Static Stretching or Dynamic Movement?

You know that you should warm-up before you stretch, but how do you make sense of all of the conflicting information out there about static and dynamic stretching?

For decades, sports medicine practitioners and researchers have debated the effects of static and dynamic stretching. Unfortunately, it seems that every time new stretching-related research is published, its findings contradict the study that was published before it. The most important thing to remember when perusing the findings of all of these studies is that many of them are examining different outcomes: one study will compare static and dynamic stretching for improvement in flexibility while another study compares the two looking for any changes (improvement or decline) in athletic performance immediately after the stretch. Since studies are examining very specific effects from static and dynamic stretching, it is not always a good idea to compare these results to each other. However, the news media often does just that when they are reporting the most recent study’s findings, which leads to confusion.

Many people are looking for a clear cut, black-and-white label of “good” or “bad” for these stretching techniques, but it’s not as simple as that. The only way to determine which type of stretching should be used in a given situation is to understand why stretching is being used. A stretching program designed to improve long-term flexibility should use different stretching exercises and styles than a program designed to prepare the body for explosive power-based activities (sprinting, running).

Static Stretching

Static stretching is what most people think of when they hear the word “stretching.” It involves positioning the body to lengthen a given muscle to the point of discomfort and then holding this position for a certain amount of time before returning the muscle to a “normal” resting position and length.

Static stretching, when held for a long enough time and in the correct position, improves overall flexibility through a muscle tissue property called plastic stretching (also called plastic deformation). When a muscle is stretched to the point of plastic deformation, it does not go all the way back to its starting position when the stretch is released because the muscle tissue has been “permanently” lengthened. Plastic deformation only results from low-force, long-duration stretching. This is why static stretching that is designed to improve flexibility should be held for a relatively long period of time and should not include bouncing motions.

Dynamic Movement

When talking about dynamic movement, most athletic medicine professionals nowadays are not referring to what people call “ballistic stretching” (a bouncing movement designed to quickly and repeatedly stretch a muscle). Ballistic stretching was briefly popular in the athletic world a few decades ago, but quickly fell out of favor due to fears of the movements causing muscle injury. The theoretical concepts behind ballistic stretching are similar to what athletic medicine professionals mean when they discuss dynamic movement, but when people think of ballistic stretching, they usually think of an out-of-control stretching technique that puts the muscle at risk of injury from overstretching.

Dynamic movement is also referred to as dynamic warm-up and is often what most people think of when they think of warming up. However, dynamic movement should only be part of a proper warm-up, not the whole thing. Unlike static stretching, dynamic movement briefly and repeatedly places the muscle on a slight stretch while moving through a full functional range of motion. By using relatively high-force, short-duration stretching motions (like when football players walk across the field kicking their legs up in front of them), the muscle’s elastic stretch tissue property is demonstrated. Enhancing the elastic stretch of a muscle improves its ability to lengthen quickly and safely for the time that the muscle is “warm” (which is why a warm-up needs to lead directly into physical activity). However, utilizing the elastic stretching capabilities of muscle tissues doesn’t improve the overall flexibility of that muscle nearly as well as utilizing the muscle’s plastic stretching capabilities does (like in static stretching).

The way to safely perform dynamic movement activities is to move an already warmed-up muscle through a full (or nearly-full) range of motion at speeds that are representative of the speeds of movement that will be experienced in the upcoming athletic activity. In order for dynamic warm-up exercises to actually prepare the body for the upcoming activity, the movements in the warm-up must mimic the movements that will be performed in the upcoming activity (warming up in patterns of movement that you’re not going to use is not going to help you).

The Consensus?

The experts are still struggling to find a true consensus on the recommendations about static stretching and dynamic movement, but here are the most frequently agreed-upon guidelines and recommendations:

• Dynamic movement exercises need to be performed after warming up. It is thought that moving muscles through too large a range of motion too quickly when the muscle is not prepared for it can cause muscle strains.
• Static stretching may decrease fast-twitch muscle fiber response times, which causes a decrease in performance during explosive activities like sprinting and power lifting (but the studies examining this had people perform static stretching and then immediately start lifting weights or sprinting, which may not reflect real-world situations).
• Dynamic movement doesn’t necessarily improve flexibility over the long-term as well as properly-performed static stretching can, but it can help prepare the body for the athletic activity about to be performed.

Generally speaking, the belief is that static stretching is the safer technique of the two, especially for sedentary people or those who are incapable of doing dynamic movements safely (namely, little kids). However, since physical activities require rapid movement of the body’s muscles and joints through full ranges of motion, dynamic warm-up activities are critical to adequately prepare the body. Therefore, most current recommendations are to start the stretching portion of a warm-up with static stretching and then progress into more functional dynamic movements that reflect the activity about to be performed.

Recommendations for Performers

With few exceptions, most performers do not need to worry about causing a decrease in their power-production abilities by doing static stretching as a part of their warm-up, because they’re either not doing explosive activities or their classes are designed to begin with slow, controlled movements and build up to power-based activities (like jumping). This class structure negates any decrease in power that may result from static stretching immediately before an activity.

A performer’s warm-up should start with jogging, proceed to static stretching for a few key muscle groups for injury treatment and/or to improve long-term flexibility, and progress to activity-specific dynamic movement. This complete warm-up should lead directly into class/rehearsal. Performers who are looking to maintain or improve their flexibility should perform static stretching immediately after activity, too.