Stretching

[Pheidippides]

I've been reading stuff all over the place telling me it's a good idea to stretch after runs. So I've started to do it.

I have no idea what I'm doing, though. I usually get home and do various lower body stretches just before my shower that I remember from my days in football in HS. My coach was actually pretty decent in such knowledge (he had a masters in some sort of physical education type discipline) but that's of little comfort some years later.

Do you experienced runners (i) see any benefits from stretching or (ii) have any advice on which ones/how to do it?

[Teenage Dirtbag]

I will usually turn around and walk to the stop sign at the end of my block, maybe a .10/mile round trip. Then I will do some toe touches and various stretches for 10 minutes. Nothing too complicated.

I have actually found that stretching right before I go to bed is most helpful.

[Eddie]

I know this doesn't help at all, and I'm curious about your question as well, I tend to stretch when my muscles are sore and that's about it.

And honestly, there are only three stretches I do:

1) I stretch out my calves with either the old push-against-a-wall trick or by simply standing on a step or in the gutter with my toes pointing up and my heel on the ground.

2) I stretch out my thighs by bending at the knee and holding my foot to my backside. If I want a deeper stretch I just slowly point my knee further behind me. Another for this is to kneel on the ground, sit on your heels, and then lean back.

3) I stretch my hamstrings by standing on one foot and putting the other on a chair, the porch, a fence or anything else I can find that will get my foot up even with my hips and my leg parallel to the ground and then reach for my foot. I tend to lean forward when I reach, but keep my head up rather than arching my back forward due to some back problems.

I have a bulging disk in my lower back and have to be careful with hamstring stretches - I really just can't do anything that involves bending over at the waiste and would result in meaningful stretching without feeling it in my back for at least the rest of the day.

I'd really like to be more flexible and have considered even working something like yoga into my routine once a week - but haven't actually gone that far yet.

[Eddie]

I will add that when I ran track in H.S. I remember talking to one of my friends about how/why he was so flexible.

His response was that he would get up and stretch every morning before school, and then when he stretched again after school he was always more flexible.

So I would say it you are going for flexibility it probably helps to stretch more than once a day.

[Pheidippides]

I know this doesn't help at all, and I'm curious about your question as well, I tend to stretch when my muscles are sore and that's about it.

And honestly, there are only three stretches I do:

1) I stretch out my calves with either the old push-against-a-wall trick or by simply standing on a step or in the gutter with my toes pointing up and my heel on the ground.

2) I stretch out my thighs by bending at the knee and holding my foot to my backside. If I want a deeper stretch I just slowly point my knee further behind me. Another for this is to kneel on the ground, sit on your heels, and then lean back.

3) I stretch my hamstrings by standing on one foot and putting the other on a chair, the porch, a fence or anything else I can find that will get my foot up even with my hips and my leg parallel to the ground and then reach for my foot. I tend to lean forward when I reach, but keep my head up rather than arching my back forward due to some back problems.

I have a bulging disk in my lower back and have to be careful with hamstring stretches - I really just can't do anything that involves bending over at the waiste and would result in meaningful stretching without feeling it in my back for at least the rest of the day.

I'd really like to be more flexible and have considered even working something like yoga into my routine once a week - but haven't actually gone that far yet.

These are the exact stretches I do, with the addition of a few others (groin, most notably) that are probably pretty familiar to most people. Long ago I was taught that bouncing when stretching was a good way to tear something, so no bouncing. That is literally the extent of my stretching knowledge.

[cowboy]

I will usually turn around and walk to the stop sign at the end of my block, maybe a .10/mile round trip. Then I will do some toe touches and various stretches for 10 minutes. Nothing too complicated.

I have actually found that stretching right before I go to bed is most helpful.

Ditto this on both counts. I'll stretch my calves and then do some toe touches to stretch my hams after a run. Right before bed I do a couple variations of the hurdler stretch, stretch my quads, and then stretch my IT by laying on my back and crossing one leg across the other. After spending 10 minutes or so stretching at night I'll drop into bed and sleep like a rock.

I think it really helps. I'm about as flexible as peanut brittle, but I've made some progress over the last three months, and I find my stride is much easier.

[Eddie]

I was in physical therapy a couple of years ago and the two things they told me about stretches were:

Don't stretch cold muscles - much easier to pull/tear something. They said that a short walk or run, or even a sit in the hot tub, a bath, or a warm shower was enough to warm up. Just don't stretch cold.

The other was that your muscles don't get anything out of the stretch unless you hold it for at least 20 seconds. So I usually try to hold it for at least 30, and then maybe go through each muscle group twice. It might take me 10 minutes to stretch sometimes, but just barely.

[SteelBlue]

There are a couple of injuries to which I seem quite susceptible and I do stretches for these before and after every run. I stretch my itb, I stretch my medial hamstrings because I'm prone to pes anserine bursitis and I stretch my calves/shins. I don't spend a lot of time on them before running but I spend a good ten minutes after my run. I usually wait until I'm in the house to get them done right.