Importantance of stretching

I used to stretch all the damn time when i was a student in the dojo. Now that i'm the guy running the dojo and business demands as well as dealing with students has all but eliminated stretching from my regimen. It has turned out to be a catastrophic bonehead move on my part. I still retain some limberness in the legs but from overall lack of stretching it seems that is the problem with my back right now. Back still good and strong, 1 arm hammer rows for reps with 205, shrugs on shrug machine with 360, etc and back is strong and dense but from not stretching the muscles are so tight and almost shortened if you will so that when i sneeze the force of the sneeze almost rips my right trap off the bone. normal people can sneeze and its like a relief, i get the sneeze is coming sensation and i'm in dread because i know the post sneeze pain is going to bring me to my knees. my low back also gets super tight the day after sparring and drills. need to prioritize the stretching, particularly back to keep limber and pain free. unfortunate lesson learned =(

I wake up early to stretch in the morn and I stretch for 15 minutes ALWAYS before stepping on the mat or hitting the gym.

also stretching has increased the quality of my life by eliminating a lot of back pain i had

GOTTA STAY LOOSE BIGDAWG!!

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Originally Posted by O2BESOHUGE

GOTTA STAY LOOSE BIGDAWG!!

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gotta get and stay loose or it's gonna really REALLY suck getting old

IM FEELING IT ALREADY!!

I stretch a bit before my workouts. Probably should do it more

I dont stretch as much as I roll

I have been dealing with pretty much the same thing, life has been busy for awhile and one thing I started cutting out was the time I took to stretch. Often almost go straight to bag work, sparring and rolling with little to no stretching and my back has been very tight lately. Slightly pulled muscle for a few weeks as a result. Lesson learned on my part too but it seems to take soooo much longer to regain the flexibility vs losing it. Definitely obvious I'm not in my early 20s now ��

I have to stretch my back as often as possible. Ive invented so many weird positions to stretch QL, piriformis, erectors, rhomboids, mulifidus, etc
. I stretch when I am standing around waiting for shit. When I am waiting for an oill change Im sitting there stretching my back lol
The most important aspect of stretching is frequency. the more you stretch, the more you want to and the better you feel.
Some people might think cuz of your age youre old. fuck that shit

Stretching is something I really need to do more. I used to stretch very regularly, but as it is with so many, life just got busy and that's the one thing I neglected. I'm going to start stretching and rolling again.