Softball training are you still using static stretching for warm-ups

Softball Training - Are You Still Using Static Stretching for Warm-Ups? You see it everywhere. Its been done for years thinking it was good for them. Its stillbeing thought by many to be what the thing to do despite all of evidence pointing to the contrary.Softball is an "old-school" sport. Its a very conservative sport. Things change slowly unlikeother sports like track and field. There are "old belief" that holds no matter what. What am Italking about? STRETCHING!!! Yes, stretching.Using Static Stretching to Warm-Up! There is a belief that by that doing staticstretching exercises (a stretch where you hold a position without moving for a given amount oftime) prior to doing sport or exercise helps prevent injuries. The rationale is that by increasingthe range of motion around a joint, there is less chance of injuries. NOT TRUE! We now knowthat it is not the case. Serious studies have clearly shown that performing static stretching doesn’tprevent injuries. Did you read that? Static stretching performed prior to physical activitiesDOESNT prevent injuries. Even worse, some studies have also shown that it could bedetrimental to the performance of speed-power athletes.Softball players are speed-power athletes because all of the actions in our sport have to be donequickly and explosively. Did you read that too? Stretching potentially decreases performance onthe field!! READ IT AGAIN. The reason is that in order to generate speed and power, ournervous system needs to be "turned on". The problem is that static stretching does exactly theopposite: it turns off the nervous system! Studies have shown that athletes performing staticstretching are losing power for up to an hour afterwards. Again - you lose power for up to anhour after stretching.DO YOU want to bat or pitch with less power???This is really bad news for any softball player! We need all of the power we can get to performon the field! Now, I am not saying you should not warm-up or that static stretching is bad.Warm-up is essential to prevent injuries and to prepare the body to perform while staticstretching is an excellent mean of increasing flexibility. My point is that we have to reconsiderhow we warm-up and when we use static stretching. Static stretching is not a good way to warm-up. Moreover, the idea that increased range of motion helps prevent injuries is still a valid one.However, we need to increase the range of motion without turning off the nervous system.The three main goals of a general warm-up are: (a) warm-up the whole body gradually, (b)increase the range of motion around the major joints, and (c) turn on the nervous system. Mostsports conditioning experts now agree that a good warm-up should mostly be dynamic in nature -NOT sitting around in a circle and stretching passively! That means that it should be comprisedof movements that allow us to reach all three goals.Typically, a good general warm-up will consist of some sort of activity that brings the bodytemperature up (i.e. jogging) followed by exercises that will challenge the nervous system andalso increase the range of motion around the major joints. These exercises are often described as"dynamic flexibility exercises", "mobility exercises" or "movement preparation exercises". Staticstretching is still a great way to improve flexibility and promote recovery. The purpose of a

warm-up is NOT to increase flexibility but to prevent injuries and prepare the body to performoptimally. As a result, the best time to use static stretching is right after a game or a trainingsession during a cool-down period. At that time, muscles are more compliant to flexibilitytraining (they are warmed) and the body needs recovery.So, dont make the big mistake of using static stretching as the core of your general warm-up - dodynamic warm-up instead. Be smart and learn how to properly do a warm-up that will trulyoptimize your performance while keeping you away from injuries! So please, STOP being "oldschool" using methods that DONT WORK and get into the 21st century with "cutting-edge"methods.

Softball training are you still using static stretching for warm-ups

by Marc Dagenais on May 23, 2012

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Softball training are you still using static stretching for warm-ups Document Transcript