Dynamic Stretching good, Static Stretching bad for muscles

[technique]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/02/sports/playmagazine/112pewarm.htm...

Does that mean yoga would be horrible?

[SafeNSure]

Isn't it all relative?
Basketball, volleyball, tennis and even golf players, need different pre-performance work, than say cubicle workers sitting the rest of the day, climbers doing very long isometric work (stressing muscles w/o moving much), or even ballet dancers practicing on and off like 6 hours in a row...

Also, warm-up-stretching has little to do with "power"-stretching sessions meant to increase the range or amplitude of motion (i.e. ballet dancing again, martial art katas, etc.).

As you said, yoga is a very good example; and how about this little known ballet floor work (aka -barre au sol-)?!?

If you think it's funny, try doing for 3 minutes w/o screaming for cramps!!!

Anyway, we (BApk) pretty much do all the quadropedal movements they ("amazingly!") talk about in the article.
And I, personally, completely agree with warming up with "exercises that activate all of the joints and connective tissue that will be needed for the task ahead".
Good topic to bring up!

[Sin]

i read that yesterday you just beat me to the post. very intersting but always a good idea to warm up first no matter what you do to streach

[pyz.particle]

lol yeah i read that yesterday too... it was on digg.com
kind of surprised but i guess it makes sense...

[Iliketovaultthings]

meh, always warm up before u stretch.... all there is to it.

[Seng]

This is definitely the hot idea in sports these days. I've got a longer article with some stretches in an ultimate frisbee magazine if anyone wants to check that out (sorry, it's not online). A friend showed me a few stretches which I've been using as part of my warmups which I'd be glad to show to others.

At GWHS, my warmup is usually something like this:
- warmup run from main area to far (31st Ave) side of stadium, across bleachers and down to Geary-side of the field (just long enough to need to start feeling warm)
- series of dynamic stretches switching every 10-15yds including:
- sideway skips (both directions)
- kareoke (both directions)
- butt kicks
- high knees
- lunges
- sideways lunges (both directions)
- "spiderman" - lunge, touch opposite elbow to lunge foot, straighten back with hips rotated forward (easier shown that written)
- lie prone, walk feet up to hands (fingers touching toes), walk fingers forward to lie prone, repeat
- short run up stairs to exit stadium
- small and large arm circles while walking up back up to main meeting area for water
- add those funny knee and hip circles as necessary
- ankle and wrist stretches while drinking water and otherwise getting ready to do larger moves

Another idea to keep in mind is to keep muscles warm throughout a session- I know most of us take one or two breaks during a 3-4hr session which are probably long enough for our bodies to cool down to the point where we need to warm up again.

[Nick Romero]

I saw this on Digg a few days ago as well..

Jujimufu of TricksTutorials has created a pretty comprehensive guide to both dynamic / active and static / passive stretching that I highly recommend: http://www.trickstutorials.com/index.php?page=content/flx3

[Jonathan]

thanks! that was very helpfull!

[Jonathan]

I think the article means before you workout, or do competition, do dynamic stretching. Because static stretching rips your muscles and you wouldn't want to workout when your muscles are ripped, you'd wanna rest them. So I think it's ok to do static stretching if your trying icrease your overall flexibility. So, maybe on an off day or a day you can rest, do static stretchinig to imporve your overall flexibility. I think dynamic stretching is more part of a warm up.

[Bay Area Parkour]

Just a little reminder about this.

Even if everyone commenting on the thread seems to be in agreement, we cannot fail to notice that, especially at basic sessions, many opt for stepping out of the group warm-up and work on their own, "trusted" stretching routine.

BApk (and pretty much everyone in the parkour world) believes that a parkour training session should look like this:
Beginning: Dynamic warm up
Middle: Actual workout
End: Cool down/static stretching

Static (=traditional) stretching has "been proven to decrease muscular strength by up to 30% for hours afterwards, thus putting you at a risk for injury. Some tightness in the muscles is necessary to keep joints strong, stretching them before hand will loosen the muscles, making them less able to support the joint."

Many of us grew up playing sports and learned to [statically] stretch before-hand, but scientifically it's not the best thing to do before exercise, especially for something such as parkour, tricking, whatever.

The best way to warm-up is through dynamic-'stretching' moving the joint through its full range of motion with light exercises, that will ready the muscles for the tasks you intend to place upon it. (Taylor at PKCali)

Dynamic stretching uses "momentum from static-active stretching strength, in an effort to propel the muscle into an extended range of motion not exceeding one's static-passive stretching ability. Anything beyond this range of motion becomes ballistic stretching", which has also been found to be hazardous towards the body. (Wikipedia)