Back in the day if you walked past a track field you would see endless athletes stretching. They would be sitting on the ground reaching for their toes or pulling their feet toward their butts to stretch out their quads. In all they would be engaging in static stretching, the classic image of what people used to think was the best way to prepare for physical activity. Today however the current opinion is that static stretching is bad; instead people are advised to go with ballistic stretching. In today's article we'll take a look at what ballistic stretching is, and whether it really is superior to static stretching.
First off, why stretch? Simply put, it's the best way to prevent injury. By stretching you warm up the body, get the blood flowing,
The Effects of Different Stretching Techniques on Myosin and Actin Fibers and How it Affects Athletic Performance
Static stretches are intended to improve flexibility by holding a specific movement. For the feet and calves there is the advanced plantar flexor stretch. For the knees and things there are the advanced seated knee flexor stretch and advanced kneeling knee extensor stretch. The hips can be stretch with external rotator and back extensor stretch, along with the advanced seated hip adductor stretch. The arms, wrists and hands can be stretch with the elbow and wrist flexor stretch, triceps brachii stretch, intermediate wrist extensor stretch and intermediate wrist flexor stretch. The shoulder, back and chest can be stretch with the intermediate shoulder flexor stretch, shoulder adductor, protractor and elevator stretch, along with the shoulder adductor and extensor stretch (Nelson & Kokkonen,
A review of the basic scientific literature suggested five reasons why stretching before exercise would not prevent injuries:
Before exercise it is crucially important that you take the time to stretch your muscles and to warm up. As a general rule, dynamic stretches before a WOD are useful, and longer extended sessions of static stretches should be kept for the end of your training. These are a great way to improve your flexibility and cool down after an intensive workout.
Injuries are something that you don't want to happen. They are the number one leading cause of a career ending. An injury can happen at any moment at any time you just have to use preventive measures them from happening. The NBA is the number one leading sport for injuries. In basketball history there has been a total or 409,799 injuries in the league. That is why it is important for you to stretch before and after you play. If you don't stretch that can result in many different injuries like ankle sprains, groin pull, hamstring strains, shin splints, and many more. Some of them can end a career. I wouldn't want my career to end just because I wasn't safe. I know stretching may seem boring and pointless but, in life you going to be thankful
It is a good idea to stretch before performing any physical tasks, such as moving boxes in the garage or mowing the lawn. It might seem silly, but it will warm the muscles up, so they won't be injured as easily. Be sure to do some cool-down moves afterwards too. This can be walking at a slower pace for a few minutes or performing a few yoga stances.
Stretching is not a warm up. Many confuses stretching to be a warm up and sometimes may end up hurting themselves more than improving their performances. If you stretch before a warm up or use stretching as a warm-up before an exercise, you are elongating that specific muscle when it’s still cold which may result in injuries. It is also undermining your warm up if you stretch prior to the exercise. By pulling on the muscle before it had a chance to be activated, you are reducing your range of motion as well as decreasing your performance. In this scenario, you are already prepping your muscle for further injuries. Thus, I do not recommend stretching before an exercise because it should not be use prior to workouts.
The aim of this research is to compare each of these stretches, dynamic, static, and no stretching and to examine the effect these different warm-up routines have on performance in the vertical jump test. In a recent study with female collegiate athletes (ages 19 and above), all athletes were tested for a total of three weeks and each had to fulfill three procedures with one session per week along with one week in-between sessions. There were no specific order in the stretching as each were tested with a “five-minute light jog as a warm-up, followed by 8 minutes of one of the stretching protocols” (Dalrymple, Davis, Dwyer & Moir, 2010, p.149). Following the warm-ups, athletes were given five attempts of the countermovement vertical jump test along with one minute rest periods. All jumps were recorded and according to the calculations of the jumps, “there were no significant differences between the static stretching, dynamic stretching and no stretching” (Dalrymple, Davis, Dwyer & Moir, 2010, p.149).
Before going right into a stretching routine, it is good to know exactly what you are doing to your muscles fibers and tendons. First of all, our muscles are made up of many little fibers called myofilaments. As a muscle contracts, the area of overlap between the different sizes of myofilaments increases. As it stretches, this area of overlap decreases, allowing the muscle fibers to lengthen. Once the muscle is stretched to its limit, additional length is gained through the surrounding tissues. As the tension increases, the fibers in this tissue align themselves along the same line of force as the tension. Hence when you stretch, the muscle fiber is pulled out to its full length, and the connective tissue takes up the remaining slack. When this occurs, it helps to realign any disorganized fibers in the direction of the tension. Doing this not only increases the range of motion, but it also helps to heal damaged tissue in the muscles and tendons. When a muscle is stretched, some of its fibers lengthen, but others do not. The length of the entire muscle depends on the number of stretched fibers. This is also true when a muscle is
Every year sports related injuries with the youth are going up rapidly, to prevent injuries to yourself you should recommend always stretch
Warming up is crucial to increase the blood flow to the muscles and loosen the joints but it is mainly done to prevent injuries. A warm up is done before beginning to the dance, it consists of commencing with a few exercises along with stretches, then start to make different movements combination of cardiovascular exercises, isolations, stretching and strength drills progressively causing perspiration without becoming out of breath. Cardiovascular exercises increase heart rate, the body increases temperature and stretching warms the muscles making the muscles more flexible, the muscle temperature rises to 30 degrees Celsius when the dancer is resting which improves the muscle flexibility
Stretching is very important in working out because it prevents injury. A person will never do the same exercise two days in a row, this program was created to have all upper body one day and the next day all lower body. The reasoning for this method is because a person lifting should allow those muscles to rest and recovery. This program has been set to have at least two off days to allow the body to recover for the next workout. Chapter 3 PowerPoint states that, “Rest and Recovery, the body needs time to recover between training and overtraining can result in soreness and fatigue”. Rest days are very important since we place a large amount of strain on our muscles, tendons, bones, joints, and ligaments. Not allowing a person to have an off day is putting them in great risk of injury. As mentioned on the workout program, off days should be used for stretching and letting your body recover. According to the article, “7 Essentials Elements of Rest and Recovery” Kuhland states, “sleep, hydration, nutrition, posture, stretching, self-myofascial release, heat, ice, and compression, many people may not be aware there is a difference between rest and recovery or how to properly implement them both”. There are several types of stretches that can be done such as passive, active, ballistic, and static. A person who is training should do static stretching because it is slow movements into a stretch position that is being held.
Doing these stretches will insure that your not pull any muscles while doing this jump in particular and make your
Between the 1500s and 1700s in Europe, the use of exercise to treat muscle and bone disorders continued to progress (“History of Physical”). In the 1800s, exercise and muscle re-education were used for a variety of orthopedic diseases and injuries (“History of Physical”). Stretching had become a large part of medical treatments such as: osteopathy, chiropractic therapy and physiotherapy (“History and Benefits”). The polio epidemic boomed during the 1910’s and doctors realized that strengthening and stretching the muscles helped these people to feel more comfortable (“History of Physical”). The new P.T. or Physical Therapy has come along, exercises and stretching have become the fad of helping with orthopedic diseases and injuries, just as it did before. Some exercises now prevent one from having surgery. Stretching and/or warming-up prepare muscles and joints for high levels of stress. It literally warms up the temperature of muscles and joints to make them more flexible. It is very easy to properly stretch. Study almost any cat to learn the fine art of stretching. Their back arches first in one direction and then in other, their foot pads flare and widen and then their eyes squeeze tight (Zumerchick, 276). If one strengthens muscles around specific ligaments, joints and bones it protects the ligaments, joints and bones from tearing, straining or breaking. It is key to remember
And, fellas, do not think that you are excluded from this discussion. Stretching is not just for ballerinas. Many people accept injuries as a normal side effect of playing sports and being very active, but a lot of injuries can be dodged through regular stretching that increases the mobility of your body. Before a workout, warming up your body for 5-10 minutes with some light cardio like jumping jacks or a brisk jog followed by some dynamic stretching helps your joints move through their full range of motion which improves athletic performance and decreases the risk of activity-based injuries. Stretching makes you stronger and improves your endurance.