Download Want to go faster? Try stretching first

“Want to go faster? Try stretching first”
Stretching has been proven to increase performance through muscular elongation,
flexibility, and mobility. It also helps to offset muscle soreness after exercise, and
decrease the chance of injury. You can read entire books about how stretching does or
does not help in certain sports, but bottom line -- stretching does more good than bad, and
while one newsletter column may not cover everything in specification, I will attempt to
educate some of you about certain types of stretching, and which one, in particular, helps
with speed and agility.
I’
m sure all of you natural born sprinters out there are wondering just what its going to
take until you reach that goal of ultimate speed and power. While it’
s obvious that things
like practice and dieting are your biggest contributors to positive results, and things like
lazy days, video games, and the drive to be like Takeru Kobayashi (world renowned hot
dog eating competitor) are going to keep you from reaching your performance goals, but
its so much easier said than done isn’
t it?
But I’
m here to encourage all of you to bounce back from those false beliefs, and stay
focused on how important practice is to your performance, and more importantly, how
one simple quick routine, which may take only a few minutes of your time each practice,
can also take away seconds of time on your 200 meter sprint, or give you that extra step
you need to beat the cornerback for the winning touchdown reception. It’
s called
stretching, and no, not the quick jog and toe-touch just before scrimmage, I’
m talking
about the full routine, before and even after practice or games.
There are two types of stretches: passive and active, both of which can require one of
three different motions: static, dynamic, and ballistic. Passive stretches are usually done
with a static motion and require some type of external force weighing down on the limb
to stretch it out; this can be achieved using a partner, stretch bands or mechanical devices
so long as not to exert too much force. This type of stretching has a higher risk of injury
compared to that of active stretching. Active stretching works both the agonist muscle
(muscle doing the work) and the antagonist muscle (muscle not being used). The agonist
muscle exerts some type of energy to put the antagonist muscle into a stretch position
which may in turn also lengthen that muscle.
Ballistic stretching is a form of passive stretching that forces a body part into a range of
motion without that body parts muscle being completely relaxed. Because of the risk that
comes with this type of stretching, we’
ll leave it to the elite athletes and trainers and stick
to the basics of static and dynamic. Static stretching is highly used by all athletes and
trainers, but can become a touchy subject. For instance, some trainers believe static
stretching may impair performance in power sports like sprinting and jumping. I myself
am a firm believer in stretching to prepare for any sport, but that’
s a whole separate
subject.
Currently, its speed that we are talking about, so in continuance, a dynamic warm-up is
going to be most effective when dealing with sports that use momentum from form or
static-active stretching to gain power. A dynamic warm-up is used to propel a muscle
into an extended range of motion that does not exceed an athlete’
s stretch ability (this
would become ballistic stretching). This warm-up stretches out muscles, and gets them
into a position that the athlete would not necessarily be able to reach having not warmedup.
Many of the dynamic warm-ups used today focus around the hip. The hip is the central
unit of power to the body, and almost all energy used during competition and even
everyday life comes from the hips. My theory is if you can get the correct form and
range of motion in from the hips, then everything else becomes so much easier — So
start at the hip! Here’
s some dynamic warm-up exercises to get your body going:
Inverted Toe-touch:
Standing straight up, balance on one leg (left in picture) and “
fall”forward keeping upper body in line with
opposite leg (right in picture). Opposite hand (right in picture) reaches to the floor to touch the ground
adjacent the opposite foot. Do a 10 yard walk switching legs the whole way.
Knee Hug:
While balancing on one leg, (left in picture) raise opposite leg to chest (right in picture) and squeeze that
knee to the chest as you come up on your toes. You will feel a stretch in that legs hamstring as you walk a
10 yard distance, switching legs each step.
Quad Stretch:
While balancing on one leg (left in picture), bring opposite leg (right in picture) behind you and squeeze it
to your rear while coming up on your toes. You will feel a stretch in your quad as you walk a 10 yard
distance while switching legs the whole time.
Cork Screw/Grapevine:
While standing with shoulders squared up, bring one leg behind the opposing leg until that legs knee clears
the opposing legs knee (right behind left in picture). Squat down into a quarter squat or more while
keeping both feet flat on the floor and pointed straight outward, turn the upper body in the direction of the
back foot (upper body rotates to the left b/c right leg is to the left of the body in picture). This exercise is to
extend and rotate the internal and external oblique’
s.
Leg Cradle:
While standing straight up, raise one leg up to chest by pulling up on the knee and the ankle (right leg in
picture) and coming up on the toes. Walk this exercise through 10 yards switching legs each step. This
exercise stretches the piriformis.
Lunge to in-step:
As you lunge forward, try and keep the back leg as straight as possible. Bring coinciding elbow to the
inside of front leg (left elbow to instep of left leg in picture). Do this exercise 10-15 yards while alternating
legs.
Lunge and lean:
As you lunge forward keeping the knees at 90 degree angles, raise the opposing arm in the air and lean over
towards the forward foot (Left arm raised up and leaning toward the right foot in picture). This exercise
targets the quads, glutes, and hamstrings while incorporating a hip flexor stretch. Walk 10-15 yards while
alternating legs each step.
In concluding, always remember not to overstretch or go beyond your range of motion
(ballistic) these things can cause serious injuries to the body. Take your time warming up
and cooling down (try foam rolling and rope stretches after working out or practices, its
not very fun but it helps to loosen all the built up acid in those muscles –a.k.a. you won’
t
be as sore the next morning!). These should help your efforts for restoration, and as for
the following dynamic warm-up, try it out and see if it doesn’
t make a difference in your
performance!