idea of stretch-ing those tired muscles and attachments never crosses their minds.

Neglecting the disciplines of proper warmup and stretching is common-place, and it’s typically the cause of nagging dings or more serious

injuries—problems that halt progress and could have been easily avoidedby spending a bit of time and very little energy before, during andafter the session. Warming up and stretching aren’t the least bitdifficult. That’s not why most athletes skip doing them, though.The reason is that they don’t think they’re really benefi-cial—or they’re simply lazy. I believe, for the mostpart, it’s laziness. There’s abundant evidence thatboth disciplines are extremely beneficial toanyone who engages in physical activity,even undemanding activity, but there’s agood deal of confusion about howwarmup and stretching benefitthe athlete.

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Many think that doing some

stretching prior to exercis-ing serves the purpose of

warming them up as well. Not so.Merely stretching a muscle or joint

isn’t sufficient preparation for aheavy session in the weight room.

While stretching your calves andhamstrings may be enough if you’reonly planning on walking, you needto do much more to ready yourbody if you’re planning to movesome heavy weights.

Since stretching and warmupexercises are so closely related, it’soften assumed that they do thesame thing for your body. Wrong again. They’re both important toevery athlete, but they’re two differ-

ent activities and provide very dif-ferent training benefits.

To warm up is just what the words imply—that is, to performany exercise that helps elevate yourbody’s core temperature. It must bedone before you proceed to morestrenuous physical activities. Aneffective warmup routine doesn’thave to be complicated. In fact, thesimpler the better. Keep in mindthat warmup exercises aren’t neces-sarily easy, but they’re always lessdemanding than those done later

on in the pro-gram. For example, I

like to do a set of situps and aset of either reverse hyperexten-

sions or regular back extensions aspart of my warmup regimen. Since I

push both the ab and lower-back work to the absolute max, themovements aren’t cakewalks, yetthey’re not even close to the effort Ihave to put in on squats, heavy pulls, benches or inclines.

The warmup process has twostages. The first-stage goal is toincrease your pulse rate, respiratory rate and body temperature andimprove the mobility of your joints.

Any series of exercises that gets youhuffing and puffing and makes youbreak a sweat will fill the bill. The

list of possibilities is extensive.Skipping rope, riding a stationary bike, walking on a treadmill, calis-thenics or even something as basicas stepups on a low bench will getthe job done. I knew an athlete witha background in gymnastics whose

warmup activity of choice was walk-ing lunges.

In the first stage of warming upI’ve found it useful to focus on my trunk. I use that part of my body inevery physical activity, and once my trunk is warmed up, the rest of my

body followsmore readily. So I do aseries of movements that

work the various areas thatmake up my midsection, including my lower back. I start with standard

situps. Then, using a stick, I dostanding twists, bent-over twistsand side-to-side bends. I finish off

with a set of hyperextensions orreverse hypers, and I’m ready for thenext stage of the process.

I’ll take a moment to explain why I do situps rather than crunches. Irealize that situps involve the leg flexors much more than crunchesdo, but I want to hit my leg flexors.The first exercise in my routine isalways squats, and the leg flexorsplay a major role in that movement.

While I’m flushing blood to my abs with the situps, I’m also preparing my legs.

At the first stage of warming up, itreally doesn’t make any difference

what activity you select, as long as itmeets the criteria I presented. At thesecond stage, however, you want the

warmup movements to be specificto the activity you’re about to do. Inother words, an athlete getting ready for a practice session on the

wrestling mat would do a set of warmup movements different from


Before & After

W a r m i n g U p a n d S t r e t c

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Extensive stretching isbest done after yourtraining session, when

your muscles are warm.

A warmup is any exer-cise that elevates yourcore temperature.

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those of a basket-ball or football player.

The more complicated theathletic event, the longer the

warmup session should be. Forexample, a jogger needs to preparehis body more than a walker, and asprinter must do more warmups

than a jogger. A pole vaulter will warm up longer than a long jumperand so on.

That idea applies to weight train-ing as well. Bodybuilders and pow-erlifters don’t have to spend nearly as much time warming up andstretching as Olympic lifters. TheOlympic lifts require a much higherdegree of flexibility, quickness andcoordination, all of which a thor-ough warmup will enhance.Olympic lifters should set aside 20minutes for warming up and

stretching, a guideline set down by the coaches of the European

weightlifters in the 1960s. It’s stillvalid.

Stretching enters the picture inthe second warmup phase, and it’sintegral to the process. The reason

you want to wait until after you’vecompleted the first warmup phasebefore you stretch is simply that

warm muscles and attachmentsrespond better than colder ones.

Common sense dictates whichmuscle groups and joints should be

given attentionbefore you start lifting.Bodybuilders who are plan-ning to work upper body shouldspend an adequate amount of timemaking sure that their shoulders,chest and arms are warm andstretched, but not to the extreme, as

too much stretching can weakentendons (see “Steel Cords” on page166). If power cleans or powersnatches come first in your routine,pay special attention to your back,shoulders and wrists. Most Olympiclifters own a long stick, usually asection of broomstick, that they useto help loosen their shoulders be-fore snatching or jerking. The stick can also be used at home for furthershoulder flexibility enhancement,as well as for shadow lifting.

Dr. John Gourgott was so flexible

in his shoulders that he could rotatea stick from overhead to his lowerback while holding it closer thanshoulder width. In lieu of a stick, atowel or length of clothesline willsuffice, and both are easier to carry around.

Since squats come first inall of my programs, I have my athletes, male or female, alter-nate mild hamstring stretches

with light resistanceexercises. They do acircuit, one set of 20

reps each onthe leg extension, leg

curl and adductor machines.Hamstrings get most of the

attention as a rule because thatgroup always seems to tighten thequickest, and when it does, it ad-versely affects the squat.

I also have them work their shoul-der range of motion with a stick ortowel or while holding onto a squator power rack. In cold weather I addsome front and lateral raises withdumbbells to make sure their shoul-ders are well prepared. You may

wonder why I bother with stretching and warming up the shoulders for ahip and leg exercise. Well, the shoul-ders play a major role in squatting, afact that a large number of power-lifters and strength athletes tend tooverlook. If they do any warmup at

all, it’s for the hips and legs, and they ignore the upper body.

For almost a year, I trained atDoug Patterson’s Metro AthleticClub in Grand Prairie, Texas. Thegym was frequented exclusively by powerlifters. While I trained there, Inever saw a single one of them doany form of warming up or stretch-ing. In the summer and fall it didseem a tad foolish to bother with

warming up. Most days the temper-ature hit 100-plus degrees and didn’tdrop much at


Before & After


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Some sports require more flexi-bility, and athletes involved inthose sports should spend moretime stretching.

The first stage of the warmup is to break a sweat.

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night. Their neglectof warming up and

stretching didn’t botherthem as long as the weather

stayed hot. When those blue northers came

racing down out of Canada in the winter, though, things changed in ahurry. Sore elbows and shouldersbecame chronic problems for al-most every member. They wereslapping on muscle rub by the gal-lon, and wrap sales soared. A coupleeven resorted to getting cortisone

shots for their aching shoulders.I’ve learned through experience

to wait until I’m asked before giving out any advice. People just do notappreciate being told they’re doing something stupid. Eventually, sever-al lifters approached me and askedif I knew of anything they could doto ease the pain in their shouldersand elbows. They went on to informme that the benches and deadliftsdidn’t bother them much. It wasduring and after the squats that thepain was the most severe. They

added that it didn’t make muchsense because their shoulders andelbows weren’t being worked during the squat.

I explained that their shouldersand elbows were very muchinvolved in squatting, especially

when the bar is placed very low onthe back, which every powerlifter inthe gym did. “When you lock thebar down on your back, there’s atremendous amount of stressplaced on both your shoulders andelbows. It’s much like doing anisometric contraction, and you’redoing it over and over on cold mus-cles and attachments.”

“What should we do?” came theobvious question.

I suggested that they start doing afew light warmup exercises for their

shoulders, then take the time tostretch them before going to thesquat rack—a set or two of lateral orfrontal raises and presses withdumbbells for 20 reps, for example.I advised them to keep using themuscle rub and encouraged them tostretch their shoulders and elbowsbetween sets of squats.

They were skeptical, but not forlong. After the first workout wherethey warmed up their shoulders andstretched them, they had much lesspain than usual, and within a week

most of them were pain free. Of course some had irritated theirshoulders so badly thatthe only remedy for


Before & After


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Lunges, if you don’tgo too heavy, can bea good warmup for

your lower body.

Knees and anklesshould be wellprimed for barbellsquats. Shouldersand elbows too.

Shoulder flexibility is impor-tant for many upper- andlower-body exercises.

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additionalstretching—the warm-

down—which is most valu-able for long-term progress. Use

more extensive stretching after the workout, as it aids in gradually resynthesizing lactic acid, removing

waste products and relaxing fa-tigued muscles by releasing con-gested blood.

Everyone has certain areas thattighten more than others; they should get special attention. For meit’s shoulders, hamstrings andcalves. Most athletes forgo the

warm-down and instead completetheir workouts, grab their gym bagsand leave. I confess that I’m guilty of leaving the gym without stretch-ing as well. However, I don’t skipstretching altogether. I’ve found

that my body is very responsiveto being stretched right aftera hot shower. If I still feel overly tight later on that night, I stretch

while watching TV.Stretching after a workout goes a

long way toward alleviating musclesoreness, which is very beneficial inpreparing you for your next session.One note of caution concerning stretching that comes under thecategory of too much of a goodthing. Several studies have shownthat excessive stretching can lower

your performance level and resultin muscle damage. So don’t go nutsand overdo it.

If some supplement company offered a pill that guaranteed you afuller range of motion and more

productive workouts, helped re-

duce the risk of injury and facilitat-ed recovery, you’d buy it at any cost.

Warming up and stretching do allthose things, and they’re free. If youhaven’t been including them in

your program, now is the perfecttime to start.

Editor’s note: Bill Starr was astrength and conditioning coach atJohns Hopkins University from1989 to 2000. He’s the author of The Strongest Shall Survive and Defying Gravity . IM

www.ironmanmagazine.com \ MAY 2005 197

Three Types ofStretching and the

Stretch Reflex

There are three types of stretch-es: passive, ballistic and static.

A stretch is passive when some-one assists you with your stretch-ing movement. An example is

when your training partner push-es gently against your back while

you’re sitting on the floor tostretch out your back and ham-strings.

Ballistic stretching is a rhyth-mic, bouncing motion andshouldn’t be done, as it’s poten-tially risky. Static stretching is thebest type and consists of placing some bodypart in a stretchedposition and holding it there for alength of time. Some recommendholding for only 20 seconds, but Ibelieve longer is better, 45 sec-onds to a minute.

Static stretching is done gently;it’s never forced. That brings meto the stretch reflex, a built-insafeguard to keep you from harm-ing your muscles by overstretch-ing them. When you force a

stretch, you activate the stretchreflex, and the benefits of thediscipline cease until you let off

just a bit. If you experience painduring a stretch, that’s the stretchreflex telling you to back off. Easeup a bit, let the stretched muscleor muscles relax somewhat, andcontinue to hold in that morecomfortable position for the de-sired count. Stretching should notbe painful. It should be soothing.

Before & After

W ar mi n g U p an d St r et chi n

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Warming up our core—lower back and ab-dominal region—is extremely important forpeak performance and injury prevention.

M o d e l : J o n a t h a n L a w s o n



























































































































































Bill Starr - Before & After

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