Stretching: Dynamic vs. Static
Who here has let stretching fall by the wayside?
It’s one extra thing to do during the day and if you barely have time for exercising, then the logical thing seems to cut out stretching, right?
Wrong!
Stretching helps keep our muscles at the appropriate length to Function and Move Optimally. Stretching helps to reduce pain with activity (1) and has also been shown in animal models to improve blood flow to muscles and even cause formation of new blood vessels (2).
That sounds like some pretty cool stuff, huh?
Before exercising, a dynamic warm-up that involves active stretching can help your muscles prepare for the activity that you are about to do.
Why could a dynamic warm up be important?
Think about when you are sprinting. Imagine that your your quad (the muscle on the front of your thigh) doesn’t have enough flexibility.
What happens?
You have to shorten your stride because your leg isn’t able to travel as far behind you with your knee bent.
In this case the muscle won’t be functioning optimally and you likely won’t perform at your peak ability.
How about after your workout or sport?
If you don’t cool down (doing a combination of dynamic and static stretching), your muscles can start to feel awfully tight and sore afterwards. If you keep avoiding stretching, overtime you’ll like end up with some pretty limited flexibility.
So what is dynamic or active stretching versus static stretching?
Dynamic or active stretching is moving through a range of motion repeatedly. You are not holding any one position for too long.
An example would be lying on your back and holding the back of your thigh with your hands, and then oscillating between bending and straightening your knee for an active hamstring stretch.
Static stretching involves holding a position for an extended period of time. An example for your hamstring would be lying on your back and holding your thigh with your hands, and then trying to straighten your knee as much as possible, holding it there for 30 seconds.
In order to make length changes within a muscle group, a static stretch must be held for at least 30 seconds. At this point in time, the collagen within the tissue deforms to the lengthened state. Anything before this time period and the tissue reverts back to its original length.
One way to picture this is looking at a rubber band. If you stretch the rubber band for 5 seconds, it recoils to its original length. But what happens if you leave it on a gallon sized bottle for months? The rubber band deforms and now stays at a larger size even when you take it off of the bottle.
So what is the best form of stretching, static or dynamic?
We would argue that a combination of both is best.
A dynamic warm-up can help bring blood flow to muscles and help elongate them to the range necessary for a workout or sport. We suggest 8-10 repetitions in each direction of motion.
A static stretch is good after exercising because there is already blood flow to the tissue and the tissues are in an elastic state. This allows you to stretch further and hold a position longer with more ease. Over time as you practice static stretching, you will notice gains in motion along with increased ease of movement during every day activities and exercise.
Do you have a favorite stretch you like? Let us know here!
References:
Tahran Ö, Yeşilyaprak SS. Effects of Modified Posterior Shoulder Stretching Exercises on Shoulder Mobility, Pain, and Dysfunction in Patients With Subacromial Impingement Syndrome. Sports Health. 2020 Mar/Apr;12(2):139-148. doi: 10.1177/1941738119900532. Epub 2020 Feb 4. PMID: 32017660; PMCID: PMC7040949.
Hotta K, Behnke BJ, Arjmandi B, Ghosh P, Chen B, Brooks R, Maraj JJ, Elam ML, Maher P, Kurien D, Churchill A, Sepulveda JL, Kabolowsky MB, Christou DD, Muller-Delp JM. Daily muscle stretching enhances blood flow, endothelial function, capillarity, vascular volume and connectivity in aged skeletal muscle. J Physiol. 2018 May 15;596(10):1903-1917. doi: 10.1113/JP275459. Epub 2018 Apr 5. PMID: 29623692; PMCID: PMC5978284.