Stretching

[clarkhillfitness]

Dynamic strecthing is good to start with. Prancing, bunny hops, Russian short hops, ankle flips, leg swings and walking lunges and walking knee hugs are good ones. There are soo many other dynamic strecthes that are good too.


www.clarkhillfitness.com

[gymnastsrock]

Aha! I see now. Very interesting thoughts. I'm just glad to hear I haven't completely screwed myself over for pole vault without even knowing it!

Something else interesting about gymnastics: we just got a new warmup sequence a few weeks ago, with tumbling on floor, etc. It also has a bars portino wher ewe do kips and pull-up pullovers, whatever. I looked on the list and saw 'thigh ups' and had no idea what was meant by this, and asked my coach. She demonstrated none other than bubkas! It was great. The other great part is half my team can barely do 1 of the 10 assigned.

[KYLE ELLIS]

Numerous studies have shown that stretching routines can induce strength and force deficits, although the amount of stretching needed to cause these deficits remains unclear. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between varying amounts of acute static stretching on jumping performance. By systematically increasing the amount of stretching, possible differences in jump height may be discovered, defining a line where acute static stretching becomes detrimental to performance. Ten collegiate athletes and 10 recreational athletes completed 3 different stretching treatments and 1 control treatment on different days in a within-treatment design. Stretching treatments consisted of 2, 4, or 6 sets of stretches, with each stretch held for 15 seconds with a 15-second rest. Stretches were done to the quadriceps, hamstrings, and plantar flexors. Upon arrival, each subject performed a 5-minute warm-up on a stationary upright cycle. After a brief rest period, participants performed 3 trials of a vertical jump test, followed by one of the treatment protocols. After another rest period, a second set of vertical jump trials was performed. Post-6 sets was significantly lower than Pre-6 sets (p <= 0.05). Additionally, Post-6 sets was significantly lower than Pre-4 sets, Pre-2 sets, and Pre-control (p <= 0.05). No other conditions were significantly different. In conclusion, 6 sets of stretches, or 90 seconds per muscle group, should not be performed before power activities such as jumping where optimal performance is desired.---may 2008

[KYLE ELLIS]

Another article.....The purpose of the study was to provide practical suggestions on the effect of stretching on the maximal anaerobic power preceded by active or passive warm-up. To this aim, 15 relatively fit male subjects (age 23 ± 0.2 years, height 177 ± 2 cm, body mass 74 ± 2 kg; [mean ± SE]) randomly performed a series of squat jumps (SJ) and countermovement jumps (CMJ). Jumps were preceded alternatively by: i) passive stretching of lower limbs muscles; ii) active warm-up (AWU); iii) passive warm up (PWU); and iv) the joining of stretching with either active warm-up (AWU+S) or passive warm-up (PWU+S). In control conditions (C) only jumps were required. For the 2 jumps the flight time (Ft), the peak force (Pf), and the maximal power ([Latin capital letter W with dot above]pmax) were calculated. It resulted that Ft, Pf, and [Latin capital letter W with dot above]max values were significantly higher: i) after AWU than after PWU and PWU+S in CMJ; and ii) in AWU as compared to those of other protocols of SJ. Stretching did not negatively affect the maximal anaerobic power, per se, but seems to inhibit the effect of AWU.
The results suggested that AWU seemed to increase vertical jump performance when compared to PWU, presumably due to an increase in metabolic activity as a consequence of AWU, which did not occur in PWU, despite the same skin temperature. Passive stretching alone seemed not to negatively influence vertical jump performance, whereas, if added after AWU, could reduce the power output.

[powerplant42]

Complicated... But good stuff. I have never suggested static stretching for a warm up though, in fact in this very thread I state that I am harshly against it (first post!). The first article is getting close to what we need, but it is not there totally. I do not believe we will be getting any extremely relevant numbers any time soon... there is too much money involved in the tests that would need to be done, as I've mentioned before. Until then, I doubt that I will have a paradigm shift in my thinking, but you have convinced me that the benefits do not outweigh the drawbacks as much as I may have thought.

[KYLE ELLIS]

They weren't directed at you, they were some articles given to me by my girlfriend from her university. They have credible sources, just some articles related to the topic.. Thats all.

[powerplant42]

They are very good, very technical articles. These pretty much put the dynamic vs. static stretching argument to bed... although it has been sleeping for quite some time now, but people don't seem to realize it.