I’m always in a rush. Static stretching at the end of your run can bring your heart down, cut your risk of injury and lessen muscle soreness." Don’t stretch a cold muscle before exercise. Then you'll love the free email lessons I've never released here on the blog. Here’s the deal – if you want to perform better, flexibility is of tremendous importance, irrespective of the specific workouts you do. We just need to be able to move well as we sprint, charge up hills, and navigate the terrain of trails and obstacle course racing. Those “other activities” include: Static Glute Stretch Often referred to as pigeon pose, this stretch … Copyright © 2021 Laura Norris Running on the Brunch Pro Theme, Static stretching lengthens the muscle to the point of tension and then holds, without any movement, for 15 seconds or more. To combat muscle tightness, you want to foam roll, strength train, and perform dynamic stretches. To combat muscle tightness, you want to foam roll, strength train, and perform dynamic stretches. I’ve provided a variety of stretches that can be performed outdoors, immediately following your runs, or in the comfort of your home. Ideally, runners will focus most of their time on a series of dynamic warm up exercises like the Mattock Routine above. Lower-Back Stretch Aim to stretch … Static stretching is not essential for performance or injury prevention and may actually impair performance in some athletes. The most common times for stretching are either before running or stretching after you finish running. A session of static stretching acutely impairs muscle strength and power. A 2011 review published in British Journal of Sports Medicine concluded that stretching does not reduce muscle soreness – whether it is performed before or after exercise. Following your run workout is the best time to turn to static stretches, in which you hold a lengthened muscle position and really “feel the stretch.” Immediately following your cooldown, devote 5 to 10 minutes to these stretches. We didn’t want to “be tight” and everyone knows (right?) Thanks for the information! During a warm up runners should perform dynamic stretching and static stretching should be performed after training or as a seperate session on its own. The more flexible the runner, the lower their running economy. Stretching our muscles before running may even be counterproductive. For Deena Kastor, however, the answer is simple. And luckily enough, static stretching is all you need to get all the flexibility … Decreased muscle tension equates to a poorer economy, both in theory and in practice. But that doesn’t mean that static stretching has no place in your training program. Hypermobile runners should be cautious about static stretching. They either land incorrectly on their forefoot or they are not wearing zero-drop minimalist footwear and as a result, end up with aches and pains or injury and conclude that forefoot running is not for them. The comparison with the rubber band makes it easy to understand why static stretching can be detrimental for a runner. The problem with static stretching as a warm-up … Eight stretches to try post-run: Hold each of these stretches for around half a minute, and depending on how long you’ve got, repeat once or twice … Don’t wait until an injury forces you into a stretching routine. However, the issue is not just stretching before a run (which you should avoid) – it is also static stretching in general. Static stretching decreases tension and stiffness, especially when you hold the stretch for more than 15 seconds. 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