Learn to use 2 methods of stretching
The one theory of stretching everyone seems to agree on can be summed up in two words:
Don't bounce.
After that, pull the ring tab and step back. Broaching the topic, triathlon coach Tommy Johnson said, is like "opening up a can of worms."
What, you ask, could possibly be contentious about something that is supposed to keep you injury-free and immune from soreness?
Plenty, it turns out. "There is a bit of a controversy about whether you should stretch at all," said Dallas trainer Ron Incerta.
When USA Track & Field conducted a clinical trial of almost 3,000 runners, the results, published last month, were essentially a wash: Those who stretched had the same injury risk as those who didn't.
A Nebraska Wesleyan University study deflated another theory, the idea that flexibility achieved through stretching makes for a better runner. The results showed runners with tighter muscles are more economical runners — that is, they use oxygen more efficiently — than those who are more flexible.
"If you want to stretch because you're tight and think you'll become more flexible, I don't see that as the case," said Plano, Texas, physical therapist Jake Spivey. "Stretching isn't to improve the length of the tissue, but to prepare the tissue for exercise and not create injury during the course of it. If you just take off, you can create overuse issues such as tendinitis or bursitis."
What does work best? It's a matter, Incerta said, of "dynamic vs. static stretching."
A quick lesson here. Dynamic stretching is basically a foreshadowing of the workout to come: arms in circles if you're a swimmer, for instance; walking or skipping if you're a runner; maybe doing knee lifts for other movements.
Static, on the other hand, involves held poses: leaning over an outstretched leg or bending toward the ground for 30 seconds or so.
Until February, triathlete Brett Skyllingstad began his workouts with traditional static stretches. Then he did some research and learned muscles aren't ready for such movement before a workout. Now for 10 minutes before he begins, he focuses on knee lifts, side steps and leg swings. His post-workout stretches are what his beforehand stretches once were, holding positions for 30 seconds or so.
"I've noticed a huge difference," said Skyllingstad, 26, project manager for a construction company and triathlon coach for Texas Triple Threat. "I don't start out feeling flat or have that normal 10 minutes of feeling crummy or awkward. It gets your blood moving and flowing, and your heart rate more elevated."
That gradually increased blood flow is necessary for a successful workout, said Dr. Cindy Trowbridge, associate professor of kinesiology at the University of Texas at Arlington.
"It's cardiovascular, getting your heart rate up and your heart warmed up."
