Stretching or No stretching, How to decide what is best for you.

I found this picture, to the right, when I was looking for good stretches that will be benefitial to me during pre work out. The highlighted area is exactly where I was feeling pain after and even during my run last 2 mile jog, as listed in my Time Records & Progress. I didn't do my normal warm up routine and just ran out of the house full of energy. Though this energy quickly disappated due to my sore muscles. 


I decided I needed to research about pre work out routines. I found many articles from highly qualified Doctors on their research about the benefits of stretching before a workout. Many said that it is unnecessary to do so before workouts. I have heard this before and didn't agree with it then either. They my have evidence showing/ proving there is no benefit but, maybe I am in that slim percent range where it does benefit my body to stretch. This might be because phsycologically I am preparing my body and mind for the run so, I feel better and am in more of a positive prepared mind set before the workout. Or maybe it truly helps my muscles preform better. 

Some also said that people are either born with flexibility or they have to work for it due to their inflexibility. I also found that long-hold stretches (a.k.a: Static stretches) activate a protective neuromuscular reflex that temporarily reduces maximal force production capacity. The only way to make long-hold stretches useful before a run is to combine them into a dynamic warm up routine. The reason following your static stretches with a dynamic work out is because like mentioned above the long- hold stretches temporarily reduce maximal force production capacity. In lame-ins terms: you can't jump as high after static stretching, and since running is a type of jumping, your running performance is said to be impacted negatively by static stretching, meaning you are unable to do your best. 

Now, all this evidence and research is great but again, I still feel my body benefits from my static stretches. Therefore, I have decided I must have been born with inflexiblity. I believe my yoga days also help me overcome this, leading to improvements in my running. I have also decided that I will begin adding a dynamic warm up after my static stretches. I have listed a few ideas below. I always deviate from pre made lists and do what is most natural for my body. I give the suggestions a try and then turn them into a routine mixing them with my normal stretches and workouts. I will also do my post ab workout after my static stretches so I can mix it with the dynamic work out before my run.

Hopefully this information is as helpful for all of us. I will be beginning week 7 and introducing a dynamic warm up in the mix. I am really hoping this will boost my progress. 
Good Luck with yours as well! Have fun and be aware of injury prevention.

Spread the running joy!
~Maddie J.    

Some static stretches that I do are:

More static stretches I do are:

Dynamic Warm Ups I will try are: