Warming up and injury prevention.
Hi guys, this question is mainly for Becky (but others can answer if they like) -
Just wondering what your thoughts are on a dynamic warmup (ie short jog followed by ballistic stretching in the same mode as what the exercise you are about to do is) versus the more ‘traditional’ style warmup you mentioned earlier with again a jog/similar but followed by a more static stretching regime?
The expert opinion on which is the better option seems to change back and forth every couple of years, but what is being taught at the moment (yes, i am only a know all student in my final year of human movement (sports science) getting prepared to be unleashed on the world and be a pioneer you know with all the hopes and dreams etc…) is that the dynamic warmup is the (supposed) best method for increasing/keeping peformance in areas such as jump height and running etc, with static stretching (according to some research) actually reducing performance for some reason - perhaps due to golgi-tendon organs and muscle spindles being desensitised and as such reducing the effect of the stretch-shorten cycle (one of the basis’ of plyometrics) and has a similar effect to static stretching in injury prevention (ie no more injuries with ballistic vs static stretching)...
I can see the obvious need for flexibility in snowboarding in an injury prevention sense, however do you think stretching methods with a more plastic (long term) effect such as PNF stretching and (as mentioned above) yoga etc would be more appropriate than the elastic (short term) benefit that static stretching before going out and boarding all day brings?
Sorry for the length, got a bit excited…not trying to debunk or argue anything you are saying becky, but more just putting ideas that are being placed into the young heads of today, and wondering your opinions/thoughts on any of them are, from your experience?
Thanks guys, hope all are well,
bangabain
I hear what you are saying. Studies have supported the effectiveness of both dynamic and static stretching. I’ll try not to get too scientific here, and give a rough outline of the current debate.
Dynamic stretching ‘functional stretching’consists of gentle and controlled movements through range of motion (eg slow leg swings) It involves gradually increasing the intensity and speed of the movement. The aim is to warm up and achieve ‘sports specific’ full range of motion before exericise. Ballistic stretches on the other hand, force the body beyond its range of motion. Ballistic stretches are potentially harmful (eg bouncing down as you reach for your toes) Don’t get the two confused!
Static stretching involves the lengthening of a muscle to the end of its range and holding the stretch. The argument against static stretching (before exercise) revolves around the idea that static stretching causes the target muscle to ‘relax’, and temporarily become ‘weak’. This leads to the idea that an imbalance between the opposite muscle is created (between the ‘stretching/relaxing’ muscle and the opposing ‘stronger’ muscle) and therefore you are more susceptible to injury. It’s important to remember that some of the studies on the topic that conclude static stretching reduces muscle power, the effects are actually minimal. So, the debate remains.
In my experience, a combination of the two types of stretches are important. Dynamic stretches (plus or minus static stretches) are good before you workout and static stretches after you workout.
Dynamic stretching prepares you for exercise without any loss of muscular power. Static stretching is as important in training as well (especially in a warm down)- it’s great to improve flexibility and possibly reduce delayed onset muscle soreness.
yes sorry about the misnaming of ballistic stretching…bad oversight on my part…
good though to hear most of what i thought was about right according to whats about at the moment…
so are you a recent graduate then becky?
Yeah..I’m a competitive soccer player and in my team, we do a warm up, then ballistic stretching (high knees, buttom kicks, leg swings etc etc) and then static stretches (and drills) before we take the field. But, I understand why some may not. What I mentioned above is still the current thought I believe.
I’m currently in my third year out of physiotherapy school. So, this is my third year practising. How are you enjoying human movement?
The mention of all your exercises reminds me when I was really into running a few years ago.
I was running with a community running group, which was mostly made up of the local high school cross country coach and his team, but it was open to the community and it was off the school season…
We did a lot of the exercises Becky mentions above, and wow how my running got stronger and faster with in weeks!
Interesting how not doing more running, but doing running exercises helped so much.
I look forward to more of your contributions to these forums Becky!
Hey becky, love it to be honest…there are the boring subjects that come with it, but the interesting subjects like Biomechanics, Physiology, Anatomy, Exercise Prescription and the like really make up for it…
And to be honest even though no-one liked the lecturer, Physical Rehabilitation (which I have just completed) has been the course that in a wierd way has made me feel the most like I have learnt something over the 2 1/2 years so far, which makes me happy cos it actually feels like I have been working towards something, and actually being able to apply the knowledge that must have sunk in there somewhere along the line…
As of tomorrow night I have 1 semester left which is both scary and exciting, so hopefully I can finish with a bang and see where it takes me…
So Becky where did you study yourself?
(Oh ps, snowslider I know exactly what you are saying, mainly from self-experimenting with the ideas we get taught in our courses, and as you have obviously seen a lot of the time it’s just simple things like a different training method or just working completely different muscles that end up making a bigger difference overall, as opposed to copious amounts of training doing the same thing over and over again…)
The mention of all your exercises reminds me when I was really into running a few years ago.
I was running with a community running group, which was mostly made up of the local high school cross country coach and his team, but it was open to the community and it was off the school season…
We did a lot of the exercises Becky mentions above, and wow how my running got stronger and faster with in weeks!
Interesting how not doing more running, but doing running exercises helped so much.
I look forward to more of your contributions to these forums Becky!
Happy to contribute 
Hey becky, love it to be honest…there are the boring subjects that come with it, but the interesting subjects like Biomechanics, Physiology, Anatomy, Exercise Prescription and the like really make up for it…
And to be honest even though no-one liked the lecturer, Physical Rehabilitation (which I have just completed) has been the course that in a wierd way has made me feel the most like I have learnt something over the 2 1/2 years so far, which makes me happy cos it actually feels like I have been working towards something, and actually being able to apply the knowledge that must have sunk in there somewhere along the line…
As of tomorrow night I have 1 semester left which is both scary and exciting, so hopefully I can finish with a bang and see where it takes me…
So Becky where did you study yourself?
(Oh ps, snowslider I know exactly what you are saying, mainly from self-experimenting with the ideas we get taught in our courses, and as you have obviously seen a lot of the time it’s just simple things like a different training method or just working completely different muscles that end up making a bigger difference overall, as opposed to copious amounts of training doing the same thing over and over again…)
Enjoy your last semister Bangabain. Graduating is very exciting. All those years of dedicated study finally pays off.
I also really enjoyed all those subjects you mentioned (all except for biomechanics!!) I studied for 4 years at Sydney Uni (the lidcome campus is the only university in Sydney that offers physiotherapy) How about you?
Oh cool, yeah I am at UniSA down in Adelaide, again the only Uni here to offer both Human Movement and Physio…
Had my last exam last night, Exercise and Sport Psychology, which was a very very boring and wishy washy subject that I am glad is over…so now I am officially on holidays for 3 1/2 weeks…which is extremely good news in my book
So where abouts are you practicing, private practice or hospital or other?
My first year out of uni I worked in a big hospital rotating around the hospital to different areas every 10 weeks for a year, and then I opened my own practice which I have been working in since. Its alot better than hospitals. Hospital work is great experience, but in private practice you see many more sports injuries (my favourite!). Have a great 3 1/2 weeks