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| Originally Posted by frosty the snowman As for stetching cold muscles, interesting comment but does that mean I should onlt stretch after exercise? I've only ever done it before running etc and not suffered so far. |
I do a lot of training with the local running club as well as competing in a lot of races. We have a few coaches in our club, we always have to warm up before stretches, 5-10 minutes jogging, dynamic stretches are best rather than static. Cold muscle stretching can cause damage to muscle fibres, after any stretch longer than between 2 and 5 seconds (depending on the individual, the muscle and the tension) the myotatic reflex causes the muscle to contract and therefore loses the effect of any stretching which on a cold muscle can contribute to muscle damage. As dynamic stretching is not a held stretch it works much better.
For those who don't know dynamic stretching includes skipping, skipping sideways, hopping, knee rises and heel flicks to name the most common.