Static stretches have become well accepted and are practiced by most runners and athletes . However, runners require active and often forceful movements of the legs and arms, especially when sprinting.
The joint actions in running are ballistic in nature, i.e., they are initiated with a strong muscular contraction to accelerate the limb and place it in motion, after which it continues on its own momentum. The movement is stopped by contraction of the antagonist muscles.
When you do static stretching, the amount of force exerted is insignificant. More important, during the static stretch the muscles are completely relaxed, whereas in running the muscles perform dynamically in both concentric and eccentric contractions.
The forces experienced in such movements far surpass those experienced in static stretching. As a result, you can never prepare yourself adequately to cope with forceful movements if you do only static stretches. This is one reason it is not uncommon to find injuries occurring.
The main purpose of stretching is to elongate the tissues either temporarily or permanently. When a stretch is done it produces either elastic extension (lengthening of the involved tissues with a later return to normal), plastic deformation (in which the lengthening becomes permanent), or tissue rupture.
Stretches that are active (dynamic) in nature warm up and prepare the muscles for action, which is an important goal of stretching in the warm-up. As the term implies, warm-up means to increase the temperature of the muscle prior to participation. By doing active stretches involving the muscles and joints through a full range of motion, you warm up the muscles and prepare them for the activity.
Unfortunately, the value of stretching that has permeated the literature is related to increasing joint mobility rather than achieving functional range of motion. But only active stretches stretch the muscles and prepare them for activity.
There are many forms of active stretches that range from relatively simple stretches to very complex, explosive stretches. However, in all cases active stretches involve muscular work during the stretch to ensure maximum joint safety and prepare the muscles for a forthcoming action.
In addition, active stretches can involve contracting muscles to perform a movement that stretches the antagonist muscles. It is also possible to do active stretches with gravity providing the force to go through the range of motion.
Most of the above information was excerpted from Explosive Running.