Stretching Doesn’t Work, Ankle Weights Make You Slow And Other Advice For Gymnasts & Cheerleaders

Yeah I know what you’re thinking: “What do you mean stretching doesn’t work?! I stretch and have the flexibility to show it!”

But flexibility is only one physical attribute. Range of motion in the muscle is pointless unless you have other — more important — attributes to go along with it. (We’ll get to those in a moment).

Now you might say: “Fine, but what do you mean ankle weights make you slow? I’ve been using them for years and I’m as speedy as a horse!”

Yes, but you could’ve been as quick as a Cheetah if you trained for speed and power the right way. Ankle weights have their place, but not in the way you thought they should be used.

By the way, this advice isn’t coming from me. In fact, I used to think everyone should stretch and use ankle weights too.

Until I met someone who knows better. His name is Dean Somerset. He is an exercise physiologist, a trainer, a strength & conditioning specialist, and a whole bunch of other smart things that sound highly impressive.

But if you were to sum up all his credentials, what you’d find out is that Dean is basically an expert in knowing how the human body moves and functions,

So when I had an athlete suffer through a unique injury a few months back, I reached out to him for advice.

Sure enough, Dean did not disappoint. She is now back, better than ever. Luckily for you, I not only recorded our conversation, but we talked about a whole bunch of other topics such as…

• Best practices for recovery and injury prevention
• The most useful exercises to increase performance for cheerleaders & gymnasts
• Why stretching doesn’t even work… (skip to 8:30)
• How the weight of shoes can affect different levels of performance (cheerleaders, take note!)
• Why ankle weights can make you weaker and SLOWER!
• How much flexion/extension a spine can handle before you end up with lower back problems
• …and SO MUCH more. Seriously, don’t even think about listening until you grab a pen and some paper to take notes!

Ready? Hit PLAY Below To Tune In…

Where You Can Find Dean

• Website: DeanSomerset.com
• Twitter:  @deansomerset

Time Stamped Show Notes

• 1:15 – Dean introduces himself and shares his credentials and the type of work he does with clients
• 2:20 – Dean talks about how he got to work with a Paralympic athlete who earned a medal (pretty awesome!)
• 3:05 – I ask Dean about an athlete of mine who ended up in an air cast due to a bad landing on a back handspring and the advice he gave to help her recover from it and eliminate her hip pain due to imbalances
• 5:45 – Dean talks about the type of exercises to do in order to fix imbalances and helping athletes regain strength after many weeks away from the gym
• 6:20 – An important point that Dean touches on is how if one limb is hurt, you shouldn’t be sitting on your butt doing nothing. Tune in and listen to WHY continuing to train is a very GOOD idea for injured athletes.
• 7:30 – Dean wrote a very controversial article called “Stretching doesn’t work” and I asked him to elaborate on that and what pieces of advice athletes and coaches can take from it in particular
• 8:30 – Dean talks about the different duration of stretches and how much time you need to actually create a length change in the muscles.
• 10:00 – I ask Dean about how his process and how he would handle someone with mobility or flexibility issues
• 12:30 – Dean shares how coaches can use basic movement tests to see if their athlete is having any issues before sending them to the specialist. It’s a good idea to stay within your scope, but a basic test like checking to see hip adduction can tell you a lot about your athlete.
• 14:35 – Dean talks about the difference in approach between a regular athlete and the testing he would do versus an average person who doesn’t move nor has any desire to increase performance
• 16:29 – I ask Dean about one of my favorite quotes from him called “Where there’s meat, there’s movement” and ask him to elaborate.
• 20:30 – Dean talks about the staple exercises which never go out of style and should you master them, chances are high that you’ll become a high performing athlete.
• 20:35 – I talk about how a good lifting program has made all the difference in the boys program at the gymnastics gym I work at.
• 22:30 – I ask Dean the deal with spinal flexion and extension and why some experts are screaming “all crunches are bad” along with his professional thoughts on the matter
• 22:35 – The difference between what a THICK spine can take versus what a THIN spine can handle (this is extremely important)
• 26:00 – I ask Dean about his thoughts on ankle weights and putting load on extremities.
• 27:35 – Dean talks about some very interesting research on the weight of footwear and how over a certain limit it can actually affect performance (So check your shoes cheerleaders!)
• 29:35 – I ask Dean about injury prevention and what athletes and coaches can do (besides general conditioning) to stay in shape and extend their careers

Dean’s Video Resources

HIP Integration

Hip Mobility Self Assessment

Shoulder &  Hip Blueprint

Cat/Camel Stretch