Warm-up: To Stretch or Not to Stretch?

[RB34]

Did you perform the same warmup everyday? Your warmup look very similar to Dan’s with all the different Drills etc.

@twhite03

In my athletic career I have been exposed to many different methods of warming up, from exclusively static stretching to no stretching at all and just starting practice at a lower intensity (after all, a deer doesn’t stretch in the woods, or some similar logic).

I know that the overwhelming trend currently is the complete exclusion of any static stretching because of the research showing a negative effect on power.

Recently I’ve been doing the following warmup:

Jog/Skip- 400-600 yards
Static stretch- various stretches held for anywhere between 8-15 seconds
Drills 2x20yds- A-skip, B-skip, backward skip, backward run, carioca, lateral walk, crossover walk, lunge walk, power skip for height, power skip for distance
Dynamic Stretch x10 ea- leg swings front and lateral, scissors, iron cross, scorpions, mule kicks, leg whips
Hurdle mobility
Buildups- 2-3

For my recent workout with the Cowboys, the warmup was similar starting with hurdle mobility, skipping and hopping, a section of static stretching for the hips, quads and hamstrings and finally some walking dynamic stretches and drills.

In both instances I have found that the static stretching seemed to help and I felt little if any background muscle noise in my subsequent sprints.

On the other hand, I am not arrogant enough to presume that I have all the answers or that my program is flawless.

I’d be interested to hear some thoughts and experiences regarding the use of static stretching in the warmup prior to a power/speed workout.

[twhite03]

@RB34

Did you perform the same warmup everyday? Your warmup look very similar to Dan’s with all the different Drills etc.

Ya that was the warmup that we performed for the three days of work that I did down there. Although the pace and intensity of the warmup was different every time according to my needs.