As a young kid, I remember being taught the idea that pre-exercise static stretching had tremendous benefits and reduced the risk of injury. Static stretching is the most common kind of stretching used in general fitness, and refers to a stretch held in a challenging but comfortable position for 10-30 seconds. Most of the time, I would suck it up and dedicate the first few minutes before my workout to stretching my muscles. I never thought to question this, or ask my gym teachers whether this was truly beneficial.
In 2013, an extensive review paper stated that static stretching might reduce the incidence of some muscle strains, but overall will not reduce all injuries. The article then states that static stretching might actually hinder your performance regardless of age, gender or fitness level. That sounds crazy, right? All of these years, we’ve been thinking that pre-workout stretching is a must, and now all of a sudden it’s the wrong thing to do. The study also explained that many other studies saw no reduction in strength or power following static stretching.
The study concluded that “the usage of SS (regardless of its duration) as the sole activity during warm-up should generally be avoided.” This means that incorporating stretching into your comprehensive warm-up, along with other elements like cardio, could be a great solution to the negative side effects of static stretching, because even a short period of static stretching can be harmful to muscular performance.
If you’re feeling like the idea of getting through a workout without stretching at all seems a little backwards, you’re not alone. The good news is that static stretching can be done as a cool down after your workout.
On the other hand, you may be wondering if there’s anything you can do before a workout to reduce your risk of injury. The answer in this case is to include a warm-up that uses dynamic stretching. Dynamic stretching is when your stretch closely mimics your body’s movements during a particular physical activity, such as sprinting, throwing or jumping. The idea is to ease your muscles into a more extended range of motion, but it still doesn’t exceed your static flexibility range, which prevents injuries like pulled muscles. With dynamic stretching, there are fewer negative side effects than there are with static stretching because the idea is to increase blood flow to your muscles, warming them up as more warm blood is flowing through them.
While this is definitely food for thought, the article does explain that there should be more studies to prove exactly how static stretching impairs physical performance, and if stretching should be completely excluded from the workout. For general fitness, just remember that stretching shouldn’t hurt, and listen to your body to ensure that you’re performing your exercises safely and efficiently.