Stretching 2.0

New attitudes toward warming up could revolutionize your fitness routine

About three years ago, Bob Brown, an avid jogger with chronic hamstring problems, decided he was fed up with stretching. “Every time I had an injury, I’d learn some new type of stretch for that area of my body,” says the Houston-based oil and gas executive. “But once a year, I’d still have to take a couple of weeks off to nurse an injury.” Static stretching — the kind you learned in high school, designed to increase flexibility by holding a position for 30 seconds or more — just wasn’t cutting it for Brown. So he quit. Now, instead of reaching for his toes, Brown simply emulates jogging motions with a brief warm-up and cool-down.

For a 50-year-old man, vulnerable to the pounding stress of jogging, Brown’s decision to forgo conventional stretching may seem crazy. However, according to Dr. Michael Bracko, a sports physiologist based in Calgary, Alberta, Brown’s approach is not only perfectly sane, but it also dispels one of the great misconceptions about stretching. “As it relates directly to his workout, there’s really no benefit to static stretching, either before or after,” Bracko says. “Static stretching is important to compensate for the positions we are in on a daily basis.” As far as the workout goes, a warm-up and cool-down — also known as dynamic stretching — does the trick.

Getting Warmer

If you find all this a little counterintuitive, you’re not alone; the scientific community’s thinking on stretching has changed radically in the past 10 years. “We thought if you had more flexibility, you’d have a decreased chance of injury,” Bracko says. “It’s simply not true.” Dynamic stretching builds some flexibility, but even more important, it engages the muscles you’re about to use. It’s like offering them a warning: Wake up! Time to get busy!

“It’s very important to warm up specifically for the activity you’re about to engage in,” says Alex Zimmerman, national manager of Equinox Fitness’ elite T4 training program in New York. Brown says he precedes every jog with about five to 10 minutes of strides and bounds. For one exercise he runs about 50 meters, raising his knees as high as possible. He describes another as running and “almost kicking my own butt.”

Staying in Line

Both Bracko and Zimmerman endorse static stretching after a workout — not because it’s beneficial to the workout, but because that’s a logical time for stretching. You’re already exercising, so why not do some stretching to compensate for other aspects of your lifestyle? According to Zimmerman, static stretching is especially important for people who don’t participate in other physical activities. “Everyone who sits at a desk all day or spends a lot of time on the couch should be engaging in some flexibility training,” he says.

Zimmerman’s decree should come as no surprise. An estimated 80 percent of American adults experience back pain. The trick to avoiding what Zimmerman calls “postural deficiencies” is stretching the muscles that contract throughout the day. And while static stretching is ideal, it isn’t absolutely essential for everyone — five to 10 minutes of dynamic stretching each day may also do the trick. To open up muscles in the back, chest, arms, and shoulders, Zimmerman recommends stepping forward into a lunge and raising your arms to the sky. To loosen trunk flexors, which tighten as you sit, stand with your feet hip-width apart and reach up to the right, and then to the left.

Playing Mind Games

Just as compelling as the physiological reasons for stretching is the psychological boost. “I don’t know if I’d feel comfortable starting a run if I hadn’t done my warm-up,” Brown says. Bracko takes this idea even further: “I would say there may be as many psychological benefits to stretching as there are physical benefits.”

Indeed, even the world’s top athletes do stretches for psychological reasons. “When I watch pro sports, I still see athletes doing an inordinate amount of static stretching before the game,” Brown says.

Ultimately, the crucial principle when it comes to stretching is a simple one: If it feels good, do it. “You should do any form of exercise that makes you feel good,” Bracko says. “That’s what it’s all about.”

Full Speed Ahead

The route of Mobile’s Azalea Trail Run gives runners a glimpse of what makes this city great

Running under a canopy of oaks that look as if they could have been around when Admiral David Farragut famously damned those torpedoes in nearby Mobile Bay, participants in the popular 10K Azalea Trail Run are bound to get a sweet whiff of Mobile, Ala.’s history along with an exciting race. It’s also a route that can steep a runner in the city’s unique culture any time of the year.

Stretch out before the start on the 1000 block of Government Street (about a half mile west of the riverfront hotel district), and keep watch for the rogue doubloons in the gutter or forgotten strands of beads hanging from a nearby bough — all leftovers from the city’s raucous Mardi Gras celebration (which this year climaxes on February 24). Glancing over to the Radisson Admiral Semmes Hotel, you’ll be looking at the Admiral’s Corner Lounge, where singer Jimmy Buffett honed his unique sound.

Then it’s off, heading west down Government Street’s wide sidewalks, past the manicured yards of stately mansions that date back to the Civil War era. Approaching the Loop area, about two miles into the run, you’ll see a major armament that appears to be taking square aim at you as you approach. As you reach this Civil War cannon, veer right and head north past Memorial Park onto Old Government Street. With any luck the cannon may sport the paint, ribbons, and slogans from some local high school that won the previous night’s contest. Either way, the artillery in the roadway makes for an interesting sight.

Taking another right on Fulton Street, just a few blocks up, will give runners an idea of how most people live in midtown Mobile, aka MiMo. After turning right onto another of Mobile’s major thoroughfares, Dauphin Street, you’ll head back toward downtown. At Fulton and Dauphin stands Termite Hall, a local landmark home that got its name some 80 years ago when the outside porch rails disintegrated.

Running along Dauphin for the next couple of miles, one can catch occasional views of the RSA Tower, Alabama’s tallest building and Mobile’s newest landmark. Take a right at Broad Street, turning south and crossing over Government Street again. The Greek revival–style Government Street United Methodist Church — known locally as the Beehive — is an eye-catcher with its unique twisted columns.

A couple of blocks south of Government Street, you can take a left (easterly) turn on Canal Street, which will take you past rows of newer homes in the downtown area and just south of Church Street Cemetery, the resting place of Joe Cain, who is credited with resurrecting Mardi Gras in the Azalea City after the Civil War. Your run ends here, but the civics lesson can continue at your leisure.

Getting There: Continental offers daily nonstop service to Mobile from its hub in Houston.