I was always taught to hold a stretch for between 30 sec and 1 min. I have recently herd that it is beter to hold a stretch for 20-30 sec, move out of the stretch then stretch again for another 20-30 secs. Kind of like doing two sets of the same stretch. Is this more effective than holding it for a min? Any help is appreciated. Thanks.
I don’t static stretch often, I don’t static stretch with my team for warm-ups before a game, or on ice during a game. I keep myself as mobile as I can all the time and it’s been working great. Your time is better spent MOVING than stretching holding still.
The main time I static stretch is my hip flexors before vertical jumps, sprints, or a heavy set of squats or deadlifts.
Do you have something tight that you need to stretch?
My hip flexors, hamstrings and glutes are fairly tight so Iam trying to stretch those out.
It depends on if your stretching before or after your workout. Before: try to avoid static stretching, especially if its deep
After: going fairly deep and static is ok. I am under the impression that as long as you dont go too deep then going up to a minute is fine.
Once you cannot go deeper comfortably while taking deep breathes then its a good time to stop the stretch
Learn activated isolated stretching. It can be done with rope wrapped around foot for leg stretches(in this case the hamstring). Its a antagonist contract, relax and pull marginally further for 2 sec and repeat 10 times.
Example, lie on your back and raise your leg straight up firing your quad and hip flexor. When you get to the end of your rom, continue firing the quad and hip flexor and exhale and gently pull the leg just a bit further for 2 secs.
Once your done, you put your leg back down(thats one rep) and do it again. Do a total of 10 reps per muscle.
This can be done before, during, and after the workout as this type of stretching will not make you weaker. In fact, it will probably aid in flexibility more than static stretching alone.
Best thing is to do a few forms of stretching(dynamic, static, static active, pnf, ais, isometric). This will insure that your flexibility will be increased with strength rather than just lengthening and losing stability.
Be careful with stretching with a partner or pulling on a rope ext. If you do it too hard too quick you can easily pull something, or get a minor tear. I had someone do the push on back, come back go deeper thing before and I had a minor tear in my groin. Took nearly a month to heal to 100%, and I was not even pushing the stretch that hard.
If you do it correctly and cautiously it can be great, but just normal stretching is far safer and works also.
active stretching/dynamic warmups b4, static stretching after is how I go with my athletes and myself. Warm up to stretch not stretch to warm up. A cold rubber band is brittle, but a warm one is loose and pliable. PNF Stretching is great, but only if you know what your doing, otherwise it can be dangerous and you could pull/tear something. Stick to static stretching afterwards, and search some of Eric Cressey’s mobilizations to help you out with those tight muscles. Foam roll/lacrosse ball too will help out big time!!!