Hey guys I've heard stories of people holding stretches for long periods of time,such as turning the sofa around and using the arms to assume box splits whilst watching TV Does this actually work or would it have negative side effects on flexibility progress?
As far as I know you can only achieve a certain "maximum" stretch by day. It doesn't take long to reach that points yes, I'd say holdin a stretch for more then say 1-2 minutes is dumb.
If it didn't work then sitting at a computer with your back hunched over wouldn't be such an effective way to lengthen your lower traps and thoracic extensors! In other words, yes, prolonged stretching has a strong effect. If you can hold a position for several minutes you can even induce tissue creep which is a semi-permanent adaptation to a body position. I've never heard of a max stretch improvement for a day. I can't imagine what kind of mechanism could conceivably account for such a thing. Considering I've seen people achieve 30+ degrees at a joint within a 30 minute window of stretching and activation, even if there is some max it must be so large that one isn't realistically at risk of hitting it and wasting their time for the rest of the day.
