My team stopped static stretching before runs.

How do I know it works? If you read my post its from 31 years of experience! That's how! And you warm up running first, then static stretch, then dynamic. There is a difference. Static stretch after your muscles are warm. Moves from slow movement and stretches to quicker dynamic ones.

Static stretching helps if done in compilation with dynamic warm up and running drills as it resets the neurological system. See sprinterscompendium.com for over 100 pages on warm ups, drills, and training.

Good god. It pains me that people like this are still allowed to coach. Rather be stuck in your ways than try to learn something that's potentially better.

What gives wrote:

mrtalent wrote:

What's tight? If your hamstrings are tight then you are sitting too much. Static stretching is not good. Dynamic stretching is alright but all you really need to do to warm up is run.

Of course I do a warmup mile before every run BUT I also need to stretch or else I'll get injured.

You may be right. At least one study [Chan] has found that static stretching increases muscle extensibility (increased muscle length). Thus, you may be less likely to pull a muscle, if it is longer.

However, you're probably wrong, since most studies have found that static stretching does not increase muscle extensibility, but just the ability of your muscles to withstand more stretching force.

Consider the following quotes from

"Chan and colleagues showed that 8 weeks of static stretching increased muscle extensibility; however, most static stretching training studies show an increase in ROM [range of motion] due to an increase in stretch tolerance (ability to withstand more stretching force), not extensibility (increased muscle length)."

"Unfortunately, however, static stretching as part of a warm-up immediately prior to exercise has been shown detrimental to dynamometer-measured muscle strength and performance in running and jumping."

Thus, unless everyone else is wrong, your coach may be right in eliminating static stretching as part of a warm-up immediately prior to exercise, because it has been shown detrimental to muscle strength and performance in running.

^GregMacD has it right. The reasoning behind static stretching in warmups doesn't hold up, and current research says that it will actually increase injury risk. Dynamic stretches and warmups are much safer and advantageous to performance. Short repeated stretches of 2-3 seconds are done for areas that still feel uncomfortable after a dynamic warmup. Save the static work for post-workout, prehab/rehab, and intermittent stretching throughout the day. And don't forget to roll too!

Credibility: I'm a Kinesiology grad student and CSCS

I stopped stretching my hamstring and it's not getting sore like it used to.

Flex Lewis wrote:

I do not care what these studies show, I know for an absolute fact that for my body, static stretching most definitely helps me with injury prevention.

I've been running & racing for over 40 years. And I favor minimal time stretching. I suspect that stretching has caused some of my problems in the past. Sure, maybe I did it wrong. But now I hardly run a half mile before races and spend about a minute on stretching. I do not detect any negative affects.

H. Harvey wrote:

I am tight. I stretch and feel better.

I am tight. Do dynamics. Don't feel better.

Increase in IT band & hip flexor injury.

Look here's what I have noticed since I have come out of retirement to hobby jog. Static Hamstring stretching in season exponentially increases the likelihood of pulling a hammy. But for mid/long distance runners doing the aerobic base if you don't stretch your hamstrings you risk ITB/hip injuries.

Again we warm up 1.5 to 2 miles then static stretch. No one has said before any exercise. It's a build up from slow running to static to dynamic to strides. It works!

Here is all the research you need. Biggest thing is keep the stretches to 15 seconds. Most studies done longer and flaws the data. Followed by a series of drills or low amplitude plyos reset the neurological system with the improved muscle tone from static stretching. It is not the length of the muscle as much as it is the tone. Also, static stretching after workout helps improve the athlete by allowing the fibers to slide appropriately.

https://bretcontreras.com/what-does-sports-science-research-have-to-say-about-warming-up/

For more this specifically for running go to sprinterscompendium.com

Update: I got a few other people today and we talked to coach. He said that starting tomorrow we will resume static stretching before every run. The faster runners seem upset but I am confident that they will thank us later when they finish the season healthy. Here's our routine in case you were wondering:

1 mile w/u, static, heels+toes walking, lunges, dynamic, leg swings, workout, 1 mile c/d, static.

#staticstretchingisbackbaby

moknowsthis! wrote:

Again we warm up 1.5 to 2 miles then static stretch. No one has said before any exercise. It's a build up from slow running to static to dynamic to strides. It works!

5/10 probably a runner trolling his "experienced" know-nothing coach.

So your coach decided to go back on his promise to the faster runners and bend over backwards for the wannabe-JV squad? And with the net scientific evidence indicating otherwise?

What gives wrote:

Update: I got a few other people today and we talked to coach. He said that starting tomorrow we will resume static stretching before every run. The faster runners seem upset but I am confident that they will thank us later when they finish the season healthy. Here's our routine in case you were wondering:

1 mile w/u, static, heels+toes walking, lunges, dynamic, leg swings, workout, 1 mile c/d, static.

#staticstretchingisbackbaby

Does anyone have a link to something that shows/describes good pre-workout dynamic stretches?

Then why do PTs often advise static stretching for 3-5 minutes?

electron1661 wrote:

Then why do PTs often advise static stretching for 3-5 minutes?

I went to a well known and respected podiatrist because I was suffering from calf issues. I told him about my active warm up and all the dynamic mobility work I was doing. He flat out told me that I needed remedial work, that I needed to do static stretching before I ran.

Perhaps those who need PTs have some type of dysfunction.

As a coach I tell my athletes to do the static stretching they believe they need and then we do everything else. I still need to stretch my calves. However I do not allow anyone with hypermobility to stretch.

This topic is not all black and white, we each have different needs.

asdfasdfa wrote:

H. Harvey wrote:

I am tight. I stretch and feel better.

I am tight. Do dynamics. Don't feel better.

Increase in IT band & hip flexor injury.

I feel better after rubbing one out. That doesn't mean it helps my performance.

Numerous studies suggest static stretching before exercise is a poor idea even for "tight" areas. The evidence on if you should static stretch after exercise is a lot more up in the air.

Most studies suggest high mileage is useless.

moknowsthis! wrote:

How do I know it works? If you read my post its from 31 years of experience! That's how! And you warm up running first, then static stretch, then dynamic. There is a difference. Static stretch after your muscles are warm. Moves from slow movement and stretches to quicker dynamic ones.

That proves nothing. I could say that I partied like a rock star in college and had very good results in track and XC but that doesn't prove that partying works.