I was just wondering because i stretch whenever im resting or recovering between sets. So if its bad then umm… im gonna stop doing it lol
I do about 15 minutes of it in my regular warmup and none of it during the actual speed work. I just do joint rotations in between runs.
I tend to get calve cramps during my speed work, and stretching between sets seems to postpone the onset of the cramping. Any comment?
Charlie has mentioned some +ve’s and -ve’s about stretching, if you do a search you should find some info. I do know, however, that excessive stretching, thereby increasing your ROM beyond what it should ideally be for your sport can actually cause injury, and thereby hindering performance. So I would stretch minor before workout and mostly concentrate during post workout. Although, if you have an aggravating condition, I would use caution & common sense.
I know quite well this problem, so from my onw experience but i didn’t noticed strething during the actual speed workout did things better (or worse). Also, certain passive stretches prevent blood flow, so i suggest you alternate light actives stretches and massages between sprints sets and of course more important during the warm-up (btw most of warm-up should be done on the grass in this case). Also, do flying starts rather than standing or worse crouch starts. Problems are usually cleared with calcium intakes, and you’ll be able to go back to crouch starts 2-3 weeks later without any cramps. If you still need to work acceleration, try alternative ways like vertical or double foot or acyclic horizontal jumps (short distances), stairs, etc… Breath deep and relax while doing workouts, be patient…
Speed work for me usually involves 6x200m in 28seconds w/30 seconds rest… well no not really… my speedwork is usually 4x150’s at 21-22 second pace with 2-4 minutes rest, but ya get my point. I’ve had an inkling that my cramps could be caused by my biomechanics. I remember there was a post “facial stretching” or something… about deep tissue massage, and the guy said after he got his hips and upper thigh loosened up he didn’t get any problems with calve cramping.
I’ve done calcium supplimentation, but I want to say only for about 2 1/2 weeks straight, and it really didn’t have much affect.
What is your use of spikes? have you tried some relaxation methods? what about sleeping? there are so much possible causes here… Difficult to separate them all to see where is the problem. What do you mean with your running technique?
I think overstretching is possible. At least that’s what I concluded when I hard adductor problems an year ago, first I thought I had to stretch like crazy and I noticed the pain wasn’t going away even resting. When I reduced stretches to a minimum the pain started to finally go away, so I definitely think stretching too much was somehow hindering my recovery. Maybe I had microtears or something that weren’t healing because I kept tearing them with so much stretching.
Well, I don’t really use spikes when I do my quicker, “on my toes” workouts. At best I’m using XC flats. (which don’t have spikes because I live in the Fkced up state of California) I’ve pretty much given up ton the subject and accetpted it as a given. Until I get to college, where I will hopefully have a physical trainer who can follow me more in depth to discover the reasons for my cramping.
Maybe you can reduce cramps with fizz and non-suger water. It helps for long sprints workouts, better than simple water. But it won’t tell the source!
I used to get bad cramping during every sprint training session, and I couldn’t find a solution either; All I did was try to stretch out the cramping muscle - just like you’ve done, and the stretching only seemed to prolong the time until the muscle would inevitably cramp. I’d get these cramps in either my calves or my quads.
Anyway, one day the cramp in my quad was so bad that it cramped for 25 minutes! It just locked up and I couldn’t un-cramp it…I was in total pain for 25 minutes. So after this, I had to find a way to rid of this cramping, and guess what? I have! All I do now is force myself to drink water throughout the day (about 1 cup every couple of hours), and then I bring a watered-down gatorade drink (about half gatorade and half water) with me to my training session, and drink it, instead of water. Since I’ve been doing this, I haven’t even experienced 1 cramp, and it’s been about 1 month now! I hope this works for you.
I would agree with this as, a member of my old training group used to cramp up ALL the time and once he was told to drink more it disappeared, up to 1 year (when I changed coach), and is still on-going as far as I know. So I think, USUALLY, more fluid intake before and during training is the answer. However, I’m sure there are many other remedies on top of this! 
Wow, I wonder if I should include “Water Intake” In my runnin’ journal… I’ve noticed some correlation between the amount of water I drink and the severity of my cramping. I’ll try and fallow it in the future.
Static stretching puts your muscles in a relaxed state so it is best to avoid static stretching before(or during) sprints and weightlifting. I’d do a dynamic warm-up and then stretch afterwards.
Stretching is a excellent tool, many have alluded to the idea that stretching is not necessary but I have to say that I have found stretching to be an extremly important aspect to the warm up and cool down. Now this is definatly different for individuals as some individuals respond better with tighter muscles.
I have increased flexibility through PNF and deep stretching after pratice for between 20 - 40 mins. This flexibility in my opinion is necessary to avoid injury.
sorry wut are XC flats
Cross Country flats are lightweight, comfortable, durable shoes with more cushion than track spikes, but a good amount less cushioning than per say road racing flats. Every state but california allows spikes to be used on XC flats, so my state :mad: is the only state that has XC “flats”
They nice real nice And pretty danm cheap too.