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We all need to maintain the range of motion we intend to use.

We all need to avoid stretching beyond the range of motion required.

Some runners have to stretch a lot and some have to be cautious about overstretching.

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Over the past ten years the evidence has been mounting against stretching before running both for sprinters and distance runners.

There has been a lot of research recently regarding whether stretching before competition or training inhibits performance.  In general it's considered best not to overstretch particularly with static or contract relax stretching prior to competition. Active stretching where one muscles stretches its opposite antagonist muscle does not appear to have this problem. An example of this would be hamstring stretching where you stride foreword with one foot, keeping the front knee flexed. Bend foreword at the hip to engage the hamstrings and then attempt to straighten the front knee.

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The best presentation of an active stretch warm up that I have seen so far is the article by Teresa Stadler, MD in the "Sports Backers Quarterly" before the 2010 Richmond Marathon.  It covered the best moves clearly and simply with good pictures.

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Which Type Of Stretch Is Good For What Effect?

Static stretching is the familiar friend, just stretch and hold within the pain free comfort/discomfort range, right?

If you want to use it to relax a muscle, hold the stretch for under 30 seconds.  If you hold for over a minute or two you are making more permanent change in stiffness and possibly length of the muscle and tendon.  (The minimum amount of passive stretches necessary to alter musculotendinous stiffness of your calf muscles is two 30 second stretches.)
There are devices that you can sleep all night in to lengthen your Achilles tendon and calf muscles or plantar fascia.  If you intend to lengthen tissue, it is best to maintain the same tension which requires taking up the slack as the muscle loosens.  Be prepared for soreness with longer or more intense stretching.

PNF (Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation) is a system of manual medicine treatment.

Frequently PNF is used to mean the Contract-Relax stretching technique that is one part of the system (even though there are at least 10 more techniques within the system.)  Contract-Relax is also known as PIR (Post-Isometric Relaxation). Basically, you contract a muscle against resistance for a period and then relax and stretch it.

There are several variations on this:

For very sore muscles or degenerated joints you can use light contraction of about 10% for 10 to 30 seconds with very slow relaxation and stretch performed up to 3 times. Muscles with triggerpoints often benefit from light contraction in a flexed position while the triggerpoint is held.  This is followed by slow relaxation and gradual stretching while continuing to hold the point.  The relaxation can be facilitated by contracting the opposite (antagonist) muscle.

For healthy tight athletic muscles you can increase the force considerably, even positioning the joint in partial flexion to permit near maximum contraction for up to 30 seconds followed by more forceful stretching. Be prepared for soreness. Be reminded that forceful stretching is generally a bad idea just prior to competition or heavy workouts.  What little research has been published indicates that any decrease in performance in endurance running lasts for less than a few hours on the outside.

Ballistic stretching during warm -up may not interfere with performance, just don't hurt yourself using poor form.

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Balanced Stretch / Balanced Strength:
Avoid Overstretching.

Imbalances cause problems like tendinitis and stress fractures.  If you overstretch a muscle, it may be strong in the elongated position but weak in the shorter position in which you most need it to function.  An overstretched muscle also tends to cause the muscle opposite it to become tight and shortened pulling you off center. Weakness causes similar problems with the opposite muscle becoming shorter and tighter.

An overstretched joint complex doesn't let you know where your parts are.
Your nervous system controls your movement using information from your muscles, tendons, ligaments and joint capsules. If you overstretch the joints, your spinal cord and brain are unable to properly coordinate your movements.

The only way they will be able to obtain information and stabilize your joints is by tightening the muscles on both sides of the overstretched joint as it moves. This co-contraction strategy wastes a lot of energy since one muscle is constantly working against another rather than moving your bone. So unless you need the range for ballet, gymnastics or Tae-Quan-Do and are willing to sacrifice running efficiency; only stretch as far as needed.

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Caution, You Double-Jointed Folks!

Some people are genetically hypermobile and are therefore much less efficient during running and ill-suited for contact sports as well. They have weak collagen structure and are at risk of both traumatic as well as overuse injuries such as tendinitis and stress fractures.  Other structures such as the aorta may also not be up to heavy stress.  In my opinion they are better off limiting themselves to shorter runs and such activities as swimming, cycling and the gym.

If your elbows and knees tend to bend backward and your thumbs can touch your wrist; check with your doctor before selecting the best sports or activities.

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Alignment:

It's important to stretch with proper alignment. This is similar to maintaining proper alignment during resistance exercises. An example of this is keeping the knee aimed at the toes when stretching the hamstrings. If you let your knee drift in or out there will be a tendency for this to happen as you run. Also, when stretching the calf muscles, keep your foot facing foreword. If you stretch your calf muscles with your foot pointed outward there will be an outward torquing of your foot with each step.

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Running Efficiency And Stored Elastic Energy:

It takes a lot of energy for muscles to contract and push you off during running. This energy is spared to the extent that your muscles and their tendons can act like springs that store energy.  When you stride forward the ankle of your stance foot is flexing which places a stretch force on your Achilles' tendon and calf muscles. The Achilles' tendon stretches like a tough rubber band storing energy while the calf muscles tend to remain the same length with an isometric or eccentric contraction. The stored energy is returned during toe off.

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Calf Stretching:

Because of this you don't want to overstretch your calves beyond the length necessary for you to run up a fairly steep hill. Just walking normally on flat ground requires 10 degrees of ankle flexion. Running requires more and you have to add the angle of the hill. This assumes you are not a toe runner.
(Unfortunately the research on competitive toe runners is minimal at this point.)

It's also important to avoid allowing your ankle to pronate or your arch to be overstretched during calf stretching. This requires tightening and controlling your foot and some of your ankle muscles while stretching others but it can help prevent whole bunch of problems including plantar fascitis.  There is increasing awareness of overstretch and damage to the posterior tibialis tendon which helps to support your arch.  The tibialis posterior is the deepest, most central muscle in your calf and its tendon runs behind your medial ankle to attach under your arch.  Anything that overstretches your arch such as overpronation of your ankle or excessive medial rotation of your hip can damage the tendon.

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Hip Flexors and Adductors:

Keep in mind that as you stride forward your pelvis is rotating around the hip of your leg that is on the ground. This means that when you stretch your groin and other hip muscles you will need to check to determine if there are any angles that are restricted by short muscles and stretch them in the restricted direction. I have found variations on the warrior pose in yoga to be an excellent posture to deal with this as it can stretch the psoas as well as the adductors.

You may want to include a variation of the lunge stretch that has the rear toe pointed inward while rotating the opposite side of the pelvis foreword and inward.  This helps stretch the psoas and iliacus muscles which flex your hip but also rotate your thigh outward / externally.  Reaching up toward the ceiling with the arm on the side of the rear leg increases the psoas stretch.

Sumo squats with your legs wide spread and feet rotated out at least 450  are also very useful in actively stretching the adductors.  Be sure to keep your knees aimed toward your toes and don't let your knees buckle inward at all or your knees get in front of your toes.  Keep your back straight and your abs tight.  When you reach a point at which your form fails, stop.  That is as low as you can go until you become stronger or more flexible.

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Hip Rotators:

We all have seen the cross leg with knee to chest stretch which is supposedly for the piriformis muscle. The piriformis is used more in a mildly stretched position when running uphill but rarely at the length or angle that this stretch provides. The piriformis and glutes are needed at their shortened length when running on the level and they can be weakened in this position by overstretching. This stretch can be useful but usually is best used for brief periods (15 seconds or so) to relax the muscles rather than lengthen them. There are multiple hip rotators that are not stretched in this position.

The glutes and external rotators can also be overstretched by sleeping on your side with your knee dropped to the bed, especially if you have wide hips and short legs. Sleeping with a pillow under your upper knee can help with this. You can perform the modified lunge with your rear toes pointer inward to stretch with the hip in the extended position similar to push off.  This is another that generally should not be held too long.

You can also stretch with a slightly flexed hip by lying on your back with your left knee slightly bent; bring your right leg across and over to press your left knee toward the right side rotating inward. Be careful of torquing your knee joint with this one.

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