Flexibility and Running

[kgperryman]

I know flexibility is an extremely important aspect of BUD/s because it helps to prevent injuries. But, I was wondering if anyone had any information on how whether flexibility had any other effects on things such as running endurance. I can score decently well on the PST but I've only recently began to consider that perhaps my lack of flexibility may be keeping me from progressing, perhaps by limiting my stride length? When I make an attempt to touch my toes, I can reach about the halfway point of my shin. If anyone could provide some insight, it'd be very much appreciated.

[rsctt83]

flexibility is extremely important for a variety of reasons, running is very linear and your hips can become very stiff. The act of stretching/yoga will assist in nightly recovery and prevention of injuries. Two years ago I was like "yeah, right stretching ... not". Now I would never go two days without doing my stretching/yoga routine ... If you are working/training hard you need to incorporate stretching into your program.

[randomFIRE]

Scott, can you give an example of your stretching routine? I've also heard that stretching before running, despite what coaches in school always made us do, isn't actually any good. Can you elaborate a little on this?

[JLPestkeJr]

1) Both the "new" and "old" Warning Orders have pretty decent sections on stretching all of the major muscle groups, as well as demonstrations on how to perform them.

2) It's probably a good idea to look through this --> http://www.scribd.com/doc/14054/US-N...-Fitness-Guide (I know links aren't supposed to be posted, but since it's an official guide I'll assume it's alright.)

3) I strongly suggest getting a foam roller and doing some research on self myofascial release techniques. They will drastically reduce your recovery times, at least from my personal experience. (http://www.sport-fitness-advisor.com...l-release.html)

Hope that helps.

[scskowron]

Honestly, I have not seen any scientific research that shows that flexibility reduces injuries. If anyone has some I'll be happy to read it.

I'm not saying that flexibility isn't important, but I don't see what it has to do with injuries.

[rsctt83]

I am not aware of any quantifiable research that proves that stretching actually prevents injuries but I can tell you that since I started my program of stretching/yoga my hips have been much less tight and this has greatly helped my running uphill as I feel more smooth/fluid on the steep sections. I also feel that my legs muscles feel more relaxed {less tight} after running. By way of example, I ran a mountain race this past spring with big vertical gain/loss. Normally after a race like this my legs would just lock up and be very, very stiff. This race as soon as I finished I got out my yoga mat and stretched and afterwards I was walking perfectly normal. This is what convinced me that stretching/yoga is VERY beneficial to me. Now I do my routine almost everyday ... not sure if it has prevented any injuries but it sure make me feel better and recover better for tomorrow training.

[bigv123]

Give me a couple days to see what I can dig up in the research publications.

The basic concept is pretty straightforward. If a muscle or connective tissue has a max range of motion, say x, then anything over that distance will certainly produce some type of injury whether it be a pull, strain, or tear. Obviously, if the max range of motion for that same tissue is now x + y, then the same exact previous incident likely won't, or the injury will be significantly less.

This is a pretty huge generalization, I know. But, this is how most injuries occur...outside a normal range of motion. You don't see very many injuries in the normal RoM without significant loading.

But, like I said, I'll try and find something in the research literature. The problem is going to be that it will most likely be anecdotal. Reason being the only "truly conclusive" study would obviously require researchers to induce injuries and that's obviously not going to happen.

Give me a couple days...

V

[scskowron]

Originally Posted by bigv123

You don't see very many injuries in the normal RoM without significant loading.

Well, for a SEAL candidate I would disagree. Injuries happen in sports because people's arms or legs bend the wrong way, beyond where the should go.

For a SEAL candidate, the most likely injuries he is going to suffer involve too much running too quickly or tendonitis or an overuse injury from too much pullups, pushups, etc. I don't see how he would get injured from going beyond normal range of motion, at least before he gets to BUD/S anyway. Maybe my thinking is wrong.

[ksmith47]

Originally Posted by randomFIRE

Scott, can you give an example of your stretching routine? I've also heard that stretching before running, despite what coaches in school always made us do, isn't actually any good. Can you elaborate a little on this?

I ran small college track so maybe I can comment on this. There are two kinds of stretching - static and active. Static is the kind your middle school PE teacher had you. Active is what we do before running. Now, if we were just going to go for an easy pace run, we would do the run and then throw in some static stretches afterwords. But if we were doing something more demanding, like 200 meter repeats or a race, where there was the potential for a pulled hamstring or something along those lines, we would do an easy 20 minute run, then some active stretching, then some dynamic mobility and technique work.

The active stretching basically consists of stretching your muscles in a way where you are constantly moving - moving along the ground in an inchworm, single leg straight leg deadlifts, lunges, leg kicks, skips... that kind of thing. Hard to explain without actually doing it. But this kind of stuff is much more useful to get ready for running than static stuff, especially if you are just stretching without having warmed up.

[rsbmg]

I posted earlier and had some links to some studies and such but for some reason only parts of my post saved so I deleted it. At any rate, the current research is that static stretching has shown to be linked to decreased power output in athletes = bad.

The simplest way to describe the difference between static and dynamic stretching is to use a rubberband as an example. Your muscles being the rubberband of course.

Now if you take a rubberband out of the freezer and stretch it quickly there is a good chance it will break. This is what can happen to our muscles when not properly warmed and prepared for a hard effort. Think of getting out of bed and immediately engaging in a max effort sprint. The possibility is there for a muscle pull/tear.

Now to go all the way over to the other side take that same rubberband, warm it up and then begin stretching it to its breaking point but not quite breaking it. Keep doing that and it will eventually begin to lose its elasticity. Its just not as strechy anymore. When you stretch a muscle out the same thing happens it becomes sort of loose and isnt as able to contract as hard as it was meant to.

Both ends of the spectrum are bad. What dynamic stretching is is simply working the muscle within its optimum range of motion. Slow jogging, light weight exercises etc.. This warms up the rubberband and allows it to stretch and contract as designed without going to either extreme.

I know this was very simplified but the bottom line is muscles perform best when warmed and ready for work but not stretched to sh!t.

Static stretching is more beneficial after exercise when muscles are tight but wont be required to work any longer. There is also quite a bit of research pointing to flexibility and recovery as scott pointed out.

Sorry for not going back and digging up the links but its sunday! Some things are just common sense and being flexible is one of them. Gymnasts and olympic lifters are the most powerful athletes pound for pound and I dont thinks its a coincidence they are also the most flexible.

You need flexibility its just a matter of how you go about it.