Stretching the right way

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The old-school way of thinking about stretching is that it’s always a good thing to do before and after a workout.

But studies in the last few years have discounted that notion. One in the Journal of Athletic Training showed that stretching before exercise didn’t reduce injuries, and stretching after a workout didn’t do much to stave off soreness.

From the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research’s September issue comes more research suggesting that certain types of pre-exercise stretching don’t give athletes an advantage. In one study, 24 male and female athletes did a five-minute warm-up followed by three different types of stretching, done on separate days: static stretching, ballistic stretching (bouncing in or out of a stretched position), and no stretching (which served as the control). They were then tested on vertical jumps, lower-extremity power, and quadriceps and hamstring torque. The static and ballistic stretching had no effect on the jumps or the torque output for quads and hamstrings. Stretching actually decreased lower-extremity power, leading researchers to suggest that strength and conditioning coaches employ dynamic stretching before training instead of ballistic or static.

Another study looked at which phase of a 30-meter sprint was affected by static stretching before the run. On one day, 20 elite soccer players were randomly split into two groups: the no-stretch group did a standard warm-up and performed three 30-meter sprints with a two-minute rest between each one. Athletes in the stretch group also did the standard warm-up, but added a stretching routine focusing on hamstrings, quadriceps and calf muscles, then did the same amount of sprints and rests. The groups reversed the pattern on the second day. Researchers found that static stretching before the sprints actually produced slower times, leading them to recommend that the practice not be included as part of the warm-up for workouts requiring sprinting.

Bill Holcomb, one of the co-authors of the first study and a kinesiology professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, said via a release, ‘Athletes typically include static stretching as a part of the warm-up, but the evidence is clear that this practice will decrease performance in sports that require explosive movements.’

So choose your warm-up routine carefully. Your weekend pickup basketball game may depend on it.

-- Jeannine Stein