Conditioning - Stretching: Counting While We Stretch. Why?

http://www.internationalbigmanacademy.com

It’s amazing how many youth and even university teams employ a counting method while conducting a team stretching session before the running starts. What I mean by this is that most teams use a standard stretching routine before every practise session and a player will take the lead and proceed, along with the rest of the team, to count to ten while performing various stretching techniques.

This often boggles my mind because, if memory serves me correctly, as athletes we stretch to loosen up the muscle groups to avoid injuring ourselves. The best way to get loose while stretching is to BREATHE deeply before the stretches then exhale during the stretches. So, especially for most young players who breathe through their mouths which is what most of them do, how do they take in oxygen while counting during a stretching session with their team?

This process has often mystified me. Whenever I walk into a gym and there is a youth or college team stretching before the running starts, 80% of the time the team will count during the stretching session. I often think to myself ‘why bother to stretch if you cannot breathe?’ Most young players have a problem breathing during a simple stretch, much less to count and breathe at the same time during the stretch. They never take a deep breath before the stretch so therefore they have no oxygen in their lungs to release during the stretch.

Due to years of practising proper breathing and stretching techniques, I can always tell when a player is not breathing during a stretch because they appear to be straining. For example, if the stretching exercise calls for the player to stand with locked knees while bending forward to touch his or her toes, you can always see the tension on their faces. Or if they are sitting on the floor with legs straight forward and the stretch calls for them to touch their toes, you can always see the tension because nine times out of ten they are holding their breath while trying desperately to touch their toes, which they will never do because they are holding their breath.

I always wait for this to happen then I will say EXHALE!! When they finally exhale (even though they do not have much oxygen in their lungs), you will notice a slight lunge forward propelling them closer to their toes. For me that’s always a good time to teach the importance of taking a deep breath before every stretch and then exhaling during the stretch.

So, again, if they are counting during a stretching session how do they breathe? And if they can’t breathe, why stretch?? This counting system is something coaches need to revisit with their trainers or strength and conditioning coaches because young kids are not stretching properly during these sessions. In my opinion it should stop because it is affecting their flexibility. But at the same time, because of years of bad practice, I wonder if we can ever eradicate it from our systems.

Peace