Category — Sports

I read an interesting article in the NY Times the other day, and I thought it would be of interest to anyone who regularly engages in recreational physical activity.  The main point is that

“while static stretching is still almost universally practiced among amateur athletes — watch your child’s soccer team next weekend — it doesn’t improve the muscles’ ability to perform with more power, physiologists now agree. “You may feel as if you’re able to stretch farther after holding a stretch for 30 seconds,” McHugh says, “so you think you’ve increased that muscle’s readiness.” But typically you’ve increased only your mental tolerance for the discomfort of the stretch. The muscle is actually weaker.”

Looks like another piece of conventional wisdom seems destined for the trash heap.  The idea that static stretching does little to enhance musclular performance is not a new one, but alternative forms of athletic preparation are now becoming commonplace at the highest levels of sport.  Nowadays, more and more athletes use dynamic stretching, a combination of warm-up and stretch that gets blood flowing to the muscles, and stretches them without compromising strength.

Static stretching will still have it’s place in increasing flexibility, but for those recreational warriors looking to increase performance, dynamic stretching is proving to a be a better bet. Check out the article and the accompanying diagrams to get an idea of how to alter your stretching routine.