Static stretching lowers power output by 20%

[farzamk]

For those who dont know, static stretching is holding the stretch for any period of time.

It has been proven a long time ago actually, but now further proven that static stretching at any time will TEMPORARILY lower power output by 20% because it relaxes the muscle. So dont be doing static stretching before lifting, plyos or sprints. This is more so towards holding stretches of 20-30+ seconds, however you want to be at 100% power regardless for any power training or especially competition.

So go ahead and stretch post workout, off days and if at a track meet AFTER your event. Just dont stretch right before.

[daberg08]

So how long is temporary?

[Doyl888]

stretch dynamically pre workout

[farzamk]

stretch dynamically pre workout

yup.

[farzamk]

So how long is temporary?

There is no set time, when at 10 mins 31 seconds you have lowered power, as soon as it becomes 32 seconds, you're at full power.

If you're at a track meet, you have a race at 11 am, another at 1:30 pm. both sprints.

do a dynamic warm up before 11 am, 45 mins.

after the race, do a lower body static stretch.

you're fine for the 1:30 pm race.

A small bit of static stretching before a long dynamic warm up is also fine, generally the groins, quads and any other bad muscle you have, hold for 5 seconds. Any more is not necessary.

[sillz100]

15 minutes is when the effects wore off in one study and power was at 100% again.


But where did you get 21%? The study i have and the ones i have seen are much lower than that.... edit: (5-6%)

That would mean a 30 inch vert would turn into 24 after strecthing statically.

[farzamk]

15 minutes is when the effects wore off in one study and power was at 100% again.


But where did you get 21%? The study i have and the ones i have seen are much lower than that....

That would mean a 30 inch vert would turn into 24 after strecthing statically.

20% is approx.

[RIKTER]

This goes against everything Ive been led to believe by my coaches(when i was younger) and all my sons coaches(currently)...all they do is static stretching before any games (baseball, football, etc) I always stretch(lightly) before working out, in fact the last time I didnt stretch before benching I injured my shoulder, although I didnt properly warm up either just pretty jumped to first working set.

What would be some good dynamic stretches in video form please because I be lost to all this new age stuff...

[farzamk]

This goes against everything Ive been led to believe by my coaches(when i was younger) and all my sons coaches(currently)...all they do is static stretching before any games (baseball, football, etc) I always stretch(lightly) before working out, in fact the last time I didnt stretch before benching I injured my shoulder, although I didnt properly warm up either just pretty jumped to first working set.

What would be some good dynamic stretches in video form please because I be lost to all this new age stuff...

I see it all the time.

Kids gather around a leader and stretch, 1 yells the leader, kids yell 2 and laternate to 10, stretching for a total of 4-5 secs. Fine for house league, NOT for rep players.

I dont have any video form dynamics, google dynamic stretches.

leg swings and light rotations at joints/trunk/hips, shoulder swings are the top dynamic warm up stretches. A's, B's drills should follow.

[xKKx7]

For those who dont know, static stretching is holding the stretch for any period of time.

It has been proven a long time ago actually, but now further proven that static stretching at any time will TEMPORARILY lower power output by 20% because it relaxes the muscle. So dont be doing static stretching before lifting, plyos or sprints. This is more so towards holding stretches of 20-30+ seconds, however you want to be at 100% power regardless for any power training or especially competition.

So go ahead and stretch post workout, off days and if at a track meet AFTER your event. Just dont stretch right before.

I usually like to do a quick stretch b4 squats like doing an ass to ground squat (bodyweight) and holding it a little bit. Or I also stretch my arms after a tough set of bench. Is that really going to drastically decrease my power.

[farzamk]

I usually like to do a quick stretch b4 squats like doing an ass to ground squat (bodyweight) and holding it a little bit. Or I also stretch my arms after a tough set of bench. Is that really going to drastically decrease my power.

It wont drastically decrease your power, you're better off doing a few dynamics as it will have your muscles better prepared to hit the hard iron. Do trunk twists, hip rotations, kick backs, lateral and front ward leg swings, step overs. As for your chests, take your arms out in the air and push back so your shoulder blades are squeezing together, get a nice light dynamic stretch through the chest. AFTER all bench work, do a static stretch.

[qb0708]

doing dynamics before and static after has defiently increased my flexibility also i rarely get any soreness or tightness in my quads or hammys this is defiently the right way to go

[xKKx7]

It wont drastically decrease your power, you're better off doing a few dynamics as it will have your muscles better prepared to hit the hard iron. Do trunk twists, hip rotations, kick backs, lateral and front ward leg swings, step overs. As for your chests, take your arms out in the air and push back so your shoulder blades are squeezing together, get a nice light dynamic stretch through the chest. AFTER all bench work, do a static stretch.

alrite thanks very much.

[farzamk]

alrite thanks very much.

no problem.

[farzamk]

doing dynamics before and static after has defiently increased my flexibility also i rarely get any soreness or tightness in my quads or hammys this is defiently the right way to go

ya static stretching doesnt do much to reduce stiffness, dynamic stretching however DOES. Now do not mistake dynamics for ballistic stretching.

[KazuyaMishima]

I dont quiet agree 100% with this, I do weight lifting and various martial arts including mma, and I do static stretching 1hour a day and i've never seen a decrees in my kicking power..

[farzamk]

I dont quiet agree 100% with this, I do weight lifting and various martial arts including mma, and I do static stretching 1hour a day and i've never seen a decrees in my kicking power..

Research has proven this to be true 100%, sorry if you dont agree...

Everyone is different but have you tried doing a dynamic warm up? Also is the stretching RIGHT BEFORE the kicking and such? Static stretching is CRITICAL in a program of a martial artist, however right before you should do it, then procede by a dynamic warm up.

[Fullback7]

I dont quiet agree 100% with this, I do weight lifting and various martial arts including mma, and I do static stretching 1hour a day and i've never seen a decrees in my kicking power..

Just curious, did you know or have you heard about this before? The reason I am asking is because, when in HS some days we did dynamic stretching and some days we did static before sprinting. I never could tell much of a difference, because I didnt know any better, and I really did pay full attention to it. Since I have learned the difference, I have tested static and Dynamic, and was able to notice the difference very significantly. So if you dont believe this theory, then time your kicks MPH after doing dynamic and static. I can guarantee you will notice a huge difference.

[mccoy19]

Wow man, i've never heard this before. Really interesting, and to think all i do prior to sprinting is over-emphasized static stretching to reallllyyy loosen up my everywhere (especially my injured hamstrings/groin). After the static i do some dynamic though.

I would think if i only did some dynamic stretching prior, especially in the hurdles, i would be less flexible and therefore either be more likely to pull or not as limber/loose. Would that be accurate thinking? Or even with hurdles and sprints, and my bad hamstring/groin, should i still not static stretch prior? Cause if i can shed some time by only doing dynamic warm up, then that would be awesome. But I just feel like i'd have a much higher likelihood of re injuring my troubled muscle groups without stretching. Any input greatly appreciated man.

[Dom_88]

I've read this for quite a while now, didn't know it was so bad.

[sillz100]

I've read this for quite a while now, didn't know it was so bad.

Its not 20%. Its much lower.

~~~~~~~
If you do it before a vertical jump test it will lower your vertical by around 5%. After around 15 minutes your power output will return to normal
~~~~~~~

[usmcgixxer6]

could someone explain what A's and B's are

[qb0708]

ya static stretching doesnt do much to reduce stiffness, dynamic stretching however DOES. Now do not mistake dynamics for ballistic stretching.

what are ballistic exactly, im guessing there something alittle more intense than dynamics but the same movements...?

[sillz100]

what are ballistic exactly, im guessing there something alittle more intense than dynamics but the same movements...?

"Dynamic stretching consists of controlled leg and arm swings that take you (gently!) to the limits of your range of motion. Ballistic stretches involve trying to force a part of the body beyond its range of motion. In dynamic stretches, there are no bounces or "jerky" movements. An example of dynamic stretching would be slow, controlled leg swings, arm swings, or torso twists."
http://people.bath.ac.uk/masrjb/Stre...g_4.html#SEC29

[farzamk]

Wow man, i've never heard this before. Really interesting, and to think all i do prior to sprinting is over-emphasized static stretching to reallllyyy loosen up my everywhere (especially my injured hamstrings/groin). After the static i do some dynamic though.

I would think if i only did some dynamic stretching prior, especially in the hurdles, i would be less flexible and therefore either be more likely to pull or not as limber/loose. Would that be accurate thinking? Or even with hurdles and sprints, and my bad hamstring/groin, should i still not static stretch prior? Cause if i can shed some time by only doing dynamic warm up, then that would be awesome. But I just feel like i'd have a much higher likelihood of re injuring my troubled muscle groups without stretching. Any input greatly appreciated man.

Hurdles is different, you want to stretch statically a little bit before your dynamic warm up, after the jogging.

[farzamk]

Its not 20%. Its much lower.

~~~~~~~
If you do it before a vertical jump test it will lower your vertical by around 5%. After around 15 minutes your power output will return to normal
~~~~~~~

20% has been on average, and vertical jump isnt the only thing. Plus this is 20% for static stretching which is done on every muscle group and held for a 30+ second time whcih will relax the muscle. If done on hips, static stretching is actually useful, as it "shuts down" the hips.

You also take in 1RMs, sprints, standing LJ into consideration.

[farzamk]

what are ballistic exactly, im guessing there something alittle more intense than dynamics but the same movements...?

Ballistic stretching is stretching to beyond your general flexibility. So if doing leg swings, you'd swing farther to the point where you normally wouldnt. I never use ballistic stretching, it can injure or lead to injury.

[farzamk]

"Dynamic stretching consists of controlled leg and arm swings that take you (gently!) to the limits of your range of motion. Ballistic stretches involve trying to force a part of the body beyond its range of motion. In dynamic stretches, there are no bounces or "jerky" movements. An example of dynamic stretching would be slow, controlled leg swings, arm swings, or torso twists."
http://people.bath.ac.uk/masrjb/Stre...g_4.html#SEC29

well said.

Though the slow and controlled becomes faster and faster and covers greater range of motion still through a controlled movement.

[usmcgixxer6]

could someone explain what A's and B's are

...???

[sillz100]

20% has been on average, and vertical jump isnt the only thing. Plus this is 20% for static stretching which is done on every muscle group and held for a 30+ second time whcih will relax the muscle. If done on hips, static stretching is actually useful, as it "shuts down" the hips.

You also take in 1RMs, sprints, standing LJ into consideration.

5% is a long way from 20%. 20% is huge. I just listed VJ because I have seen studys on it and its a good indicator of leg power.