Stretching Prior to Your Workouts...
Ballistic stretchinguses the momentum of a moving body or a limb in an attempt to force it beyond its normal range of motion. This is "warming up", by bouncing into (or out of) an extended position, using the extended muscles as a spring which pulls you out of the extended position. (e.g. bouncing down repeatedly to touch your toes.) This type is not considered useful and can lead to injury. It does not allow your muscles to adjust to, and relax in, the stretched position. It may instead cause them to tighten up by repeatedly activating the reflex to extend yourself. The Dynamic Type...involves moving parts of your body and gradually increasing reach, speed of movement, or both. Do not confuse dynamic with ballistic! Dynamic consists of controlled leg and arm swings that take you (gently!) to the limits of your range of motion. Ballistic involve trying to force a part of the body beyond its range of motion. In dynamic, there are no bounces or "jerky" movements. An example of dynamic would be:
Dynamic improves dynamic flexibility and is quite useful as part of your warm-up for an active or aerobic workout (such as a dance or martial-arts class). Dynamic stretching exercises should be performed in sets of 8-12 repetitions. Be sure to stop when and if you feel tired. Tired muscles have less elasticity which decreases the range of motion used in your movements. Continuing to exercise when you are tired serves only to reset the nervous control of your muscle length at the reduced range of motion used in the exercise (and will cause a loss of flexibility). Once you attain a maximal range of motion for a joint in any direction you should stop doing that movement during that workout. Tired and overworked muscles won't attain a full range of motion and the muscle's kinesthetic memory will remember the repeated shorted range of motion, which you will then have to overcome before you can make further progress. Active stretchingis also referred to as static-active. Active is one where you assume a position and then hold it there with no assistance other than using the strength of your agonist muscles. For example, bringing your leg up high and then holding it there without anything (other than your leg muscles themselves) to keep the leg in that extended position. The tension of the agonists in an "active" helps to relax the muscles (the antagonists) by reciprocal inhibition. "Active" increases flexibility and strengthens the agonistic muscles. These are usually quite difficult to hold and maintain for more than 10 seconds and rarely need to be held any longer than 15 seconds. Many of the movements found in various forms of yoga are the active type. Passive stretchingis also referred to as relaxed type, and as static-passive. A passive is one where you assume a position and hold it with some other part of your body, or with the assistance of a partner or some other apparatus. For example, bringing your leg up high and then holding it there with your hand. The splits is an example of a "passive mode" (in this case the floor is the "apparatus" that you use to maintain your extended position). A slow, relaxed style is useful in relieving spasms in muscles that are healing after an injury. Obviously, you should check with your doctor first to see if it is okay to attempt to extend the injured muscles. A relaxed style is also very good for "cooling down" after a workout and helps reduce post-workout muscle fatigue, and soreness.
|
