Warm-Up and Flexibility Training

Warm-Up and Flexibility Training

Chapter Objectives

• Benefits and components of a pre-exercise warm-up should be identified.
• Effective warm-ups should be structured.
• Factors that affect flexibility identified.
• Flexibility exercises that take advantage of proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation should be used.
• Static and dynamic stretching methods should be selected and properly applied.

Warm-Up Positive Effects on Performance

• Faster muscle contraction and relaxation of both agonist and antagonist muscles.
• Improvements in the rate of force development and reaction time.
• Improvements in muscle strength and power.
• Lowered viscous resistance in muscles.
• Increased blood flow to active muscles.
• Enhanced metabolic reactions.
• Increased psychological preparedness for performance.
• Structure influences potential improvements, thus needs to be specific to the activity to be performed.
• Consists of a period of aerobic exercise, followed by stretching which ends with activity.

Warm-Up Components

• A general segment may consist of 5-10 minutes of slow activity such as jogging or skipping.
• A specific segment incorporates movements similar to those in an athlete’s sport.
• The whole warm-up lasts between 10 to 20 minutes.
• The warm-up is integral to the training session.
• Strength and conditioning professionals should plan warmups incorporating short, medium, and long-term considerations.

RAMP Protocol

• Raise: Elevate body temperature, heart rate, respiration rate, blood flow, and joint fluid viscosity via activities that resemble movement patterns for upcoming activity.
• Activate and Mobilize: Actively move through a range of motion.
• Potentiate: Perform sport-specific activities that progress in intensity to competition levels.

Flexibility

• Flexibility uses range of motion (ROM) and has static and dynamic components.
• Static is the range of possible movement about a joint and its surrounding muscles during passive movement.
• Dynamic is the available ROM during active movements and requires voluntary muscular actions.

Factors Affecting Flexibility

• Joint structure: Determines a joint’s range of motion.
• Age and sex: Older people tend to be less flexible than younger people, and females tend to be more flexible than males.
• Muscle and connective tissue: Elasticity and plasticity of connective tissues affect ROM.
• Stretch tolerance: The ability of an athlete to tolerate discomfort of stretching.
• Neural control: ROM is controlled by the central and peripheral nervous system, including both afferent and efferent mechanisms.
• Resistance training: Exercise through a full ROM and develop both agonist and antagonist muscles for loss prevention.
• Muscle bulk: Large muscles may impede joint movement.
• Activity level: Active person is more flexible than inactive, but activity alone will not improve flexibility.

Stretching

• Acute effects of stretching on ROM are transient.
• Long-lasting effects require a stretching program.
• Two sessions per week is the minimum for 5 weeks.
• Stretches should be held at a position of mild discomfort for 15 to 30 seconds.
• Postpractice stretching facilitates ROM improvements because of increased muscle temperature if preformed within 5 to 10 minutes after.
• Post practice stretching may also decrease muscle soreness, the evidence on this is ambiguous.
• If increased levels of flexibility are required, additional stretching sessions may be needed.

Stretching Sessions

• Stretching should be preceded by a thorough warm-up to allow for the necessary increase in muscle temperature.
• Sessions can be useful for a recovery session on the day after a competition.

Proprioceptors and Stretching

• Muscle spindles stimulated during rapid stretching movement causes a stretch reflex.
• A stretch reflex should be be avoided during stretching, as it limits motion.
• Active contraction, the Golgi tendon organ via autogenic and reciprocal inhibition causes reflexive muscle relaxation.
• Autogenic is accomplished via active contraction before passive stretch of the same muscle.
• Reciprocal inhibition is accomplished by contracting the muscle opposing the muscle that is being passively stretched.

Types of Stretching

• Static stretch: Slow and constant, with end position held for 15 to 30 seconds. Get into a position which facilitates relaxation and move to the point where you experience a sensation of mild discomfort. Repeat unilateral stretches on both sides.
• Ballistic stretch: Involves muscular effort and uses a bouncing-type movement where the position isn't held.
• Dynamic stretch: Functionally based exercise with sport-specific movements to prepare the body for activity. Carry out 5–10 repetitions for each movement in place or over a distance, progressively increasing the ROM on each repetition and speed, actively controlling muscular actions as you move thru ROM.
• Proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) stretch: Hold-relax for a 10 second passive prestretch, then a 6 second isometric hold before preforming a 30 second passive stretch.
• Figures 14.1 through 14.5 show the positions for a PNF hamstring stretch.
• Contract-relax: 10 second passive prestretch, concentric muscle action through full ROM, and a 30 second passive stretch.
• Figures 14.6 through 14.8 show passive prestretch of hamstrings.
• Hold-relax with agonist contraction is the most effective PNF stretching technique.
• This is due to facilitation via both reciprocal and autogenic inhibition with a 3rd concentric action of the agonist is used during a passive stretch to increase stretch force.

Partner PNF Stretches

• Calves & ankles
• Chest
• Groin
• Hamstring and hip extensors
• Quadriceps and hip flexors
• Shoulders
• Figures 14.12- 14.16 Partner PNF stretches for the calves, groin, quadriceps and hip flexors and shoulders.