I had an old coach who would always yell at me to get on the
field by screaming, “Get to huntin’! A cheetah does need to stretch before it
chases its prey!” I always thought he was crazy and that I would injure myself
going from rest to a full speed workout. But I am starting to find out that
maybe the old man was on to something.
There is a new trend in fitness that is moving away from a full
set of static stretching before work out. The reasoning behind not static
stretching before a workout is generally anecdotal. However, university studies
have shown that static stretching may not be best before athletic or other
physical activities. In a study done on distance runners, it found that static
stretching lowered their long distance running performance (Wilson JM et al.
2010). The test had one group of runners preform static stretches of their
lower body muscles for 16 minutes, while the other group sat still. The runners were then told to run for 30
minutes as fast and as far as they can. Not only did the runners who did not
stretch run further, they also expended less energy.
So I can quit stretching altogether? Well, not quite.
Physiologist and physical trainers still recommend dynamic stretching, i.e. arm
rotations, high-knees, as a warm up. Most runners I’ve talked to, tend to do a light
jog, and butt kicks and low-impact body squat jumps. But there is still some
good to doing static stretches. Research has shown that static stretching may
still be beneficial post workout. Static
stretching has been shown to lower the duration of muscle stiffness after
physical activity (Torres R et al 2013). So it would still be okay to do static
stretch after a good workout. How long do you want to hold the stretch?
Conventional wisdom, which is also backed by studies (Bandy WD 1994), says 30
seconds. This is when the greatest range of motion of your muscle groups and
joints is achieved. Any longer and you are wasting valuable workout time.
So, what are your views on stretching and warm ups? What is
your pre-workout routine? As for me? I just grab by iPod, put on Lady Gaga, and
go! I do it for the applause.
Wilson JM, Hornbuckle LM, Kim JS, Ugrinowitsch C, Lee SR,
Zourdos MC, Sommer B, Panton LB. Sep 2010. Effects of static stretching on
energy cost and running endurance performance. J Strength Cond Res.
24(9):2274-9. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0b013e3181b22ad6.
Torres R, Pinho F, Duarte JA, Cabri JM. Feb 2013. Effect of
single bout versus repeated bouts of stretching on muscle recovery following
eccentric exercise. J Sci Med Sport. 16(6):583-8. doi:
10.1016/j.jsams.2013.01.002. Epub 2013 Feb 9.
Bandy WD, Irion JM. Sep 1994. The effect of time on static
stretch on the flexibility of the hamstring muscles. Phys Ther.74(9):845-50;
discussion 850-2.
Billy,
ReplyDeletePretty cool post, man, I always enjoy exercise physiology topics. In regards to your post, I've always thought stretching was weird, because, personally, I've never been very flexible. However, I ran track, played a multitude of sports and we were always doing stretches and calisthenics, but I never seemed to get any more or less flexible. I always was annoyed during the stretching times and tended to mess around more than I should have during those times because of the boredom and the thought of the exercises not really having much of an effect.
However, now that I'm less active as regularly, I've noticed a good warm up at a moderate rate for 15-30 minutes on a bike with a stretching session as a cool down has actually had some pretty good effects. I'm more flexible than I think I have ever been, which is weird to me and I seem to be able to maintain endurance for a longer duration without training. So, it seems that as I get older I'm developing more of an appreciation for stretching and its benefits. Something of note, I only hold my cool down stretches for about 15 seconds, which seems to be more than enough given my personal results. Although there may be some legitimate logic behind your idea and the results from those studies, I'm more on the side of do a nice blend of both stretching and calisthenic like activities for cool downs/warm ups to ensure you maximize the benefits, however minimal they may be.
Garrett
Billy,
ReplyDeleteThis caught my attention, because I LOVE to stretch. I have always been a huge promoter of stretching, because after two left knee surgeries, stretching is my only form of pain relief. Advil or even vicodin do not even compare to how well stretching works to relieve my knee pain. In order to live semi-pain free, my typical routine is to run 0.5-1.0 mile, do a few quick leg stretches, and continue my run. After my run or a leg workout, I then stretch for a good 10 minutes. If I do not take the time to stretch after my “warm-up” run, I find that I do not run as long or happily after. Also, If I do not stretch after a workout, I am sore and stiff getting out of bed the next morning, and unless I stretch in the morning, for the rest of the day as well. Stretching definitely keeps me mobile and pain-free, so I promote it. If people are stiff or sore, I feel that they ought to at least try stretching to see if it helps.
In regards to the “stretching debate,” I have looked into what the research has to say about stretching as well. First, my two knee surgeons and my physical therapists have told me to stretch as much as possible, because a lot of knee problems are simply due to tight or weak muscles pulling the patella too far laterally or medially. I additionally found an article on the importance of stretching in the "Harvard Health Letter" citing David Nolan, a Harvard-affiliated physical therapist. The article states that stretching maintains a healthy range of motion in joints, and that it keeps muscles flexible to avoid strains (1). Nolan also said that healthy muscles maintained through stretching can further prevent balance problems and falls associated with such problems. He pointed out that the calves, hamstrings, hip flexors, quadriceps, shoulders, neck, and lower back are important muscles to stretch to prevent injury. Another suggestion Nolan had was to warm up theses muscles before stretching, which allows increased blood flow to the areas, preventing injury. While this is only one person’s opinion, I thought it was a nice summary of what I have heard from many doctors and physical therapists. Obviously stretching is not for everyone, but I feel that it does promote healthy joints and muscles, and that people should definitely try it on a regular basis to see if it improves pain or physical ability.
References:
Harvard Health Publications. The importance of stretching. Harvard Health Letter. 38(11): 4, 2013.
Billy,
ReplyDeleteFirst off, you can vastly improve your performance if you ditch Lady Gaga and start listening to One Direction. Secondly, excellent article. I played lacrosse for 10 years, 8 of which was spent static stretching. My junior season of college ball we showed up to practice one day and my coach had a yoga instructor from his wife’s studio there. Of course our lacrosse team instantly became intrigued in the practice and she told us that we were going to “dynamically” stretch. I had no clue what that meant. She lined us all up on the 40 yard line and we did some skips and other unfamiliar exercises to the 50 yard line. 15 minutes later she left and we began practice. To my surprise, I felt more limber and faster. I could get used to this dynamic stretching! I never thought to look at the scientific literature on it but to my surprise there was plenty. A study done on the jump heights of soccer players in mornings and evenings found dynamic stretching to counteract the lower morning values, static had no effect (Chtourou et. al 2013). I believe it because I was there! There are a lot of old hard core coaches out there that would never change the way they coach but they could see vast improvements in their players if they adapt this new way of stretching. Anyways, excellent post man.
Chtourou H, Aloui A, Hammouda O, Chaouachi A, Chamari K and Souissi N. Aug 2013. Effect of static and dynamic stretching on the diurnal variations of jump performance in soccer players. Public Library of Science. 8(8):1-6
I like the post Billy,
ReplyDeleteMy last semester of undergrad I was required to do an internship at a gym in the local area, so I joined a performance gym that trained athletes. When I was there they told us to always do dynamic stretches before the workout instead of static stretching because it had better benefits in performance. I believed them because I had always done the same thing at football practice in my college career but I was curious why there were benefits with dynamic compared to static stretching, so I asked. They told me that when you static stretch, you are telling your body to activate a protective neuromuscular reflex to stop your muscles from being overstretched. When this happens, the muscles are inhibited by the brain to protect them from being overstretched which does not allow a full forceful contraction by the muscles. So in competitive competitions athletes will not be as productive with static stretching right beforehand. A study was used to test how static stretching affects strength, power, and explosive performance. The results of this study suggested that static stretching decreased all three of these which correlates with an inhibition of some type of factor relating to force output (1). For now I still believe that the trainers I worked with have the most plausible explanation to why static stretching is detrimental to your overall performance.
Static stretching still has a benefit after exercise like you said Billy to bring blood flow to the areas of damage to restore the micro tears in the muscles. So keep listening to your bad romance songs by Lady Gaga and remember to keep those knees high in your dynamic warmups.
-Graham
Simic L, Sarabon N, Markovic G. 2012. Does pre-exercise static stretching inhibit maximal muscular performance? A meta-analytical review. John Wiley and Sons. 23(2):131-148.
Graham, thanks for the advice buddy. I definitely like dynamic warm ups more. I am still trying to figure how long I should be warming up for, and how I should warm up depending on the workout I am doing.
ReplyDeleteI find this really interesting because Regis's cross country team changed this year to dynamic stretching before we practice and static/dynamic afterwards. We were giving about the same lecture on the fact our muscles will benefit more from blood moving through them while they move and warm up. Rather than pulling something on cold muscles, plus it is more likely for us to tear a muscle if it is cold and not prepared to be pulled on. Sadly I don't like dynamic stretching as much as I like static stretching, even similar to yoga, which is a smooth flowing form of static stretching where a position is held for more than a few seconds.
ReplyDelete