Discussion: Stretching is bad for you.

Read here.

Not quite what the article says...

It is what the title says.

What I find fascinating here is not the research itself (which has been known for years), but the fact that being in the NY Times rather than some obscure running journal has made it so much more credible than before!

For years I have been telling my high-school runners that static stretching need not and should not be part of their pre-race warmup. For years they have been doing it anyway, thinking I was some sort of nut. Only now do some of them believe that maybe their coach knew what he was talking about after all, since a great many of them have seen the NY Times article.

More precisely the article conclusions are:

"static stretching alone before exercise does little or nothing to help"

"Stretching muscles while moving, on the other hand, a technique known as dynamic stretching or dynamic warm-ups, increases power, flexibility and range of motion"

While static stretching may not be optimal as part of a warm up, it has other benefits in terms of promoting strength, flexibility, and recovery from injury. Before a race is just not the best time for it.

This only addresses pre race warm ups, I don't think the article is saying never to stretch, stretching after the race or after a training session is, I think, still believed to be beneficial. I know that since I have started stretching on a regular basis both my lower back and a piriformis injury have both responded well to the stretching.

What I've hurt is that it is better to warm up through a slower/lower impact version of what you'll be doing to work out and then working out and then cooling down in a way similar to warming up and stretching. I like to stretch as soon as I get up and right before I go to bed. I dont know if that is good/bad/whatev, but it helps me wake up/sleep and not feel achey or tight.

In another 10-15 years, you may find that the morning is not a fun time to stretch. Things tend to tighten up overnight and some light activity is required prior to pulling on the muscles and connective tissue. Age accentuates this. Stretching before bed certainly has helped me keep my chronic back problems in check (although most of the credit goes to the abdominal exercises I do prior to stretching each night).

Interestingly, stretching before a race seems to be very much a runner thing. I don't ever recall seeing a pro cyclist stretch before a race (although I'm sure some do) even though the cycling motion is much closer to full flexion of the hips than running. Cyclists tend to be a lot more diligent about taking care of the muscles after the event; including icing, massage, and stretching.

Cycling is also a much more controlled action though, where a sudden stretch of a muscle is far less likely than running (particularly on uneven ground or through the forest)

its been known for some time now that stretching can lower strength and power attributes, which is why sprinters and basketballers etc. havent stretched as a warm up for some time. from i could tell this article has not mentioned endurance, a far more key attribute in my mind

Pre exercise - Dynamic warm ups are deffintely best. This involves moving joints through their range of movement, and getting them stimulated for exercise. It promotes secretion of synovial fluid which helps prevent damge on joints.

Post exercise - Static stretching is good because it improves flexibility. There is no point in doing static stretching without warming up, it won't be nearly as effective. Also you should hold a stretch for at least 30 seconds for full effect


Also Big D is correct - Static stretching reduces power output, but that's not too bad for runners. It's not bad to do before endurance events, but it doesn't actually do anything helpful.

For those interested, a study is being undertaken to look at pre-run stretching.