stretching for three sec. 5 times

[devappy]

My guitar teacher told me that stretching for more than three sec. pulls apart the ligaments, and does not stretch the muscle. I told him that a buddy of mine for training in tkd would hold a stretch for an hour. He said that it is not a good too hold a stretch that long because you are no longer stretching the muscle only separating the ligaments. This type of stretching is supposed too be for athletes, but I never heard of athletes doing these types of routines.

I do not believe this so much. What do you guys thing? Has anyone ever heard of this?

[holyheadjch]

He's a guitar teacher.

[Van Zandt]

Your guitar teacher told you this? No wonder his theory is BS. Holding a stretch for three seconds or less will give you zero benefits; it would be the same as not stretching at all. I don't bother with "relaxed" stretches any more due to my own research showing them to provide negative side effects, but conventional theories suggest that holding a relaxed stretch for less time than it takes for your nervous system to adjust to the position will just reinforce your current level of flexibility. That is, timing yourself in stretches (with the exception of isometrics) will give give you little to no progress, or maybe even make it worse.

If you insist on doing relaxed stretches, you should hold the position until you feel your muscles relax; increase it and hold again. Repeat this cycle until you reach your maximum limit. You can read more about the positive and negative effects of relaxed stretching in the sticked thread titled "Beginner's Guide to Flexibility."