Guides

Plain answers on stretching and interval training — how long to hold a stretch, what Tabata actually is, and which of the usual claims the evidence supports.

• The benefits of stretching, honestly

  Most articles on this subject promise more than the research does. This one tries to sort the reliable benefits from the ones that keep getting repeated because they sound right.

  6 min read

• How long should you hold a stretch?

  The number people repeat is thirty seconds. It is a reasonable answer, but the more useful question is how much you accumulate per muscle in a week.

  5 min read

• Dynamic vs static stretching: which one, when

  The rule of thumb is right: move before, hold after. The reasoning behind it is more interesting — and more forgiving — than the rule makes it sound.

  6 min read

• Desk stretches for a lower back that aches by 3pm

  Zestimer exists because its author is an engineer whose lower back hurt as a matter of routine. This is the set that came out of that, and an honest account of what it can and cannot do.

  7 min read

• What Tabata actually is

  The format is famous and takes four minutes. The detail that made it work in the original study is the one that almost never survives the trip into a fitness class.

  6 min read

• How to pick your HIIT work-to-rest ratio

  The ratio is the single setting that changes a HIIT session most, and it is the one people pick by habit. What it really controls is the quality of the work interval.

  6 min read