If you went to school more than 10 years ago, you might remember the majority of your Physical Education classes beginning with static stretching. This is you holding a stretch and counting slowly to ten. For example, keep your legs straight and reach for your toes.

Since then a tonne of great studies have come out on the subject and before we say that stretching is “bad” or “good” we first need to take a look at what is happening to the muscles when we stretch.

What is the difference between Static and Dynamic Stretching?

Static stretching is when you stretch a muscle out and hold that stretch for 8 seconds or longer.
Dynamic stretching is when you are stretching a muscle but continuously moving through the joint’s range of motion, you would hold the stretch no longer than a single second. 

So now that we know the difference, what are the benefits of dynamic stretching and what are the drawbacks?

Dynamic stretching increases nerve, muscle and connective tissue function ie. improved performance. If you walked into a gym you wouldn’t straight away attempt a max effort box jump, you would want to warm up the joints, and make sure the muscles/joints are primed and ready.

A drawback from dynamic stretching is that the mobility gained is not permanent. In other words, for the most part you won’t get more flexible. 

Static stretching on the other hand will make you more flexible, because you are spending more time in the stretched position. Your body then adapts and becomes more flexible. 

The problem with this form of stretching before a workout, is that it affects the function of the stretch shortening cycle (SSC). This SSC prevents injury by contracting the muscle when it is suddenly lengthened, preventing you from tearing a muscle. As well as providing elastic energy within the muscle, giving you that ‘spring in your step’. So by dissipating the energy from the SSC and fatiguing the muscles and connective tissue, static stretching before a workout will lower your performance. 

So when we are deciding between static or dynamic stretching, it’s important for us to know what our goal is.

If the athlete has a decent amount of mobility and the goal is to maximise performance, then dynamic stretching might be the better option.

If the athlete has poor mobility and is unable to get into the correct positions, we should prioritise mobility for that athlete before athletic performance. So some static stretching might be the better option.

As is for most things, there is no right or wrong way to stretch. We simply need to look at the needs of the athlete to choose between dynamic and static stretching.