Loaded Stretching for Hypertrophy

[Donald Lee]

Dr. Jose Antonio of ISSN believes in hyperplasia in humans:

http://www.mindandmuscle.net/forum/4...vs-hypertrophy (WFS)

Lyle McDonald says this:

It takes somwhere between 30 minutes and 8 hours of chronic stretch for any effect to be seen (in terms of stretch induced gene expression for hypertrophy or hyperplasia). All of this idiotic 'do weighted stretch for 30 seconds betwee sets' won't do anything in this regards.

To which Layne Norton said "word".

Borge Fagerli says this:

Animal models using stretch are not true stretch conditions because the animal will contract the muscles being stretched. The stretch is like holding onto a set of dumbells for days at a time. You will naturally contract against the pull of the weight by contracting the traps, even if it isn't hard enough to actually shrug the shoulders, you will hold a static contraction as long as you can. With heavier loads the muscle spindles will fire the muscle fibers, so again, there isn't really passive stretch. Contracting a muscle while stretching it transfers the load away from tendons and connective tissue and onto the contractile structures.

It seems like these guys used to all post on the same forums many years ago.

[Chris Mason]

Lyle McDonald is about a ZERO authority on anything training related. If you need any proof of that you can look at one of his pictures which he has allowed to be used in interview showing him at a POWERLIFTING meet pulling less weight that most women use. And yes, he was TRYING to be strong at that point... He needs to stick to diet advice.

Layne Norton is a bright guy, but I would not go so far as to say that what worked in an experiment with animals will necessarily work for humans - e.g. even if you matched those experimental conditions with resistance training humans I wonder what, if any, benefit would be derived?

[Chris Mason]

Originally Posted by Katherine Derbyshire

Meh. How is that different from what a foam roller does?

I would say that if your fascia are so tight that they're limiting hypertrophy, they're probably also limited your ability to move.

Katherine

Fascia stretching for bodybuilding was originally introduced by a guy named John Parrillo. He was the same guy that popularized MCT oils for gaining lean mass.

I agree that such stretching will do nothing for growth. The idea that the fascia somehow limits growth is misinformation. Even the idea that was presented that fascia was somehow only on the exterior of the muscle as a whole was incorrect.

[Steven Low]

Chris is correct.

Fascia doesn't really limit hypertrophy.

Remember, that lengthening a muscle (e.g. stretching) is essentially causing the sarcomeres to forcibly extend. This is what causes damage during the eccentric phase of lifts, sprinting, etc.

So, stretching is essentially causing eccentric damage to the muscle which helps induce a greater hypertrophic response in the muscle to repair the damage through satellite cell donation and the like.

Obviously, this effect is somewhat "limited" in respect that more damage doesn't always equal more hypertrophy, and that there are multiple pathways to stimulate hypertrophy.

So it can be used to some extent, but I wouldn't rely on it to significant improve gains. Can be something that you try out to see if it works ok for you though.