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Lead Stories: Sunday, September 7, 2008

Active and Dynamic Stretching: An injury prevention tandem

Posted January 16th, 2007 at 4:24 PM by Richard Quinn

Section: Running & Training, Injury & Rehab, Health & Fitness, Injury & Rehab, Exercise

Stretching before and after running (and any physical activity) is an important aspect of preventing injuries. Stretching can also help with muscle recovery, optimizing muscle gains and increasing flexibility. There are two general types of stretching that can lead to these benefits: active and dynamic.

Active stretching (as seen above), also known as static stretching, entails stretching a muscle to an elongated position and holding that stretch for a certain amount of time. This is the most common type of stretching that most of us have been taught from a young age. Although there is some debate about the effective of active stretching, Sports Fitness Advisor states:

“This debate relates to an acute bout of static stretching prior to exercise. It is still considered important and beneficial to athletes away from competition to to bring about a long-term increase in range of motion.”

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