When one thinks of stretching during their warm up, they tend to think of static stretching as the traditional stretching – holding each stretch for about 10-20 seconds. For sports involving explosive movements like sprinting, research shows that static stretching before any event only weakens their performance.
Now I know your already doing what you can to improve your performance, so why let a simple thing set you back some…
So, what type of stretching should you incorporate into your warm up?
Dynamic Stretching
This type of stretching involves moving your body parts and increasing the reach and speed over time. The movements warm and loosen the muscles, ligaments, and joints. (Some get your whole body working through these stretches giving your cardiovascular system a little boost also…like skipping arm swings). This has nothing to do with ballistic stretching, so don’t get them confused. Ballistic involves you forcing a muscle beyond its range of motion, which can lead to serious injuries. With dynamic stretches it is more of a controlled leg swing, or arm swing that gently takes you to the fence of your range of motion. There’s no bounciness or jerking movements involved like ballistic stretching.
Dynamic Stretching Tips
- should be performed in sets of 8-12 reps
- start with slow and controlled movements and gradually increase your range of motion to its full range
- if you feel tired after a few sets, stop! (you start to lose the elasticity in the muscles when they are tired)
- only do the number of reps you can without cutting back on your range of motion
3 Important Dynamic Stretches
(my favourite 3 that get me through my warm-up)
1. Hamstring Stretch
- lie on your back while holding a stretching band or tubing wrapped around your foot
- pull back on the tubing while bringing your leg up and over your head to feel the stretch
- repeat the motion and with each rep, pull further back until your range is reached
- *remember to keep the knee straight and locked on both legs
2. Hip Flexor Stretch
- in a lunge like position, very tall (picture a string pulling through your head)
- the key to this stretch is to pelvic tilt forward, drawing your belly button inward, then slowly push the hips forward
- you shouldn’t be able to go far and still feel a stretch on your hip flexors
- *for an added stretch, on the side where the knee is down, raise your hand high remembering to stay tall…then push the hips forward*
3. Quad Stretch
- lie on your left side with one knee bent forward at 90 degrees
- grab your right ankle and slowly begin pulling it towards your butt
- *remember to keep the hips and pelvis tilted forward, don’t let the leg lift up too high as your pulling back – try to keep it parallel to the ground
As for those static stretches, don’t count them out because they do serve an important role in flexibility and increasing your range of motion…but that’s another stretch!
(original image by aye_shamus)
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Nice basic info for those of us who always seem to overdo it and get injured. I think that stretching is often overlooked by casual fitness buffs, but it goes hand-in-hand with the more active types of training. Without flexibility training, injuries crop up unexpectedly. This is especially true for people who do high-intensity workouts like sprinting or near-maximum weight lifting.
Thanks for the step-by-step instructions.
@Thomas – Your absolutely right it is overlooked, as I overlooked it myself years back. Most people realize how tight they are and just give up. Slow progression is key, and needed especially for those sports that require a high range of motion.
Thanks for the comment!