Is flexibility gained through a stretching program ever permanent?

If you train hard for 6 months and stop running completely will your fitness level stay where it is or drop right back where it started?

Is that your real name? If so, very odd given the topic.

It is certainly not permanent.

Um, is any training program "permanent"?

Nothing is permanent.

sperm donor wrote:

Nothing is permanent.

except permanent marker.

somewhatfast wrote:

except permanent marker.

and Chuck Norris' beard.

stretching is a huge waste of time. Seriously. There was a recent review concluding that stretching, for distance runners, does not improve performance or reduce injury risk.

the dude with the funny hat wrote:

There was a recent review concluding that stretching, for distance runners, does not improve performance or reduce injury risk.

Never once did the OP mention he was stretching to become a better runner. He could be a MMA fighter or porn star for all you know.

I did a lot of stretching for martial arts class and rock climbing when I was young and 20 years later I'm still very flexible even though I don't do as much stretching. If you stop stretching for a long time, you just have to build it up again like running. In my younger days in martial arts class I could do full splits and kick a target a couple inches in front of my face with my other foot planted. I'm just under 6 feet (182 cm) and I can still bend over with straight legs and easily touch my wrists to the floor.

I mostly do static stretching. 2x each stretch, hold for 20 seconds. This is what I've always done and it works for me. When I was a sprinter, coach taught us dynamic stretching or something but I always thought it was too complicated. Quad stretch, hurdler's stretch, and the splits are the main ones among others for me. I always do it after lifting, sometimes after running, and it doesn't take more than 5 minutes. I don't know if stretching is useful for distance running. It's probably more useful for hurdling or sprinting. It helps to be flexible for climbing.

Animals like my birds do stretching, so I think it's okay for humans. Hopefully, if you keep stretching you won't be as inflexible as my grandmother was when she was old (she needed help to put on her socks). Good luck.

the dude with the funny hat wrote:

stretching is a huge waste of time. Seriously. There was a recent review concluding that stretching, for distance runners, does not improve performance or reduce injury risk.

I'm always amazed that people don't understand a post like this is worthless without a reference.

For most people you are who you are....flexible or inflexible. If you do things where you move around alot, sports, dancing etc. you are more than likely MORE flexible than the average Joe or Jane....sitting at a desk and not getting up and moving around alot will cause you to lose your range of motion. Because that is what you really are talking about...ROM. It really doesn't matter if you are extremely flexible...what matters is that your body functions well in the activities that you want to perform. Being more flexible is not always better. But having good ROM is a beautiful thing.

So...if you don't use it...you lose it. Keep those shoulders and hips as loose and free as possible, make your body move in the ways it should and you will more than likely maintain your ROM.

Usually I'm too lazy to look up any references for letsrun, but if you insist:

Herbert RD, de Noronha M. Stretching to prevent or reduce muscle soreness after exercise. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2007, Issue 4. Art. No.: CD004577. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD004577.pub2

Well, thanks. But the title of that paper doesn't suggest what you say are it's conclusions. You don't even have an abstract you can link to or post?

Summary

Stretching to prevent or reduce muscle soreness after exercise

Many people stretch prior to or after engaging in physical activities such as sport. Usually the purpose is to reduce the risk of injury, reduce soreness after exercise, or enhance athletic performance.

The review located 10 relevant randomised trials looking at the effect of stretching before or after physical activity on muscle soreness. The trials were mostly small and of questionable quality. Nine were conducted in laboratories using standardised exercises. Only one study examined the effect of stretching on muscle soreness after sport. Three of the studies examined the effects of stretching before physical activity and seven examined effects of stretching after physical activity.

The 10 studies produced very consistent findings. They showed there was minimal or no effect on the muscle soreness experienced between half a day and three days after the physical activity. Effects of stretching on effect on other outcomes such as injury and performance were not examined in this review.

http://www.cochrane.org/reviews/en/ab004577.html

the dude with the funny hat wrote:

The 10 studies produced very consistent findings. They showed there was minimal or no effect on the muscle soreness experienced between half a day and three days after the physical activity. Effects of stretching on effect on other outcomes such as injury and performance were not examined in this review.

http://www.cochrane.org/reviews/en/ab004577.html

The end of the summary says: "Effects of stretching on effect on other outcomes such as injury and performance were not examined in this review."

Yet you stated previously that the review found that stretching does not help with injury or performance. Am I reading one or both of these two statements wrong? Or were you referring to a different review?

Oh sorry that one is just on prevention of soreness. This is the one on injury reduction. It finds no significant association between stretching and injury reduction.

The impact of stretching on sports injury risk: a systematic review of the literature.Thacker SB, Gilchrist J, Stroup DF, Kimsey CD Jr.

Epidemiology Program Office, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA.

sbt1@cdc.gov

PURPOSE: We conducted a systematic review to assess the evidence for the effectiveness of stretching as a tool to prevent injuries in sports and to make recommendations for research and prevention. METHODS: Without language limitations, we searched electronic data bases, including MEDLINE (1966-2002), Current Contents (1997-2002), Biomedical Collection (1993-1999), the Cochrane Library, and SPORTDiscus, and then identified citations from papers retrieved and contacted experts in the field. Meta-analysis was limited to randomized trials or cohort studies for interventions that included stretching. Studies were excluded that lacked controls, in which stretching could not be assessed independently, or where studies did not include subjects in sporting or fitness activities. All articles were screened initially by one author. Six of 361 identified articles compared stretching with other methods to prevent injury. Data were abstracted by one author and then reviewed independently by three others. Data quality was assessed independently by three authors using a previously standardized instrument, and reviewers met to reconcile substantive differences in interpretation. We calculated weighted pooled odds ratios based on an intention-to-treat analysis as well as subgroup analyses by quality score and study design. RESULTS: Stretching was not significantly associated with a reduction in total injuries (OR = 0.93, CI 0.78-1.11) and similar findings were seen in the subgroup analyses. CONCLUSION: There is not sufficient evidence to endorse or discontinue routine stretching before or after exercise to prevent injury among competitive or recreational athletes. Further research, especially well-conducted randomized controlled trials, is urgently needed to determine the proper role of stretching in sports.

That last review, obviously, only addresses stretching and injuries. Regarding the possibility that stretching improves performance, below are two studies showing that it is bad for explosive power/sprinting-type performance.

I'm not aware of any studies on the specific effects of stretching on distance running performance. However, I can't see any way that stretching would benefit a distance runner aside from improving his explosive power. There's lots of evidence that improved explosive power leads to improved distance running performance (a very illustrative one is J Strength Cond Res. 2001 Nov;15(4):405-12). So if stretching did help with explosive power then it would help with distance running. Unfortunately, it doesn't, so it doesn't.

Take the time you spend stretching and put it into, in order: 1) 30-50m fast strides, 2) plyometric drills, and 3) high-resistance low-rep weight-lifting (you want improved power, not hypertrophy).

Static stretching impairs sprint performance in collegiate track and field athletes.Winchester JB, Nelson AG, Landin D, Young MA, Schexnayder IC.

Department of Kinesiology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA.

jwinch2@lsu.edu

Previous research has shown that static stretching (SS) can diminish the peak force output of stretch-shortening cycle actions while performing a dynamic warm-up (DW) protocol has been shown to enhance performance in similar activities. The purpose of this study was to establish whether the deleterious effects of SS would wash out the performance enhancements obtained from the DW. Eleven males and 11 females, who were athletes of a NCAA Division I track team, performed a DW followed with either a SS or rest (NS) condition. After warm-up was completed, three 40 m sprints were performed to investigate the effects of the SS condition on sprint performance when preceded by DW. Time(s) were obtained from timing gates placed at 0, 20, and 40 m respectively. Testing was conducted over 2 days with a 1 week washout period. Testing order was balanced to eliminate possible order effect. Time for the NS versus the SS group was significantly faster for the second 20 m with a time of 2.41 versus 2.38 seconds (P < or = .05), and for the entire 40 m with a time of 5.6 +/- 0.4 versus 5.7 +/- 0.4 seconds (P < or = .05). The results of this study suggest that performing a SS protocol following a DW will inhibit sprint performance in collegiate athletes.

Sprint and vertical jump performances are not affected by six weeks of static hamstring stretching.Bazett-Jones DM, Gibson MH, McBride JM.

Department of Exercise and Sports Science, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, La Crosse, Wisconsin, USA.

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether 6 weeks of static hamstring stretching effects range of motion (ROM), sprint, and vertical jump performances in athletes. Twenty-one healthy division III women's track and field athletes participated in the study. Subjects were tested for bilateral knee ROM; 55-m sprint time; and vertical jump height before, at 3 weeks, and after the 6-week flexibility program. Subjects were randomly assigned to treatment and control groups and warmed up with a 10-minute jog on a track before a hamstring stretching protocol. The stretching protocol consisted of four repetitions held for 45 seconds, 4 days per week. Four variables (left and right leg ROM, 55-m sprint time, vertical jump) were analyzed using a repeated-measures analysis of variance design. No significant differences (P < or = 0.05) were found with any of the four variables between the stretching and control groups. Six weeks of a static hamstring stretching protocol did not improve knee ROM or sprint and vertical jump performances in women track and field athletes. The use of static stretching should be restricted to post practice or competition because of the detrimental effects reported throughout the literature. Based on the current investigation, it does not seem that chronic static stretching has a positive or negative impact on athletic performance. Thus, the efficacy of utilizing this practice is questionable and requires further investigation.

distance runners don't use explosive movements... stretching led to a drop in my times more than anything else I ever did (more mileage, speed work)...

i had an incredibly short stride, tight hips and as a result i had trouble running fast and/or efficiently

do i think it can help all or even most runners - no

but it was a complete blessing to my running when i discovered intense, proper stretching to open up my hips and hamstrings

it certainly can improve some runners