Stretching, warm-ups, cool-downs

[paul_r]

I'd appreciate some advice about stretching before and after training, warm-ups etc.

Over recent years I've heard plenty about the need and benefit of stretching properly before and after training, but over the last year or two I've heard some slight changes to that advice.

Previously I've been told to do a range of stretches for maybe 15 secs each as part of the warm up, and the same stretches for maybe 30 secs cooling down.

More recently I've heard that some of that is 'old thinking', and that there are better ways to warm up. I've now heard that stretching should be no more than 7 seconds each for example. References to dynamic warm-ups are interesting - what I heard was that this can achieve as good a warm-up in less time - meaning more time with the ball or for skills training etc. That's pretty important for most people as training time is precious so they need to squeeze as much useful time out of that as possible.

So, what's the deal with 'dynamic warm-ups'? Answers on a postcard please ... or better still - here! :1 (42):

Any advice on current thinking on best practice would be appreciated.

[supersheppey]

Don't know the validity of this however I have recently read in a couple of men's fitness/diet books namely "The Abs Diet" and "The Testosterone Advantage Plan" that the best way to warm up is to jog lightly for about 5 minutes. These books are both heavily promoted by and reccommended by Men's Health magazine. They claim that stretching cold muscles can cause more injuries than they prevent. In both it is claimed that a warm up is really about raising your core temperature and thus making your muscles, for want of a better word, looser. I personally wouldn't reccommend any course of action to any individual and I do not purport to be an expert on this subject. I would, however, recommend that every one always go through a range of streching after exercise. It has been proven that it can help with general muscle suppleness and it also assists your body in the recovery process by helping the venal removal of waste products from muscle tissue and therefore reducing muscle soreness after exercise. I hope you find this usefull

[BFS]

Firstly warm ups and stretching should be thought of as two different things.
Warm ups are there and should be performed to prepare the body for whatever activity you are going to perform. for example if your just going for a run, then jogging starting slow and progressively building your speed over a 5 minute period will be enough. If your playing a sport then movement patterns and skills that are performed in that sport can be used as warm up drills, these just need to be performed at a lower intensity. For example for hockey working with a pattner jogging and paasing to each other at a low pace and gradually build your speed, some low intensity tackling on both sides, and some shadowing drills would be perfect.

I don't use strecthing before sessions (although some players will do some).

Stretching is to increase a range of motion through a joint or joints. This might be required because of an injury or because you are unable to perform an activity within your sprot because of limited range. There are many different ways to stretch which would take more time than i have right know to go into. But for developmental stretching you can either hold static stretches for 20s-1minute just holding the stretch at the point of feeling the stretch and progress through the stretch. You can hold the stretc for 8s then repeat this 3-4 times. Or you can use a partner to do PNF stretching which involves holding a stretc for a 4-8s then giving gentle contraction against your partner for 3-4s then repeating this 3-4 times through a greater range. You should get advice on this stretching before trying it.

My times up so I'll continue later

[paul_r]

ok - that's a few old wives tales put in their place a bit. Thanks for that.

How about stretching after exercise then? I've worked on the belief that stretching after training helps minimise stiffeness etc. That would be immediately after training plus over the next day or even two if I feel a bit tight after sitting for a while.