Need stretching advice...

R

rosemary

0
Hello!

I have recently started running in the mornings, and I have been given conflicting pieces of advice about when and how long to stretch, and what kinds are best. Isn't it better to stretch afterwards, when your muscles are warm, or is it okay to stretch both before and after?

Thanks!
 
Giving Stretchung advice

Do both. Do warmup stretching before to get the fluids going in the muscles, etc, and then do soft connective tissue relengthening afterward, as your running creates accumulating bunching up shortness in the leg ystem that also affects the back up thru the neck. You want to relengthen your whole fascial system.
Lou
 
Dont stretch before hand. stretching a cold muscle will NOT make some kind of fluid go into it, but it might damage it.

Muscle receptors measure both the amoun of stretch, and the speed of stretch. By holding a static stretch, the speed is 0, therfore you are conditioning your muscle for a static activity, then immediately doing a dynamic activity (running). This doesnt make sense, and is not a warm up at all (when holding these stretches do you produce warm sweat?)

The best warm up is joint rotations in every joint of the body, in both directions - this losens the joints and produces synovial fluid which lubrictaes them. If you must stretch, do dynamic stretches where you swing/raise each limb in a controlled manner to feel a dynamic stretch. Dynamic is different to ballistic (throwing your limbs a high as possble outisde of msucle control - this could cause injury)

After your run, this is the time to do any kind of static stretches, when the msuclkes are warm, and you are using it as a cool down rather than a warm up. The stretch will improve recovery and facilitate waste product removal from the muscle, as wll as increase the muscle length. Hold each stretch for 20-60 seconds.

Thanks
Alex
 
If you wanted to stretch beforehand, your best bet would be to do some dynamic stretches, as opposed to static ones. Another option would be to run at a slower pace for 5-10 minutes (however long it takes you to begin to sweat), then stop for a QUICK static stretch. I would recommend you just stretch the majorly sollicited muscles, like hamstrings, quads, calves. Myself, I stretch at the end of my runs. I do make sure that the first 5-10 minutes of my run are at a slower pace, thus serving as a warm-up. I then increase my intensity to the desired level for the run, then slow it down again for the last 5 minutes or so (cooldown) and stretch at the very end.
 
I agree in part - what I said above is to do warm up moving stretches and get things flowing, but if youeat a good high veg raw diet with sea vegsyou can gt a lot of fluid and movement and I have stretched people in the fascia before activity and removed sciatica. If you look at my stretching advice - video info and stretching advice article plus other special type of Bodywork Articles as mentioned above you can get ideas of how to get that spreading and the errors people make. I have helped olympic and college athletes this way. Also see the book Power Yoga. Author is/was stretching and other consultant to NY road runners club and one of the first Certified Ashtanga Yoga teachers in the US and she says to stretch even before yoga, that people have to warm up the muscles before running - and that club had 40,000 members - she being an expert.

Lou
 
in your last post you advocated stretching before exercise, but did not specify th type of stretching.

Now you say 'what i said is to do warm up moving stretches' - after mogwai and I advocated dynamic stretches.

Then "if youeat a good high veg raw diet with sea vegsyou can gt a lot of fluid and movement" - this makes no sense to me.

You refer peope to your website, which is poorly designed, and gives no specifi information about what types of stretching to do before and after workouts and why.

static stretches alone do not make a good warm up, as they do not raise the core temperature, and do not prepare the muscle for dynamic activity.
 
Louisryoshin,

What is the difference between this "Structural Integration" and myofascial release?

Also, it is not indicated that recreational athletes, runners or other, will inevitably and absolutely have or develop fascial tightness, as your website seems to advertise. Though lack of stretching may certainly contribute to fascial tightness in the long run, it is not indicated that any kind of fascial release is necessary for the average recreational athlete, so long as they are diligent with their stretching regimen.
 
Reply to Mugwai - str Int 7 myofascial release

myo fascial release is the relengthening of the fascial of the muscles in a localzed or enhancing massage orientation. It does not take into account the interconnectedness of the various body sections into an architectural whole. Structural Integration works sets of muscle groups from one part of the body to another. It's aims include making the ody more balanced and dynamic in the field of gravity, and also to make all the parts work better together as a higher performing system.

As for its ability to improve athletic performance - well, that is a consisten truth, from all the top track and field athletes on my own website testimonials to people like Canadian skating champion Brian Orser (Rolfed by someone else.). I've been doing it for 20 years and every athlete, nomatter what the level, has gotten big benefits out of it. Stretching alone does not seem to do the whole body integration nor help with psoas problems - at lease for most people. Even long time yoga practitioners I have worked on got a lot of benefits.


Lou
 
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