Sports Medicine

Medicine > Stretching > Methods

Stretching Methods

There are many different types of stretching, and each have their specific purpose and benefits. You also need to choose the stretches that are relevant to your sport and activity. Static, passive or active methods produce far fewer instances of muscle soreness, injury and damage to connective tissues than dynamic or ballistic methods. Static methods are also advantageous as they are simple to carry out and may be conducted virtually anywhere. For maximum gains in flexibility in the shortest possible time the PNF technique is the most appropriate. Where the technique requires ballistic movement then ballistic stretches may be also appropriate.

The general classification of the different types of stretching are below. Follow the links for more information about each method.

• active stretching
• ballistic stretching
• dynamic stretching
• isometric stretching
• passive or static stretching
• PNF stretching

Related Pages

• stretching books
• list of passive stretches