Static Stretches
Contents
What are Static Stretches?
What are the Benefits?
Why Perform Stretching Exercises in this way?
When Should I Stretch this way?
Injury Prevention.
What are Static Stretches
As
physical therapists we are frequently asked about stretching exercises.
Static stretching exercises are those stretches that you are told to
hold for so many seconds and do so many times a day. When you think of
stretching, it is usually this type of stretching that immediately
comes to mind.
To perform this type of
stretching exercise one must elongate the muscles as tolerated and that
position is then held for a particular length of time. The time
a stretch is held is determined by your age, pre existing conditions,
activity level, and any injuries. For more information on how long to
hold a static stretch click here.
In most cases it is a safe way to elongate soft tissues for those just beginning an exercise program and sedentary individuals.
What are the Benefits?
- Static stretching has shown, through research, to improve flexibility and joint range of motion
- This mode of stretching prevents the soft tissues from absorbing high amounts of energy over a short period of time as does ballistic stretching.
- This slow form of stretching will not facilitate a strong relfex response and so helps in relaxation.
- This form of stretching can alleviate muscle soreness.
- Stretching in a static manner is thought to be the safest way to stretch and therefore is most appropriate for a large percentage of the population(1).
- Stretching statically can be done individually, unlike PNF or assisted stretching and no special knowledge or handling is required.
Why This Form of Stretching?
A good rule of thumb is, in order to maintain mobility you should take each joint through its full range of motion once a day. In the clinic we see the results of immobilization as patients are taken out of casts, and people try to become more active after a period of injury. Soft tissues will inherently shorten unless moved. That's the nature of viscoelastic substances. "If you don't use, you lose it".
When Should I Stretch?
I have had patients come to me
that have never stretched because their personal trainer told them it
would hurt their workout. A few studies that have been misinterpreted
are changing the way we work out. Static stretches are not necessarily
"bad stretches".
A player of any sport with tight hamstrings
should undertake a stretching workout because these players are more
prone to hamstring strains. This type of program should take place
daily, at least three times a day. Studies show that for individuals
under forty that 30 second holds are sufficient(2) (there is no benefit
to holding longer than 30 seconds in this age group), younger
individuals can get away with 15 second stretches.(3) People over 70
benefit from static stretches held 60 seconds more than 30 seconds. (4)
Stretches should be painfree and not overly uncomfortable. If you
experience pain during a stretch, see your physical therapist prior to
starting a stretching program.
Stretching is only a small part of an appropriate pre-participation warm up. In some cases, too much static stretching can actually predispose an athlete to injury.
General consensus now is that pre-participation static stretching is
not beneficial for optimum performance. Your warm up is best to consist
of active exercises to increase circulation with sport specific
movements. This type of activity causes increased temperature in the
muscles used which improves elasticity and therefore flexibility.
Depending on your sport, specific dynamic or ballistic stretching may be more appropriate.
After a workout is the best time to perform static stretches. Muscles
are warm, ligaments and joints are more elastic, but if you suffer from
muscular imbalances or are interested in maintaining or increasing your
flexibility, static stretches should be done daily.
Injury Prevention
People
have come to expect a lot from a few stretching exercises. Claims of
injury prevention and improved performance are unfounded, but that
doesn't mean static stretches don't have their place in a training or
fitness regimen. Pre-activity stretching commonly done by athletes
thinking they can help their performance and reduce injuries are coming
under scrutiny (5,6,7). There is literature that suggests there is a
reduction in strength and power following static stretches. (8,9) The
length of time that strength and power are affected and the mechanisms
causing these losses are still being investigated.
Static
stretches were emphasized years ago amongst gymnasts, track and field
participants, and skaters. In these particular sports one requires a
great deal of flexibility to perform the tasks of the sport. In sports
such as hockey (goalies excluded), rugby, or football, this extreme
flexibility is not necessary. Every sport has a certain set of skills
that requires a given flexibility. Exceeding this flexibility is no
guarantee of injury prevention; however, if one doesn't have the
adequate flexibility necessary to perform the sport, they are
definitely prone to injury.
A
study in 2000 looked at male army recruits to determine if static
streches would reduce the risk of injuries.(10) It was determined that
static stretching didn't result in a meaningful reduction in the rate
of injury.
In this study the greatest predictor of injury was a poor aerobic
fitness level. It is theorized that no benefit results from static
stretches because of the following reasons:
- Certain activities don't benefit from increased flexibility.
- Stretching doesn't effect muscle elasticity during eccentric activity which is when most injuries occur.
- Stretching may result in microtrauma to the muscle predisposing it to injury.
- An increase in stretch tolerance after a static stretch may mask pain that would normally result in muscle guarding during an injurious activity.
References
1. Smith C: The warm-up procedure: To stretch or not to stretch. 1 Orthop Sports Phys Ther 1 9: 12-1 6, 1994
2. Bandy WD, Irion JM, Briggler M: The effect of time and frequency of
static stretching on flexibility of the hamstring muscles. Phys Ther
1997;77(10):1090-1096
3. T. Ioannis, G. Christos, Z.
Nikolaos, V. Aikaterini, V. Efstratios The Effect of Stretching
Duration on the Flexibility of Lower Extremities in Junior Soccer
Players.
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Department of
Physical Education and Sports Sciences Thessaloniki, Greece Physical
Training Sept 2005.
4 Feland JB, Myrer JW, Schelthies SS,
Fellingham GW, Measom GW. The effect of duration of stretching of the
hamstring muscle group for increasing range of motion in people aged 65
years or older. Phys Ther 2001;81:1110-1117.
5. Gleim GW, McHugh MP. Flexibility and its effects on sports injury and performance. Sports Med 24: 289-299, 1997.
6 Ogura Y, Miyahara Y, Naito H, Katamoto S, Aoki J. Duration of static
sstretching influences muscle force production in hamstring muscles. J
Str Cond Res 21: 788-792,
2007.
7. Thacker SB, Gilchrist
J, Stroup DF, Kimsey CD. The impact of stretching on sports injury
risk: A systematic review of the literature. Med Sci Sports Exerc 36:
371-378,
2004.
8. Behm DG, Button DC, Butt JC. Factors affecting force loss with prolonged stretching. Can J Appl Physiol 26: 261-272, 2001.
9.
Cramer JT, Beck TW, Housh TJ, Massey LL, Marek SM, Danglemeier S,
Purkayastha S, Culbertson JY, Fitz KA, Egan AD. Acute effects of static
sstretching on characteristics of the isokinetic angle-torque
relationship, surface electromyography, and mechanomyography. J Sports
Sci 25: 687-698, 2007.
10. Pope, R. P., Herbert, R. D.,
Kirwan, J. D., & Graham, B. J. (2000) A randomized trial of
pre-exercise stretching for prevention of lower-limb injury. Medicine
and Science in Sports and Exercise, 32, 271–277