To Stretch or Not To Stretch?

by BJ Maack 05-29-2008 02:00 AM

As an athlete, you know that it is important to get your body warmed up. Without proper activities designed to prepare your body for the activity, such as a light jog, gentle stretching, or movement drills, you run the risk of injury. An injury could be something as simple as "tweaking" a muscle, or could be the onset of a chronic, overuse injury (for example, tendonitis). No matter what sport you are participating in, you are doing your body a disservice by skipping warm-up drills. Even if you consider a few seconds of stretching at the onset of your workout a “warm-up,” you could surprisingly be doing very little to prepare your body for its upcoming challenge.

When many people think of stretching, "static stretching" is what comes to mind. A static stretch lets the muscle stretch with no real movement. This is usually just a simple exercise designed to elongate the muscle fibers a bit to make movement more efficient. In other words, stretching helps you "get loose." Examples of this include placing your toes on the curb with your heel on the ground to stretch your calf muscle, leaning over to get the back of your legs (hamstrings), or standing on one leg and grabbing the other foot to stretch your thighs/quads. People usually just hold these stretches for a few quick seconds, or just enough to feel it. While these are better than nothing, there is a better way.

The best stretch does not "burn" or invoke any sort of pain. In fact, this type of stretching can actually be counterproductive. Too forceful or too sudden of a stretch can cause slight injury and cause the muscle to tense up instead of relax. In reality, the best stretch in the world is a gentle, easy stretch that is held for 20-30 seconds, and repeated four to five times.

When to stretch? A warm muscle is easier to stretch than a cold muscle. So a great routine to follow is this: jog/ride/walk for a few minutes just to get your heart rate up and increase circulation. After you break a slight sweat, then do your stretching routine. Once you spend a few minutes stretching while warm, you can then begin your activity. You will find that your body responds much better to this type of warm-up routine, as opposed to stretching while the body is cold or not stretching at all.

How to stretch? A dynamic or movement-based warm-up is much more effective than the static stretching described above. What does this look like? These are also called movement drills-- these are things like jogging in place, high knees, butt-kicks, and jumping jacks. We utilize these drills heavily here at Arkansas Sports Performance Center as we prepare our athletes for training. While movement drills are associated with high-level athletes, the everyday recreational athlete can still reap tremendous benefits from warming up in this manner.

Once you have completed your activity, post-workout stretching is also very important. If you just finish a run or ride and then immediately sit in the car, your body does not get the proper benefit of cooling down. This can drastically affect your next workout. If you take a few minutes and do a cool-down stretch, you are really preparing your body for the next day’s workout by allowing the muscles to return back to a proper “at-rest” state.

Another thing to consider is utilizing the services of a professional stretching program, such as Stretch To Win. This program is done one-on-one by a trained professional and is designed to gain optimal flexibility with passive stretching. It is much more detailed than a self-stretch or even a massage therapy appointment, as it facilitates movement by reaching the muscles and the fascia (i.e. the soft tissue component of the connective tissue system that permeates the human body), which goes beyond short-term benefits. This program actually leads to permanent gains in flexibility. Stretch To Win is offered at Arkansas Sports Performance Center.

In conclusion, if you aren’t stretching at the onset of your workout, build in a couple of extra minutes to prepare your muscles, and you will notice that your muscles respond better and possibly prevent injury. If you’ve been stretching and not seen enough benefit to warrant your time spent, try waiting until your muscles are warm, and add in a dynamic, movement-based, pain-free warm-up routine. You’ll probably find yourself reaching your goals faster and easier than before.

This article is a product of Arkansas Sports Performance Center.

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