Friday, May 1, 2009

Clearing Up the Warm Up Confusion

There are many benefits of a warm up before physical activity. A few include faster contraction and relaxation of the agonist and antagonist, faster reaction time, improved strength and power, improved oxygen delivery and, most importantly, decreased injuries. A past and continuing trend to warm up is static stretching. Static stretching occurs when you hold a position that stretches a muscle for a given time (usually 15-90 seconds). Static stretching can be beneficial depending when it is used.

Static stretching develops something called a “specific joint relationship.” If the bones get drawn closer together than desirable, the impingement of connective tissue at the joint can cause numerous problems, especially nerve pinching. This can initiate a range of neural activity from muscle spasms to feelings that the muscle has been torn. By stretching and keeping the joints healthy, you can continue to train and perform without injury.

Through personal training, I see many things used incorrectly. Static stretching as a warm up is one of those things used incorrectly. In most cases, static stretching will make you weaker and decrease your performance if used before physical activity. This has been well documented in literature and numerous studies. Static stretching decreases motor neuron excitability, increases tendon slack, decreases stiffness, decrease formation of muscular adhesions, and alters actin-myosin position. At the ideal muscle length, the actin and myosin have the best capability to make contact and cause a muscular contraction. However, a fully elongated position doesn't allow the actin and myosin fibers to make enough contact to have a strong muscle contraction.

Static stretching should be used post workout and can help develop this “specific joint relationship.” Other benefits of using static stretching post workout are to improve imbalances between sides of the body, decrease injury, and improve length-tension relationship in muscles. These factors will lead to improved movement patterns and posture helping relieve low back and knee pain.

So what should be used as a warm up? Dynamic stretching is an ideal choice. Dynamic stretching occurs when you actively move a joint through its range of motion. An example would be high knees or carioca. The benefits of using dynamic movements as a warm up include mimicing movements that will be used, increasing body temperature, improving strength, and improving neuromuscular function while moving through an active range of motion.

Another great choice as a warm up is self-myofascial release using a foam roller. Self-myofascial intentions are similar to that of a massage by working on the tissue. Static stretching and dynamic work address the length of the tissues, and tissue work addresses the quality. Imagine a rubber band with a knot in it. It's not going to stretch the same as it would if there wasn't a knot, right? Now, get the knot out and watch how it lengthens easily. Your muscle-tendon units aren't much different. If there are balls of adhesions and scar tissue, they will never lengthen the way they should. Self-myofascial release through a process called autogenic inhibition causes relaxation, improves tone of the muscle, and breaks up these adhesions and scar tissue.

Self-myofascial release is a technique that has became popular in the training world due to its ability to improve tissue quality in a way traditional stretching cannot. Follow these simple but effective tips and reap the benefits of increased performance and decreased pain.

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