Static stretching before training? But no way!

Static stretching in strength training is a topic that we can discuss over and over again, but we may never actually come to any particular conclusion. And while a few years ago more or less every athlete advocated that you need to stretch in the morning, evening, before and after training, today there are many opinions to the contrary - that static stretching is kind of useless. But where is the truth? Under what conditions should you do static stretching and when would you rather not? That's exactly what today's article will be about.

Glossary of the most important terms

What are we really left with when the opinions of different scientific findings diverge? We should always base ourselves on our own experience, which should always be the most important indicator for us. Nevertheless, in order to be able to understand what the current scientific studies show and how to approach stretching in strength training (at least for now), it is necessary to clarify a few basic concepts:

Mobility

Mobility refers to a person's ability to perform exercises efficiently. What does it mean? In short, as our innate predispositions and our body's constitution allow us to do. If we have good mobility, we can easily target the exact parts we need with specific exercises and, on the contrary, minimize the involvement of unwanted muscle groups. Mobility is therefore the key to performing individual exercises correctly.

"Can you get to the bottom of the squat? Mobility determines how efficiently you can perform the exercises and whether you are able to move through the full range of motion."

Flexibility

Flexibility is best defined by the Czech term "flexibility" and is what we strive for with regular static stretching. Unfortunately (or rather unfortunately) the body has the ability to adapt to specific situations, and if you spend most of your day in a sedentary job, your flexibility will not be great. Can you, for example, touch your toes with your knees bent? That's where your flexibility comes in.

Stability

Stability is a kind of ability to come back to a balanced state after a small deviation. Relating to our fitness field, stability requires the proper engagement of not only the abdominal muscles, but also the stabilizers necessary to keep us from tipping to a certain side.

And why are we going so slightly off topic right at the beginning? Because the body works as an incredibly complex and synergistic tool and to think that static stretching will solve all our problems is nonsense. There needs to be an equal emphasis on flexibility, mobility and stability.

Static stretching before training?

Let's take an illustrative situation: you come to the gym for a leg workout, you lightly statically stretch your hamstrings, calves, quadriceps and lower back. You do a few twisting motions with the single-arm curls and it's time for squats. But by the second set, you start to feel excruciating pain in your hamstrings, so you start thinking about how badly you stretched. Now what? Start stretching between sets? Change the exercise? Or continue and somehow overcome the pain?

Static stretching won't solve your problem.

First of all, you need to realize that static stretching will not solve your problem in this case. Static stretching will give you more flexibility and will lengthen your muscles for some time. However, once they are longer, they will not be able to produce the same amount of force and your performance will decrease. Equally, the problem is that static stretching will reduce the activation of the motor units that are responsible for exerting force. This will translate into having to exert more effort to complete the exercise and the by-product will then be more pain in that muscle group again.

Another disadvantage of static stretching is that you stay relatively still, your heart rate is low and you don't get sweaty. However, it is desirable to warm up properly before training, not to "cold" touch your toes.

Stretch dynamically before training

As the above paragraphs make clear, the warm-up before training should be rather dynamic - and after all, this is confirmed by a number of scientific studies that examine both athletic and strength disciplines. Many findings even register the ability to develop significantly more strength after a dynamic stretch. The fundamental difference from static warm-up is that you do not persist in the extreme positions of the exercise, but return to the original position. The movements in dynamic stretching are therefore fast, but always as controlled as possible and performed repeatedly.

So how to stretch before training?

In order to understand pre-workout stretching properly, it is important to remember that its goal is always the same - to take us from a resting mode (be it driving, sitting at work or whatever) to an active mode where we demand a certain performance from the body. So we should try to get blood flowing to each muscle and have a dynamic warm up. This should have several phases:

The first phase - activity with increasing intensity

The first few minutes in the gym should definitely be devoted to an easy but effective warm-up - you can spend 10 minutes on the treadmill or exercise bike, or maybe five minutes jumping rope. This activity should be of increasing intensity - so start walking on the treadmill first and increase the speed gradually - but not too high, as the anaerobic training could cause the muscles to stiffen.

Second phase - dynamic stretching

After the initial run and a short warm-up comes some dynamic stretching, which should consist of, among other things, circular movements focusing primarily on the areas that will be used the most in the upcoming workout. In the case of leg training it is important to focus primarily on the ankles, knees, hip flexors and groin. On the other hand, the hamstrings or the lower back require the least attention because they are sufficiently involved in the vast majority of daily activities.

Third phase - final preparation for training

In the final preparation for the workout, I usually recommend doing the exact activity that will then be the main focus of the workout, just without weights. If we apply this again to leg training, you can go through each exercise in two or three supersets - after a few squats with your own weight, you can move on to lunges, Romanian squats and finally, for example, lunges with minimal weight. It's good to perform all exercises dynamically, but concentrate as much as possible on proper technique.

"At the end of a dynamic warm-up, it's definitely a good idea to perform each exercise with minimal weight."

And what about outside the workout?

The pre-workout situation is somewhat specific, so you're probably wondering how it is with static stretching outside of training - so maybe in the morning or evening. Although the opinions of different athletes vary, in my experience static stretching may not be downright detrimental.

However, it is important to remember what I stated in the introduction, that flexibility alone will not necessarily solve the problems that may arise during your workout. If you feel extremely uncomfortable in the bottom phase of the squat and you're leaning from side to side on the way up, all the flexibility you can muster is useless, because while you'll get to the bottom phase, it doesn't mean you'll perform the exercise correctly and prevent health problems in the long run.

The crucial difference is training experience

If you're a beginner trying to master a particular exercise, you need enough flexibility - just as you need to get used to the movement patterns, and just as you need a strong midsection to perform the exercises technically correctly. So in your case, it's definitely a good idea to sit down at least once a day for a few minutes to stretch your whole body, do one or two mid-body exercises and maybe squat for a few minutes to get used to what the lower phase of the squat looks like and prevent various health problems.

However, if you are an active athlete who is not dedicated to certain specific movement patterns, but moves all over the place, I dare say that static stretching several times a day is almost useless for you. Of course, you can do static stretching in the evening before bed, and for many athletes it's also a rather pleasant form of relaxation and preparation for sleep, but it's definitely not necessary. At least in the case of most athletes. When you have a specific problem (like an imbalance between postural and phasic muscles), stretching is a no-brainer.

"If you play sports regularly and do several different activities, you probably have a good level of flexibility."

So what to take away from today's article?

There are a few important things you should take away from today's article - the first being that having good flexibility is not enough to exercise successfully without injury, but you also need to be concerned with mobility and stability. Second is the fact that static stretching before any strength activity is useless - what's more, it will limit your strength performance. So, instead of a few minutes of static stretching, warm up with circular movements and do a few exercises without weights - you'll be much better prepared for the actual workout.

You can of course do static stretching outside of training (for example, before going to bed), but this is preferable especially for less advanced athletes who are just learning the technique of the exercises and trying to understand weight training as such.