Injured runner program

Stretching Before and After Running 

Molly Gries, PT: Hi, my name is Molly Gries a Physical Therapist at the Polyclinic. I’m an avid runner and have been training for marathons for the past several years. One of the big things that’s important with running to prevent overuse injuries is to make sure you’re stretching and taking care of your muscles before and after your run, in order to prevent those injuries. Stretching before a run makes sure that you’re not too tight or stiff so that your muscles will not tear. And stretching after the run is the first step to recovery post run, especially as you’re running long distances. It helps to move the lactic acid out of the muscles and back to being digested and broken down. 

So dynamic stretching is a more active stretch, this is great for before a run. You’re moving more, you’re getting your blood flowing so you’re bringing blood flow and oxygen to the muscles along with getting some quick stretching to the muscles and making sure that they’re warmed up and ready to go. 

Static stretching or holding the stretch for a long time in that certain position, getting that good muscle stretch, this is good for after a run when your muscles are all warmed up and to kind of help with the cool down process. This helps to elongate your muscles and prevent soreness. So three dynamic stretches I recommend before running is marching or high knees, rotating your hips inward and butt kicks. 

[Foot Steps]

This one’s a lot easier to do slower because otherwise you can lose your balance. For this one you don’t have to get all the way back, just get a good stretch. 

Three static stretches that I recommend after running are a hamstring stretch, a calf stretch, and a quad stretch. 

First one is a hamstring stretch and on this one you’re making sure that your back stays straight so you’re not rounding out and your goal is to hold for about 30 to 45 seconds. Calf stretch you lean forward keeping your heel down on the ground and you can again use a wall to help push but you’re able to do it without a wall if you don’t have one available. Trees also work really well if you’re outside. So when you’re stretching your quad make sure that your hip is straight and not bent. You might have to pull back a little bit. You can always hold on to something for balance if you need it.