PoleVaultPower.com

American College of Sports Medicine

www.acsm.org

Press release

March 3, 2004


VARIETY OF PREPARTICIPATION ACTIVITIES, NOT JUST STRETCHING,
RECOMMENDED TO PREVENT INJURIES IN
SPORTS


Research indicates stretching alone before and after exercise is
not enough to prevent injury


INDIANAPOLIS ? Preparation for sports or exercise should involve a
variety of activities and should
not be limited to stretching alone, according to a report published in
the March 2004 issue of
Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise®, the official scientific
journal of the American College of
Sports Medicine(ACSM). Researchers examined decades of scientific
evidence and caution that
stretching alone may not be enough to prevent injuries.


“The use of stretching primarily as a way to prevent sports injury has
been based on intuition and
observation rather than scientific evidence,â€Â

Thanks Rob, I've been seeing this for a while and it's so nice to have it in print from expert types.
Everyday example type thing... I am six three and, embarrassingly, at thirty can just touch a basketball rim, usually. But, ten or fiteen minutes into a pick up game, (what warm ups should simulate), I can throw down a tennis ball or volleyball, which I suspect is at least three or four inches better than pre-warm up.
Also, I coach at a club and have seen the effects of a good warm up and a negligible warm up. If someone is having step problems, primarily inconsistency problems, then I have them go run a half mile or so, then do some pole runs or sprints. When they get back they are much more consistent, and even though many deny it, they are actually faster.
Now, add three or four inches to a plant and a hair or two more speed and imagine the effect on a vault!!!
Thanks for spreading the word!
Joe

Good article.

What do you include in your warmup?

I always do at a minimum:
Jog
A few static stretches
Leg swings
Sprint drills
Build ups

before I step on the runway.

Stretching. Yet another perfect example of the HUGE amounts of misinformation that pervades our sport. Thanks for posting that article RS.

Although stretching has never been proven to reduce the occurance of injuries, it has been proven to decrease DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness)....some people call it second day soreness.

My strenght and conditioning professor last semester was always talking about fallicies in the sports world such as strecthing and injury prevention.

Any study that "proves" stretching reduces DOMS is a bad study. Stretching does not reduce DOMS.

In addition; intense stretching prior to training or athletic event reduces performance and increases the chance of injury. Light stretching prior to activity is ok but probably not neccessary. Intense stretching to increase flexability can be done after training or later in the day or evening.

It kills me having to bite my tongue when I see the training errors being made by some of the young vaulters I vault with.

i have never actually seen the study...so it may very well be flawed. I have always just done dynamic stretching when warming up.....static stretching doesnt' seem to be very effective

To all,
Based on many years of coaching and education the dynamic warmups is essential for learning to run properly and getting the body ready for strenuous running activities. My masters athletes use them as a workout, the younger ones use them as a warmup. I have developed the procedure to accomplish this (presented it at Reno in 04) and the descriptions can be found at www.willamettestriders.com

Let me know what you think as I am just a shop teacher.....haha

Rick

baggettpv wrote:To all,
Based on many years of coaching and education the dynamic warmups is essential for learning to run properly and getting the body ready for strenuous running activities. My masters athletes use them as a workout, the younger ones use them as a warmup. I have developed the procedure to accomplish this (presented it at Reno in 04) and the descriptions can be found at www.willamettestriders.com

Let me know what you think as I am just a shop teacher.....haha

Rick

Rick is correct. I've personally worked with several of the top conditioning and functional fitness experts from around the country. Dynamic warmups (movement prep) should be done prior to any strenuous activities. Static stretching for flexibility increases and/or recovery should be done at the end of the workouts.

This approach is being applied to the top athletes in many sports around the nation (and internationally), so it's probably good advice for most vaulters.

I'm not clear on your descriptions but it seems a little intense as a warm up. I would do a light jog, a few striders, some lateral and backward movements, some skips then probably some more striders before beginning what (I think) you described.

I vault to warm up. If I do anything before hand I'm to worn out to vault. Although this is the case I try to do dynamic warm up before I jump.

Simply:
This warmup consists of two aspects. One is to get the body ready for strenuous activity. The other because of the repitition on the numbers of activities, teaches the body the functions of the movements it produces (Psychomotor Learning). If the warmups (which are produced many times during training) are random and chaotic then motor learning can not proceed, but if there is a sequencing and duplication of movement then the body will be able duplicate those movements when under higher levels of stress (Speed). Thats why you do drills!
The warmups should duplicate the movements necessary in the athletic event thus giving a higher level of performance under higher levels of stress....Try this... Get ready to pick your nose. Think about it then put a finger in your nose to pick it. Did you miss? Probably not because you have picked your nose a million times before! Now try to do it fast. Didn't miss this time either did ya? Try the other nostril. Got it too!
How many times does it take to learn to run with proper running form? Same as picking your nose. and what better place to put that practice than in your warmups (reps of 2 times each) or a workout (reps of 6 times each) where the intensity is low and the accuracy is high?

Simple enough?

Rick Baggett

PS: Google search for Psychomotor Learning for more info. if you dare...