Mike Boyle Recommends Stretching Pre-Workout

[Troy Kerr]

In his book, " Advances in Functional Training", Mike Boyle states that after sprints, foam rolling, and some DROM work, he has all of his athletes perform static stretching. Saying that they have found little benefit for it post-workout, but since the athletes are already warm by this point he employs it at the end of their warm-up.

Any thoughts on this?

[Steven Low]

If you have chronically tight muscles like some elite athletes do then yes it's helpful to loosen stuff up significant before you workout, especially hip flexors.

There's no real set rules... I mean I try to delineate some here:
http://www.eatmoveimprove.com/2009/0...ic-stretching/

But it all depends on the athlete and what you're trying to work on with them. He works with Hockey player so.... there ya go

[Derek Simonds]

I think I read an article by Boyle where he talks about static stretching decreasing muscle function by 10%. In the article he said if you take an elite NBA athlete who can jump 30" vertical and he loses 3 inches but is able to move better with less likelihood of injury he would rather do static stretching before a game or event.

[John Alston]

We need to resolve this! I can't workout until this issue is settled!

[Donald Lee]

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/res...ch-review.html

[Steven Low]

Originally Posted by Derek Simonds

I think I read an article by Boyle where he talks about static stretching decreasing muscle function by 10%. In the article he said if you take an elite NBA athlete who can jump 30" vertical and he loses 3 inches but is able to move better with less likelihood of injury he would rather do static stretching before a game or event.

It's really only static stretching for long periods of time (like I think it was 60s for those studies).

But yeah, there's some decrease and may be significant. but if people stay healthier or move better because of it then it works.

The effects go away after about 30 minutes too. So if someone is warming up 30 minutes before a workout then you can add it in before then.

[Troy Kerr]

I agree with Steven on this one. There are a few things to consider here, especially when a strength and conditioning coach is working with a team: A) They are mostly working with groups, B) They often have a set time period ( one hour) to work with their athletes. This means that everything the coach does has to be geared towards getting his priorities for a team accomplished in that small time frame.

Now in the book he doesn't really mention the condition of any athletes in particular. I know when working with athletes in my gym, they won't stretch unless you make it a requirement. It has been noted by many sources that if static stretch allows an athlete to get into safer positions while working out, (i.e maintain lumbar curve when squatting), then it is beneficial to have them stretch before working out.
Also I'm sure Boyle was referring to when his athletes are in-season, meaning that the athletes are working more to prevent injury and stretch, so they are not handling loads that are too significant, meaning that there is less chance for injury.