Does Stretching Weaken Your Workouts?

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Today’s Health Upgrade

Monday motivation
Is stretching hurting your strength?
Workout of the week

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Arnold’s Corner
Monday Motivation

Last week, I had a break from filming FUBAR after more than four months.

We are having a great time, and this season is bigger and better. It is wild — I can’t wait for you to see it.

But as soon as the break started, the questions came. Daniel reminded me of another project we are working on this fall and joked that I’d probably forgotten about it.

I told him he was right. We all had a laugh, and then I reminded my whole team of my focus principle.

People ask how I get so much done and seem so relaxed.

I think everyone needs the “focus principle” in their life, and it’s more important than ever in a world filled with machines.

The focus principle is simple: one thing at a time. You don’t try to juggle five things.

If you’re spending time with your family, you’re spending time with your family, not thinking about your work project or answering emails.

If you’re doing the work project, you’re doing the work project, not thinking about your projects around the house or texting your husband or wife.

If you’re in the gym, you’re working out, not playing on social media or thinking about your day.

Now, of course, your brain will want to think ahead and solve all your problems and the world's problems, too. That’s natural.

You just have to train yourself. When it starts wandering to something other than what you’re doing right now, when you start to pick up your phone to answer an email or a text when email or text is NOT what you’re doing now, you must stop yourself. That’s when you say, “One thing at a time!” and return to what you were doing.

That’s one rep.

You will do these reps for the rest of your life, but I promise it’s worth it.

I became intent on only focusing on one thing at a time in the 1970s. I was still competing in bodybuilding, but I had also started to buy my first real estate investment, and I was going to community college classes every day, working in construction, taking acting classes, and trying to break into Hollywood…

It was a lot. I started to get overwhelmed. I was stressed out. I was frantic. Everything seemed harder than it had to be because I had everything in front of me at once.

A guy I knew told me I should try transcendental meditation. He was a little bit of a hippy, but I’ve always had an open mind, and at that point, I would try everything, so I went with him to the center and learned.

I started to meditate twice a day.

I learned that the point isn’t to quiet your thoughts because that’s impossible, but to put on blinders and steer yourself back to what’s in front of you, to what you’re focused on—in this case, your mantra. You eliminate the other thoughts and make them wait until they have your full attention.

Once it clicked, it really clicked for me. I became a fanatic about focusing on one thing at a time. Once I put the blinders on, I didn’t want to take them off.

I stopped having everything in front of me and thinking of everything at once.

I stopped being overwhelmed, and you can, too. You just have to learn to eliminate all of the thoughts about everything and think about one thing at a time.

Let me tell you, it’s a superpower. I see other people pretending they can do three things at once, and I know I can finish those three things faster than them because I will take them off my plate one at a time.

It’s also a superpower because it helps remove stress from your life. When the thing you know you need to do next pops into your head, you can tell it, “I’ll get to you soon, but it’s not your turn yet.”

It frees you to give every ounce of your brainpower to whatever you do.

That makes life better. It isn’t fun knowing you’re giving three things 33 percent of what you have to offer.

All of us have had a conversation with someone who isn’t 100 percent there. We can see when it is happening. They’re looking at their machine and saying, “Yeah, yeah, I know.” But they aren’t really there with you. You know it doesn’t feel good.

Even though you don’t like it when it happens to you, you end up doing it to the people around you. You don’t give them your full attention. You play chess on your iPad or answer an email while your family or friends talk to you and think it’s OK.

It is not OK. It’s time for a change.

One thing at a time.

This week, I want that to be your mantra. Make whatever you’re doing the only thing you’re doing. Don’t pretend you’re great at multitasking and then ask why you can’t get everything done. Free your mind to unleash its full power.

Thoughts will pop in. People will text, email, or call. Your machine will demand your attention. Your job is to get in your reps and tell all of them:

“I’ll get to you soon. One thing at a time.”

Fitness
Stop Sapping Your Strength

When does stretching a muscle go too far? According to the latest research, when it happens during your workout.

Scientists found that stretching between sets of your workout reduces the number of reps you can perform.

In the most recent study, participants either did a traditional strength training workout or performed static stretches on the working muscles. While the stretching didn’t reduce maximum strength, it did have a fatiguing effect, which reduced the total amount of volume performed in the workout. Those could cause you to build less muscle.

Interestingly, there was no difference in flexibility or range of motion in the group performing more stretching.

Overall, the research on stretching is mixed. Some studies show that stretching between sets for longer than 60 seconds can also reduce strength.

However, it’s not all bad news. Other studies have found that stretching can help with muscle recovery and soreness. But it might be best left for after your workouts or off days.

Remember, if you’re worried about flexibility, research has found that using a full range of motion during resistance training can improve your mobility just as much as stretching.

Workout of the Week

Here’s another full-body routine that will take 15 to 20 minutes and give you a fantastic full-body pump.

How to do it

Set a timer for 1 minute and do the number of reps listed on the first exercise.

Let’s say the first exercise takes you 20 seconds to perform. Stop and rest for the remainder of the minute (40 seconds of rest after 20 seconds of work).

Then, set the timer for another minute, do the reps of the second exercise, and rest the remainder. Repeat this for each exercise (setting a timer for one minute, doing the reps, and resting the remainder of the minute) until you complete one set of all five exercises (it should take five minutes). That’s one round. Rest two to three minutes, and complete a total of 2 to 5 rounds.

Dumbbell or band workout