What is Ballistic Stretching?

Before we really get into ballistic stretching, you can take a minute to learn more about flexibility training. It’s always best to have a solid understanding of what flexibility training is, so you can apply the knowledge to each of the various stretching strategies.

Ballistic stretching is arguably the most dangerous form of flexibility training you can use, but when done properly can significantly increase your range of motion (ROM). This is a very advanced form of flexibility training that is not considered very useful for beginners due to the potential for injury. Intermediate hobby athletes may find some value in a few ballistic stretches but ultimately can get the benefits they’re looking for with static and dynamic stretching.

There is arguably very little ballistic stretching worth using unless you are a competitive athlete, a ballet dancer, or it has been approved by your personal trainer or doctor. We will go over the basics anyway, just so you know the how, where, when, why, and why not to use ballistic stretches.

What is Ballistic Stretching?

Ballistic stretching attempts to force the joints of the body beyond their normal ROM by using momentum. A ballistic movement is a forced movement initiated by muscle actions and continued by the momentum of the limbs.

Ballistic movements have three main phases:

1. initial phase – concentric action
2. coasting phase – relying on the momentum generated in the initial phase
3. deceleration phase – initiated by eccentric actions as the muscle passes its normal ROM

To use ballistic stretching, you would use a forced muscular contraction of the antagonist’s muscle, or you would push or swing a limb, to get the target muscle into a stretched position beyond its normal ROM. Then you would use the stretch reflex as a spring to bounce out of the stretch before bouncing or forcing it back into a stretch.

This type of stretching does not allow your muscles to relax and adjust to the stretched position. Instead, ballistic stretches may instead cause both the agonist (target) and antagonist (opposite) muscles to tighten up, or contract, by repeatedly activating the stretch reflex.

Why Ballistic Stretching is Generally Considered Bad

Ballistic Stretching is a prescription for injury – muscle pulls, muscle strains, and muscle tears can all result from ballistic stretches. You can also end up with tendon, ligament, and joint trauma from such aggressive stretching.

Deep connective tissue such as fascia and tendons can limit ROM. The two characteristics of connective tissue related to ROM are elasticity and plasticity.

Elasticity – the ability to return to the original resting length after a passive stretch.

Plasticity – the tendency to assume a new and greater length after a passive stretch.

Ligaments do not display elastic properties, although with exposure to stretching they may extend to new lengths. Strength and conditioning coaches would do well to remember that the stability of any joint is decreased as a result of the increased mobility of the surrounding connective tissues.

This is often an unfavorable adaptation that can lead to injury, particularly in contact sports and weight-bearing exercises. Most athletes are usually concerned with strength and power rather than flexibility, especially since increased flexibility is often responsible for decreased strength and power, specifically at an extreme ROM.

Weight training typically decreases flexibility anyway, especially with exercises using heavy loads in a limited ROM. Instead of ballistic stretching, use dynamic stretching and PNF stretching to increase ROM after a suitable warm-up or after a rigorous workout.

Who Should Use Ballistic Stretching

The simple answer is “no one”, but the real answer is that ballistic stretching could be used by elite athletes with supervision by their personal trainer.

Cheerleaders, gymnasts, ballet dancers, and martial artists often use ballistic stretches to gain extreme flexibility in some of their limbs. You’ve seen cheerleading and gymnastic toe touches, and I’m sure you’ve seen martial artists who can kick over, and sometimes behind, their own head.

Ballistic stretching routines can be used to reach this extreme level of flexibility, but so can PNF stretching, which is far safer.

Who Should NOT Use Ballistic Stretching

In my opinion, no one should use ballistic stretching except maybe cheerleaders, gymnasts, and ballet dancers. I don’t recommend ballistic stretches for martial artists because they need to maximize strength and power in order to excel at their sport.

Ballistic Stretching Examples

Toe Touches

The simplest and most popular ballistic stretch is bent over toe touching with a bounce. On each rep, the athlete attempts to touch his or her toes using gravity and bodyweight to facilitate the stretch.

Another form of toe touch is to elevate your foot parallel with to floor, and reach for your toes. Bounce forward and back slightly, each bounce trying to reach further forward.

By ballistically stretching your hamstrings this way, you risk hamstring tears and cramping in your quadriceps, not to mention the possibility for lower back injury. If you do use this stretch, be sure to warm up properly.

Final Thoughts

At this point, you are probably somewhat discouraged from adding ballistic stretches to your workout routine. If you do employ some ballistic stretching your best bet would be to choose 1 to 2 muscle groups at most, and 1 or 2 stretches per muscle group. Definitely be sure to fully warm up and prepare before you engage in any ballistic stretches. Keep in mind, that you can always accomplish the same goals with a mixture of dynamic, static, and PNF stretching.

Please visit our posts on specific forms of flexibility training.

• Dynamic stretching
• Ballistic stretching
• Static Active stretching
• Static Passive stretching
• Isometric stretching
• Proprioceptive Muscular Facilitation (PNF) stretching

Resources:

Leighton, J.R. A study of the effect of progressive weight training on flexibility. J. Assoc. Phys. Ment. Rehab. 18. 1964

National Strength and Conditioning Association. Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. 2002

Vidic, M. Flash Mavi. Ballistic Stretching in Martial Arts.

Tags: ballistic stretches, ballistic stretching, Flexibility, flexibility training

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