Hi everyone,
I've been reading Thomas Kurz's book, Stretching Scientifically, and I am a bit confused.
I practice Taekwondo, so I figure that I should do dynamic stretches, which makes sense. However, what about when I go to the gym and I want to get on the treadmill? How would I stretch/loosen up/warm up for a 3 mile run, if I am not supposed to do static stretchs for dynamic exercies, such as running?

Thanks,
Kyle

Hey,

I personally don't think it matters. I use dynamic stretching for my warmup and do it before cardio or run days and it loosens up the legs quit nicely.

That's explained in chapters 2 and 7. According to Kurz, the order of your workout should be as follows:
Joint rotations
General warm-up
Dynamic stretches
Sport-specific warm-up
MAIN WORKOUT
Sport-specific cool-down
Static stretches
General cool-down

By general warm-up, I mean light exercises - such as jumping jacks, jogging etc. - designed to raise the temperature of your muscles. The sport-specific warm-up is the same thing, but with movements chosen to resemble those of the main workout. Personally, I don't bother with seperating the warm-up and cool-down into these two parts.

For a three mile run, here's what I do:

Joint rotations (circle the ankles, knees, hips, shoulders, wrists)
Dynamic stretches (Leg swings and arm swings)
Warm-up (Jogging slowly for a few minutes. Lift your knees and heels more than usual when running)
THREE MILE RUN
Cool down (Jog slowly for a few minutes, then walk for a few minutes)
Static stretches

My corss country coach which is a very smart man about work outs and exciseing says that you dont really have to stretch before a three mile work outs but just to warm up your body. I been following this tip and just for a while now and i have no pains or any pulled muscles. You would need to stretch after your work outs doing each stretch about 3 sec. 7 times. But im a runner not a doctor. Hope my advise could be useful.