3.2 - Dynamic Stretching
Description
This article is from the Stretching FAQ, by Brad Appleton Brad_Appleton@ivhs.mot.com with numerous contributions by others.
3.2 - Dynamic Stretching
"Dynamic stretching", according to Kurz, "involves moving parts of your
body and gradually increasing reach, speed of movement, or both." Do not
confuse dynamic stretching with ballistic stretching! Dynamic stretching
consists of controlled leg and arm swings that take you (gently!) to the
limits of your range of motion. Ballistic stretches involve trying to
force a part of the body *beyond* its range of motion. In dynamic
stretches, there are no bounces or "jerky" movements. An example of
dynamic stretching would be slow, controlled leg swings, arm swings, or
torso twists.
Dynamic stretching improves dynamic flexibility and is quite useful as part
of your warm-up for an active or aerobic workout (such as a dance or
martial-arts class). (See "4.1 - Warming Up").
According to Kurz, dynamic stretching exercises should be performed in sets
of 8-12 repetitions:
Perform your exercises (leg raises, arm swings) in sets of eight to
twelve repetitions. If after a few sets you feel tired - stop. Tired
muscles are less elastic, which causes a decrease in the amplitude of
your movements. Do only the number of repetitions that you can do
without decreasing your range of motion. More repetitions will only set
the nervous regulation of the muscles' length at the level of these
less than best repetitions and may cause you to lose some of your
flexibility. What you repeat more times or with a greater effort will
leave a deeper trace in your [kinesthetic] memory! After reaching the
maximal range of motion in a joint in any direction of movement, you
should not do many more repetitions of this movement in a given
workout. Even if you can maintain a maximal range of motion over many
repetitions, you will set an unnecessarily solid memory of the range of
these movements. You will then have to overcome these memories in order
to make further progress.
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