Is stretching harmful? What to do for Warm Up?

plateaued

I have read lately that stretching (either before or after a run) may increase injury.

I only walk fast or jog slowly as a warmup and as a cool down.

What do you do and why?

TheBrolympus

I walk 10 minutes before my run and then walk around 5 minutes after to cool down. After I have cooled down, I stretch and roll.
I only stretch after but will sometimes lightly roll before a run if my legs are really tight. I roll like a mad man after my runs.

HappyRunner34

I will actually do pace runs before 10Ks and half marathons to fire up the quads and maybe some active stretching after (nothing static). As you likely have heard, never stretch cold.
After runs...I do stretch, particularly my glutes, IT bands, and groin. I will roll my IT bands through the week and I do hot yoga now to help with flexibility overall.

GiddyupTim

I am with Kenneth. I know I should do some dynamic warm-up before a run -- like high-knees, butt-kicks, leg-swings, etc. -- and then stretch afterwards. But I do not. I walk for about 5 minutes to warm up and then I go!
I have never been good about warming up.
I often do not stretch afterwards, which is when you should do some good static stretching. But, i do stretch a lot and I practice yoga about twice a week.
P.S. I do not think stretching is supposed to increase the likelihood of injury. I have never heard that. From what I have read, stretching does not necessarily DECREASE your likelihood of injury, and a static stretch definitely decreases your strength appreciably for somewhere between 20 minutes and 45 minutes afterward, which may impact your performance.

MeanderingMammal

I have read lately that stretching (either before or after a run) may increase injury.

Stretching while cold can lead to greater risk of injury, and some stretches can exacerbate existing weaknesses or injuries.

Personally I warm up by walking and if it's a long session some dynamic stretches once I'm on the move and have loosened up a bit. I then spend a bit of time afterwards. I have existing knee problems so have been advised not to use the traditional quad stretch as that can exacerbate ITB issues.

timeasterday

Dynamic moves. Look up the lunge matrix. Also hip swings. That's pretty much all I do before a run.

CarsonRuns

I don't do ****. Seriously. I walk out the door and start running. At first, my body won't let me go fast, so I don't. This is my warmup. As the run progresses, I may go faster (or I may not). When I'm finished, I walk in the house and eat all the food. That's my cool down. No stretching, nothing.

Cooriander

I don't do much stretching myself, and I agree that cold stretching is risky. I am with Carson, usually I warm up with slow running, then speed up to a run. Rolling works for me though, and the stick/and tiger tail works well for me, larger girth foam rollers are a bit cumbersome to use (for me).

GiddyupTim

Bad attitude, Carson.

DavidMartinez2

I don't do ****. Seriously. I walk out the door and start running. At first, my body won't let me go fast, so I don't. This is my warmup. As the run progresses, I may go faster (or I may not). When I'm finished, I walk in the house and eat all the food. That's my cool down. No stretching, nothing.

I walk to the end of the block, everything else is the same.

ATT949

I have read lately that stretching (either before or after a run) may increase injury.

I only walk fast or jog slowly as a warmup and as a cool down.

What do you do and why?

I haven't stretched in a couple of years — I stopped after reading the results of tests that concluded that static stretching may injure muscles and it reduces power output when athletes did static stretching before exercise.

"warm up" - if I'm doing a long run, I don't have a warm up or cool down. For faster runs (tempo, intervals, or steady state runs), I'll do a 1 mile warm up and a 1 mile cool down.

Pre-race (Half marathon) - to date, I've warmed up by staying warm (I buy Fruit of the Loom sweat pants and top and leave them at the starting line so they can be donated) and, as of Sunday, I'll be doing an actual warm up of a mile at a slow pace.

The reason that I'm going to try a warm up is not necessarily for power output (though it will help) but to fire up the neuromuscular system. Perhaps it's my age (I'm 57) but it takes me about a mile to get my turnover rate going.

Interestingly, these links are from an email that arrived this morning:

http://runnersconnect.net/running-training-articles/how-to-warm-up-for-a-marathon/?awt_l=DUo2w&awt_m=3idi_c80KB5ttIP

http://runnersconnect.net/running-training-articles/how-to-warm-up-for-a-race-or-workout/?awt_l=DUo2w&awt_m=3idi_c80KB5ttIP

CarsonRuns

Bad attitude, Carson.

Say wha?

plateaued

I'm with Carson. My first mile is my warm up. It's slow. Short walk as a cool down since I don't want to be panting and sweating too much in the house.

My first mile is also when I run through all my possible excuses not to run that day . . . am I tired, am I hung over, am I too fat, am I risking injury, maybe I should run later in the day, what's the point of all this running, etc.. After that I can enjoy the run, especially after the first 3 miles or so, when sometimes it feels like could run forever.

mjpTennis

I have come across this set of dynamic stretches, 5 different lunges that I do before each run now. It has been great.

http://runnersconnect.net/running-injury-prevention/dynamic-stretching-for-runners/

trail_rnr

Stretch if you want. Personal preference. If it makes you feel better, then stretch. If you want to just warm up as you move, then keep doing that.

There is no verifiable clinical evidence that stretching prevents injury. Lots of anecdotal evidence and opinions about it, though.

I do a lot of yoga (which I think is really just fancy stretching) because I like it, not because I believe it will keep me from getting injured or whatever.

GiddyupTim

Okay, now I just have to weigh in with something, though I realize it is getting away from the initial question a bit.
Yes, studies have not shown that stretching prevents injuries. I know that. But, I also think that those studies have not looked at the question properly.
Stretching immediately before a single run may not diminish the likelihood you will get injured on that run. But being flexible, I think, definitely does reduce injuries, and you get [more] flexible by stretching.
The studies all have looked at just the short term. That is, they have taken people who are in similar condition at the start and told half the group to stretch before they played intermural basketball, and the other half to NOT stretch. And, they had them play three-four times a week and followed them for eight weeks. Then, they looked at the number of injuries in the groups over the eight weeks.
Not surprisingly, no difference.
But, I will guarantee you, the guy with tight hamstrings is more likely to pull a hamstring playing than the guy who is looser. Everyone who has been involved in athletics has seen that. Everyone knows that.
The problem is that one is not going to appreciably loosen their hamstrings in eight weeks! Hence, no difference.
It takes longer than that.
But, it is beyond dispute, I think, that the person who stretches regularly is going to become more flexible and limber, and the person who is flexible and limber is going to get fewer little injuries, and probably fewer big injuries.
Written as someone who rarely stretches before running or any other type of physical exertion.

__Di__

I have read lately that stretching (either before or after a run) may increase injury.

I only walk fast or jog slowly as a warmup and as a cool down.

What do you do and why?

I just start running, that warms me up.

The only time (regarding running) that I would warm up, would be if I were doing sprinting work and that warm up would be jogging for a while and then proceeding to the sprinting training.

I do not stretch, unless I suddenly were to get cramp, then I would gently stretch the affected area.

__Di__

Bad attitude, Carson.

??

wombat94

I'm with Carson... I never warm up or stretch (before or after)... and I only occasionally cool down.

I heavy and slow and I don't think my legs really move fast enough to worry about warming up the muscle.

I did stretch post run for the first two months or so when I was doing C25K and all the activity was completely new to me, but the need to do that gradually faded and it really makes no difference to me whether I do or not now.

jennalink807

I've only been running for a couple years, but I never stretch. I start slow and work my way up to goal pace.

My only reason for not stretching is that I don't like stretching, and if I force myself to stretch before or after every run I'm likely to run less.

After 2 years of running including training for and completing a marathon, I've never once been injured. I never use the roller thingys either.

I might change my tune if I ever get injured, but for now I'm doing what works for me. Do what works for you

ibleedunionblue

I never stretch. I may walk 1/4 mile to my usual start spot (a bike path) or jog slowly to it. I follow the "Let the run come to you" mantra - in other words, I warm up by jogging slower, and somewhere in that first mile, I find my pace.

scott091501

Dynamic stretching or nothing. True stretching is really only necessary when you feel you have an issue with muscle fiber length. True stretching will pull the muscle fiber to the point of tearing and heal "longer". To do this you have to hold the stretch 2-5 minutes.

A dynamic workout will get your neural pathways primed to run and you should, in theory, be able to run better off the bat.

Linli_Anne

99% of the time I just hit the ground running. My pace is usually slow at the start and then picks up after the first mile to my normal pace.

After I do a good 10 or so minute stretching session for my quads, hamstrings, calves, hips etc. and I'll roll.

The other 1% of the time I will do some dynamic movement, mostly though those are the very early run days (4AM) and I need to convince my mind that I'm awake - so, I do hip circles, knee circles, ankle circles and a handful of jumping jacks. Nothing more than 2 or so minutes.

UrbanRunner81

I walk before running and never stretch before running. Stretching when your muscles aren't warmed up can lead to injury. I always walk (cool down) after running and stretch afterward.
I got lazy this summer and didn't stretch nearly enough and I did not feel good. I hold stretches at most 30 seconds. It makes my body feel good. I know other runners who don't need to stretch and they never get injured. I think you got to do what your body needs.