All-Star Stretching Before Practice (?)

[ang_k_]

I have recently heard of a gym whose coaches this year told them they do not need to stretch before practice. When practices start they run to warm up and then begin. I find this ridiculous and unsafe. What do you think?

 

[luv2cheer92]

I have recently heard of a gym whose coaches this year told them they do not need to stretch before practice. When practices start they run to warm up and then begin. I find this ridiculous and unsafe. What do you think?

I mean you shouldn't stretch cold muscles, but I don't see why they wouldn't stretch after they warm up.

 

[OnceUponACheerleader]

I was in a class this year that taught how to teach children in a P.E. class... anyways my professor said that before an activity, only dynamic stretching should be done.

Now, I think this is ridiculous! - personal opinion.

In gymnastics (my first real exposure to a highly competitive and physically demanding sport) we would static stretch (ex. holding spits for countless min, stretching backs, shoulders etc.) all the time! When watching gymnasts athleticism, I'd say they're doing something right!! :cheering:

ETA: We would static stretch AFTER bringing up our heart rate and warming our muscles from running/skipping/suicides etc. - Never stretch cold!!

 

[Asterism]

We stretch before practice, but I've seen a bunch of research that says that static stretching before activity is actually bad, reduces strength and actually makes athletes more vulnerable to injury during the actual activity - apparently you should warm up with dynamic stretches for the same activities you're going to do during the session, and static stretch afterwards (there's debate on whether static stretching is useful at all, too). I'm not absolutely convinced from experience, but hey, science. I can probably pull some references if people are interested. Running to warm up sounds okay if the running incorporates dynamic stretches, though.

 

[AlwaysLearning]

My kids' athletic director taught them that a warmup should be used to get your blood moving & heart rate up. Stretching came at the END of practice. He said/felt you stretched your muscles more effectively & safely when you did it after a workout because the muscles were definitely warm and more flexible than at the beginning of the workout. In theory, this gives you a better stretch.

I don't know his sources behind this, but it kind of makes sense. I think they say after because warmup means different things to different coaches. Some may think a couple of laps around the mat is a proper warmup, but that doesn't fully warm up the muscles to get a good stretch.

 

[NewbCoach]

Here are a couple of articles for you. the first talks about the benefits of Dynamic Stretching and describes what that means, the second talks about how static stretching may reduce muscle strength in some athletes. We do Dynamic warm ups with static at the end of practice and have noticed increased strength and less injuries but that is less than scientific in its approach :)

Warming up: the dynamic alternative to static stretching

Why Stretching May Not Help Before Exercise | TIME.com

 

[ilikebigbows]

We start with dynamic, especially before we tumble, but with a little bit of static before jumps and for flyers. Our gym's flight classes use a combination of both as well.


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[VTX]

For a month or so I worked with a coach who did similar to this, he would have them warm-up with things such as jumping jacks or running and then go straight into tumbling, then jumps after tumbling, and stretch last. I saw an increase in injuries especially during jumps. I understand why we warm-up first but I believe that especially before jumps or fliers pulling body position, athletes should stretch in some way.

 

[NewbCoach]

For a month or so I worked with a coach who did similar to this, he would have them warm-up with things such as jumping jacks or running and then go straight into tumbling, then jumps after tumbling, and stretch last. I saw an increase in injuries especially during jumps. I understand why we warm-up first but I believe that especially before jumps or fliers pulling body position, athletes should stretch in some way.

Doing a few Jumping jacks and running is not an example of Dynamic stretching/warm ups. It is not remotely similar to it. It's like anything, don't do something properly then you will have issues. I should have clarified that in Fliers do some static stretching prior to pulling shapes.

 

[redshark]

I get the idea of replacing running then static stretching at the start of practice with dynamic stretching, and maybe it's just my old body talking, but my heel stretch is going to be painful and painfully low if i don't hold my splits for a while before I pull it!

 

[xtremeteal4life]

I know what you're "supposed" to do based on the science many here have already spoken of- but I also know that if I stretch before and after a workout (strength and cardio), it prevents and/or lessens my tedininits, any pain and/or soreness. Basically what other posters have said- their actual experiences are different than the science.

 

[DaniV]

Debbie Love has talked about this in some of her seminars and we took alot of good information regarding when to static stretch and when to hold "quick" stretch and do dynamic stretching.

At the begining of practice we do cardio in combination with strength exercises to warm up all of the muscles and get the heart rate up. We do a quick stretch routine that keeps the muscles engaged and warmups all of the joints and then we do alot of across the floor dynamic stretching (inchworms, forward roll to side splits, forward to pancake and slide through to middle splits ect) and basic tumbling warm-up. It was done exactly how Debbie Love warmed-up our tumbling clinic and how I used to warm up when I was an optional in gymnastics. All of our static hold stretching (which still was only for sets of 30-45 seconds max) was done after practice before we left.

She talks about practice structure here - Structure For Optimal Practice Results | For the "Love" of TumblingFor the "Love" of Tumbling

 

[Bellafrickinboo]

Debbie Love has talked about this in some of her seminars and we took alot of good information regarding when to static stretch and when to hold "quick" stretch and do dynamic stretching.

At the begining of practice we do cardio in combination with strength exercises to warm up all of the muscles and get the heart rate up. We do a quick stretch routine that keeps the muscles engaged and warmups all of the joints and then we do alot of across the floor dynamic stretching (inchworms, forward roll to side splits, forward to pancake and slide through to middle splits ect) and basic tumbling warm-up. It was done exactly how Debbie Love warmed-up our tumbling clinic and how I used to warm up when I was an optional in gymnastics. All of our static hold stretching (which still was only for sets of 30-45 seconds max) was done after practice before we left.

She talks about practice structure here - Structure For Optimal Practice Results | For the "Love" of TumblingFor the "Love" of Tumbling

This sounds great, could you post a video of your warmup routine? Would love to be able to see it. :)

 

[DaniV]

I have a windows phone that records but doesn't have a way to send/upload videos or edit them but I'll see if I can borrow of my kids iphones or put together a list at least with video examples.

 

[WinstonsGirl]

I know a lot of research shows that warming up cardio wise and then stretching allows the body to cool down again, leaving it more prone to injury. I've heard that if you are planning to static stretch, do it before you do a cardio warmup, so that your muscles stay warm for your activity. And of course doing it at the end of a workout session is great too.

That said, as an older athlete, if I stretch first, my muscles aren't warm enough to give me a good stretch. And if I don't stretch first, I can't tumble well, due to lingering injuries of old age. I've also had some nasty muscle tears from basic tumbling skills because my muscles weren't stretched out properly (coming from dynamic cardio/tumbling style warmups that included dynamic stretching). Personally, I'm too old to do what the younger kids can do for a warmup.