Thank you for taking a stab at my question
@broli . Unfortunately, your response does not clear anything up for me.
I will try to explain my query better.
I understand the visual presentation of DAREBEE workouts. i.e.: when an exercise is to be performed for a specified # of reps, the graphics typically depict the starting and ending positions of the exercise. But in most cases, the exercises are done at best speed. When the intention of the exercise is otherwise, this is usually noted. (For example, when we do slow kicks to build endurance and balance, this is noted in the workouts.)
The workout days I'm asking about are clearly marked as focusing on stretching, yes. But there are many different types of stretching, which utilize different protocols and vastly different speeds of movement. (See
this DAREBEE guide for some examples.) The Fighter's Codex workouts do not specify which stretching protocol or movement speed is intended, and it is not clear to me from the choice of exercises themselves which protocols or speeds to use.
Take the
Day 4 workout, for example:
The first exercise is "side lunge stretches" and the exercise is shown as being a dynamic exercise done for reps. But the dynamic component of a side lunge primarily trains balance, coordination, and strength. The stretch comes in at the end point of the exercise, and is quite complicated and dependent upon specific characteristics of the bodies of each individual exerciser. (With the outstretched foot sole-to-the-floor, as depicted, I feel the stretch much more in the connective tissues on the lateral side of my ankle on the stretched leg than in my groin, for example.)
In the case of a side lunge, there is also a component of the exercise which is dependent upon ankle flexibility and the nature of the shoes the exerciser is wearing. I workout barefoot, and the limiting factor for me in reaching the end point depicted is the flexibility of my ankle on the side of the bent leg. Barefoot, it is challenging for me to keep my heel on the floor and my centre of mass far enough forward that I don't fall onto my buttocks. I need to lean really far forward in order to do so. If I was wearing running shoes with a high heel-to-toe drop, however, this would not be the case.
Specifics of individual anatomy and footwear aside, the end point of a side lunge (really of any lunge or squat, if one is flexible enough) can be either a passive position (one you can hold without effort because your bodyweight is resting on your joints) or an active one (a position you need to actively engage your muscles in order to hold). See
@Damer 's videos
here and
here for examples. I could be wrong, but it looks to me that in the Balance Side Lunges video Damer is ending the movement in an active position, whereas in the Side Lunges video he is moving into a passive hanging position. (I also note that he, like me, needs to lift his heel to get into the deeper lunge.) Lunges are complicated, and the drawings don't show everything.
The second exercise on Day 4, the "standing toe" exercise, I have seen done both as a static stretch and a ballistic one. The way it is depicted in this workout, coming fully into an upright stand between each toe touch is, for me at least, more of a back/core/glutes/hamstrings strengthening exercise than a stretch. (I can stand with my legs straight and my palms flat on the floor and not be at my end range of motion.)
In exercise 3 on Day 4, the "deep lunge" exercise, the graphics do not show much movement at all. The difference shown is primarily in the lean of the torso--which is something I have never seen before in an exercise I am otherwise very familiar with. When I try that movement I don't feel much change at all in the stretched leg. Maybe a tiny bit in my hip flexor tendons. But nothing at all in the belly of the quadriceps.
And then we have exercise 4, the highly controversial seated "hamstring stretch". I have read much on both side of the argument ("It's highly dangerous! Don't ever do it!" versus "It's vital! Do it regularly!") regarding this movement and also seen it done as a static stretch, a ballistic stretch, slowly moving deeper with the breath, passively as in Yin Yoga but also actively, engaging the muscles to stretch further. It is also sometimes done with a rounded back and sometimes with a flat back. And in any case: the movement depicted here is labelled as a hamstring stretch, yet the lengthening and contracting that occurs is primarily in the back and glutes. (With straight legs and an anterior pelvic tilt, one's hamstrings are in a stretched position throughout.)
@Damer can you shed some light on these workouts and the specific stretching protocols intended?
). A stretch, whether passive or active is mechanical tension applied to the muscles and tendons so it is always strength-inducing. At the same time it sends a signal to the brain from the elongation of the individual muscle spindles in each muscle fiber that tells it is is OK to reset the failsafe point past which muscles can stretch without the brain signalling them to stiffen and resist the stretch.
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But we'll see how it goes!