Stretching or No Stretching in Training?

[hai]

Coach,

I am French so I hope you will understand me.

In France there is a polemic concerning stretching during the training. Some coaches and scientists can show that stretching is not important during the warm up or the recovery, stretching can't serve to reach performances, so their advice is to use the Russian warm up method called "masterovoi". Do you know it? Can you explain it to me? What do you think about it?

You can read this article in www.athlenews.com

Thanks.

[mgoblue]

For years, I only had my athletes perform a circuit type of warm-up with running, skipping mixed in and completely avoided any static stretching within the warm-up for fear of lessening the elastic response of the muscles and thus speed and jumping power. This year we are incorporating static stretching within the warm-up and as long as we are careful to keep the static stretching a good deal of time away from the actual sprint/jump work within training and competitions-minimum of 15-20 minutes but sometimes more, we are fine. Closer to that and I think their speed is negatively affected. Flexibility has been tremendously improved for many of the athletes and most of the athletes do like the warm-up better. We use a warm-up similar to the old Mach warm-ups.

[hai]

Thank you for answering my question about stretching in the training.
I want to ask you now if you can give me some exercises for the warm up and recovery or a typical warm up you've done.
Can you give me information about "masterovoi"?

Thanks.

[mgoblue]

A combination of jogging, skipping, etc. mixed with stretching, both dynamic and static. Then we do some gpp circuit type exercises. Then we do our drills-in the traditional Mach way- a-skips, ham kicks, a-runs, etc., total time about 30 minutes or so. Never heard of the warm-up you have mentioned.

[George Payan]

Coach Veney
U.C.L.A. Sprint Coach
Westwood, CA, USA

The Russian warm up method was also made good by the East Germans. It is called a dynamic warm-up here in the United States. The purpose is to allow the body to warm the legs up using explosive and powerful movements similar to what the event (sprinting) would require.

Stretching before the workout has been tested and shown to enhance or improve performance when done for 15-25 minutes after practice. Stretching of the muscles before the activity can cause damage to the powerful muscles. When do you ever see small children stretch before they engage in very quick movement play? They do not injure themselves! I believe that a warm up protocol that uses powerful and sprint like activities is very good.

My warm up goes as follows:

1.
400-600 meters of walking/jogging without shoes to prepare the feet for running. The feet have been in soft shoes most of the day and are not ready to be powerful. If the weather is bad walk for 10 minutes indoors.

2.
800 meters of jogging with shoes on, changing directions, and with varied arm swinging movements.

3.
15 minutes of dynamic drills.

4.
Two 3x70 meter accelerations and then the workout.

5.
Warm down 1 lap without shoes, jog one lap without shoes, jog two laps with shoes and 15 minutes of stretching.

I hope this helps.

Coach Veney

[George Payan]

This dynamic warm up is by Brent McFarlane, Canadian Head Track & Field Coach for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games:

Start with 1000-1500m easy jog.
1.
4 x 50m easy jog (turn around every 50m)
2.
Jog backwards 50m and jog 50m
3.
Jog 50m changing direction
4.
Jog 2 x 50m slowly bending to touch ground (3 point start) and gradually accelerate 10 to 15 meters
5.
Jog 50m doing high knee lifts (A’s at a skip) as you feel alternating legs, Jog 50 meters
6.
Jog 50m doing leg extensions (B’s at a skip) as you feel alternating legs, Jog 50 meters
7.
Easy jog for 50m bending over to touch toes as you go
8.
Skipping 50m (no rope needed) with arms swinging
9.
Walk 50m swinging arms forward
10.
Walk 50m swinging arms backward
11.
Walk 50m fast swinging arms fast forward
12.
Jog 50m tripling (ankle drive drill)
13.
Jog 50m with ankle hops (extensions/driving) (both ankles, left, right, side to side)
14.
Jog 50m doing alternate knee lifts (A’s) to the front and then to the side (switch legs) as you feel
15.
Repeat 14 with emphasis on ankle drive
16.
Jog 50m doing cross steps (running sideways) with arms crossed in front of body and alternating direction of cross-step
17.
Walk several times 50m doing various flexibility movements such as: alternate toe touching (gently dynamic), hip circles (twists), ankle extensions (Achilles stretch), groin stretch (lunge position) – a total of 10 repetitions per exercise are necessary to get the desired effect. Note: doing flexibility work is always a good option when athletes seem to be tiring.
18.
Walk several times 50m doing event specific flexibility exercises using a partner, equipment or a support such as: hurdle lead leg drills on a wall, free leg swings forward and sideways (straight and bent leg) while leaning against a wall, various hurdling stretch positions while sitting (gently dynamic), leg swings forward to kick hands in front of body (there is an endless choice to suit needs)
19.
Sprint drills 40m x (high knee lifts trail leg action, leg extensions) (actually A, C and B Mach exercises) done over 20m distances with a walk back recovery. Start slowly and get more dynamic.
20.
Jog 2 x 50m each including 6 times easy starting positions and accelerations
21.
2 x 50m easy acceleration
22.
2 x 50m controlled and smooth acceleration (95+%)
23.
40m acceleration, hold speed for 20m and then relax
24.
Repeat 23 emphasizing frequency and “fast hands”

Coach McFarlane was a speaker at a clinic and athletes demonstrated this warm up. I have used this warm up at the university level and at the high school level. At the end of this warm up, the athletes thought this was the workout. The warm up takes 30 minutes. As the week progressed, I shortened the warm up and some days I modified the warm up. For example, what was done forward was also done backward.

Coach Payan
www.CoachesEducation.com

[Mgoblue]

For years without using any static stretching within the warm-up my athletes never experienced any injuries such as pulls, but I do believe that the static stretching can allow the athletes to achieve the greater ranges of motion necessary for full sprinting actions. Without this increased range of motion the athlete cannot put out greater force because he/she has less room to accelerate the limbs and the body.

The athletes who are very flexible naturally, do not benefit to the same degree of the athletes who might have chronic tightness, in my opinion, from the static session as part of the warmup. In the past we only statically stretched after the workout. Now, we only try to reach normal ranges of motion in the warmup and try to improve on the ROM after training, competitions. Virtually all the athletes have now improved their respective ROM's over time. Certainly the timing of the stretching can cause problems if the static stretches are too close to the speed work or the races due to the loss of the stretch reflex that has been exhibited in many studies with short sprints and vertical jumps. The real question becomes how much of a lag time should there be between the stretching and the speed? That is if you believe the static stretching has real value to performance in the warmup and not just after the training/racing. For years I did not believe it had value in warming up and now I do.

I am still seeking the optimal time gap between this component and the speed work/races. For now 15-20 minutes seems to be optimal(based upon my timing of the athletes-without their knowing) but I would like to investigate this area further. Any ideas? Again, I believe that the static stretching in the warm-up is not so much about injury prevention, since I never had an athlete pull with a non static protocol. I believe it is more about allowing a greater ROM with which to attain the full sprinting action and total body extension without losing proper posture, etc.