To Stretch Or Not To Stretch Before Exercise: What You Need to Know About Warm-Ups

The case for stretching

If stretching might not improve performance, why include it at all?

The most obvious reason is that stretching increases the range of motion of the joints through its effects on muscles and the nervous system. That is, there is an improved capacity to move with ease during activities such as sprint running, hurdling, being placed in extreme positions in wrestling, performing the splits in dance or gymnastics, playing soccer, hockey and other activities that need an enhanced range of motion.

Also, most muscle and tendon injuries occur when the muscle is being stretched during vigorous activities. Muscle stretching not only increases joint range of motion but also allows the muscle to exert more force when at longer lengths. Our review found that this effect is seen even in studies showing a loss of force measured in tests at short muscle lengths. Together, these changes may reduce the chance of injury.

But that’s not the end of the story, as muscle stretching also has other advantages. We can use stretching as a form of self-diagnosis, checking different regions of the body for soreness or tightness before or after sports and exercise. Also, muscle stretching can decrease muscle tone, heart rate and blood pressure, reduce anxiety and improve the function of our blood vessels. So, stretching may play an important role in maintaining cardiovascular health and promoting relaxation.

So static stretching is back, albeit with some caveats. The benefits of static stretching before exercise seem to outweigh the disadvantages when the stretching is incorporated into a full warm-up and when the duration is reasonable (less than 60 seconds per muscle group).

David George Behm, University Research Professor: School of Human Kinetics and Recreation, Demanda University of Newfoundland; Anthony Blazevich, Professor of Biomechanics, Edith Cowan University; Anthony David Kay, Professor of Biomechanics, University of Northampton, and Gabriel S. Trajano, Senior lecturer, Queensland University of Technology

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the innovador article.