Is Stretching a Waste of Time?

Sunday, August 13, 2017 · Mike Davis

Good morning!

Show of hands: Who stretches both before and after every run?

If you raised your hand to indicate you do, you are in the minority. Stretching is not something that runners treat as a must, but instead, something that is a luxury. Depending on how much time we have and how motivated, usually determines whether we will stretch before and after a run. Also, whether we are stretching correctly, when we do stretch is in question as well. Few runners are like Kathleen Davis, who knows what her body needs and stretches accordingly, giving herself the best opportunity to run through a painful hip. While many of us do not have to overcome a labral tear, we certainly would benefit by Ms. Davis’s anatomy specific stretching, to help prepare us for the best possible run and properly stretch our muscles and smooth out our fascia after a run.

I have spoken numerous times to runners about why stretching is so important and there are not many times that I felt the message would was truly impactful enough to keep my audience stretching correctly and consistently. Our ability to run with greater ease can be enhanced by actively warming up those big muscles that running requires, such as our quads, hamstrings, glutes and our calf muscles. Skipping pre-run stretching for an easy run on a fairly flat route might be okay, but hitting a fairly steep grade or accelerating quickly in a run, can both be dangerous for muscles that have not been actively warmed up. Also, as with Kathy, if a runner has a particular muscle or joint issue, they must get it warmed up and then do some static specific stretching to prepare for the stress of the run.

Post-run stretching is important not only for stretching the muscles we just beat up, as well as the damage we did to our fascia (fiber that covers the muscles), but also preparing the runner for their next run. Running beats up runners pretty good and skipping out on stretching can ultimately leave us more vulnerable to injury as well affect running efficiency. Taking 8 to 10 minutes to help your muscles recover properly, will insure that muscle length is sufficient for the next time you lace up your shoes. Muscles that are stressed tend to shorten and void of stretching, that can eventually affect range of motion and ultimately running form.

Monday evening at 6pm at Henry Law Park, I will discuss stretching with our NFLR training group. This is also one of our “invite a friend” nights, so come on down, get some stretching information and then run with us. If you cannot make it, go to https://nofinishlinerunning.com/resources.html for more in-depth information on stretching, as well as some videos of my favorite stretches.

Hope you have a great Sunday!

God Bless!

Mike