In the exercise world, it seems to be canon that you are supposed to “warm up” before doing exercise, and warm down and stretch after it. I’ve never been able to tell the difference between “warming up” and just moderate exercise. I hardly ever stretch unless someone is instructing me to do so. I don’t remember to do it my own after exercise unless a muscle is bothering me.
Where did these rules or ideas come from? Did our active ancestors do this?
They most likely didn’t need it as they were certainly far more active than the modern day desk-dweller.
Often, my arse and lower back hurt from sitting on same too long. I have to stand up and walk around for 4-5 mins, get a soda, etc. for relief. Just sayin’ screw you ancestors.
I don’t know about “warming up” as such, but they probably stretch when they feel like it. It’s a pretty natural/instinctive thing to want to do. Cats and dogs do it, so why wouldn’t wouldn’t hunter-gatherers?
Note that evolution isn’t a headlong dive into perfection. There are plenty of traits that are not particularly useful, but not harmful enough to get weeded out. There are also plenty of things that would be pretty useful, but not useful enough to get selected for. It could simply be that the strain of exertion doesn’t hit you until the next day, when presumably you are relaxing and chowing down on all the meat you caught during the big hunt and it doesn’t really matter (except for your own comfort.)
I’d venture, though, that the warm-up/cool-down period was covered by basic everyday activities like fetching water, carrying the kids, etc. The risk of strain comes from switching from inactive to extremely active, and is less if you are coming from being moderately active.
Hunter-gatherers don’t have chairs. They sit cross-legged or squat when they’re not standing. The lack of chairs changes everything. And that’s in addition to what others have said about the naturally greater amount of and types of movement.
Hey, your ancestors tried to keep you from doing that. They hunted, they gathered, they wrassled with their pet Sabre-Tooth…
They avoided desk jobs, and pretty successfully.
Even my doctor, who’s not a Homo Erectus*, says “The human body was NOT made for sitting.”
*I hear you snickering over in the back. What? No, I haven’t asked him. He’s a big guy, and if he took a swing at me, I wouldn’t have a chance. Also wouldn’t have a chance if he liked the question… Any other… yes? NO, I don’t why we don’t have a bar by that name. Go ahead and open one–I gotcher logo right here…
Every exercise class I’ve taken has a warm up and stretch period built in, even though the exercises are not “extreme” and consist mostly of aerobic repetitive movements. Today I was in a class where the instructor told me that if you don’t warm up or stretch after bad things could happpen to you. I’m wondering at the science behind it, because it doesn’t seem logical.
I thought you weren’t supposed to stretch before exercise… looser joints are more prone to damage.
Stretching before exercise is a misconception that’s likely arisen from the idea that ‘warm’ muscles are more pliable, thus less prone to being overexerted/injured. As someone who’s exercised regularly for over 15yrs, trained in martial arts at various times and is reasonably flexible (male and can do forward splits with little to no warm up and side splits if trained for a fortnight or so), I have little doubt stretching before exercise has negligible, if any, benefit as far as staving off injury.
This assertion isn’t only anecdotal as there’s been studies to buttress the claim too.
I should point out that hunter gatherers weren’t driving their cars to aerobics classes either. I can also say from first hand experience that stretching is a lot more important after you are 40. By that age most hunter gatherers were dead.
Does anybody else remember a Gary Larson Far Side cartoon showing Vikings doing stretching exercises before attacking a village?
Maybe not, but we’re better at doing it in certain positions than most other species.
This scene from Zombieland (NSFW language, starting about 0:20 in) sums up some of the same anti-stretching arguments.
Well, hunting-gathering starts with lots of walking, climbing and stalking. I’m sure you had a pretty nice 1 or 2-hour low-impact stretch before any real exertion.
Can I steal that phrase?
That is funny, but well put and correct.
Counting infant mortality, right? As I recall, the life expectancy and modal age at death, for HGs that live past age 5, is surprisingly high.
I think that studies like this one are where the concept of warming up having benefits comes from.
That said the scientific evidence for warm ups is pretty sparse. Basically start off a bit slower and then pick up the pace seems to be enough. And yeah, our hunter gatherer ancestors did that by way of course - tracking the animal at a moderate pace, clearly aerobic levels, followed by short bursts above anaerobic threshold at critical junctures. They did not roll out of the hut and go into a flat out sprint straight out from cold - especially not before the morning coffee.
And as for stretching:
OTOH is increased flexibility a worthwhile fitness goal in and of itself? I think so. And does stretching after exercise help one achieve that goal? Yes.