USATF - Stretching Doesn't Help Reduce Injuries But If You Already Stretch, Keep Doing It

Note that this study only looked at PRE RUN stretching, which I think we can finally put to rest. Post run stretching, on the other hand, is still an open question. Anecdotally, it seems to have more evidence in its favor.

Any loss of power from static stretching is quickly restored when followed with a dynamic activity. For example the A skip and high knees drills would work for a runner following a brief static stretching session.

"Negative effect of static stretching restored when combined with a sport specific warm-up component." J Sci Med Sport. 2009 Nov;12(6):657-61. Epub 2008 Sep 3.

Martial artists, ballerinas and gymnasts all perform large quantities of pre-workout static stretching. Do they seem any less powerful because of it?

Every injured or on the verge of injured athlete I and many others have seen sent to a physiotherapist are told they are lacking flexibility and need to work on it, i.e. stretch.

Before high-pressure races many runners resort to static stretching due to nervousness. (This one is really interesting to watch, all these athletes stretching out and bouncing around 5 minutes before the final call, yet none stretch during practice.) If this hasn't been included as part of their routine during training then they are introducing a new variable on race day.

I think it's asking the wrong question. Does stretching help recovery? Does stretching make you feel better? Does stretching help performance? But these are hard questions to answer. I don't stretch to prevent injury, i stretch to help recover.

This sounds like political propaganda from a group of "experts" thazt have been spreading bullshit for years.

Why would one want to follow a negative activity with a positive activity, just so you can stretch? Why would you not eliminate the negative activity to begin with. Dynamic warmups do the job better, and coaches that are up-to-date (Mahon, the Ethiopians, the Jamaicans) recognize this.

One more scientific paper that recognized "Negative effect of static stretching."

The literature has established that sprinters and powerlifters doing bench press lose performance for 30-60 minutes following the supposedly positive activity of stretching. Perhaps the dancers and gymnasts are simply misinformed.

Is this because there is objective evidence that it works (name one citation) or because a certain group of people are

emphasizing a particular activity due to political orientation (i.e., not having to admit thst they'be been full of you-know-what in the past).

I've been at D1 invitational races with the Baylor 400 and other sprinters and with Clyde Hart persent. I've seen them do warmups exactly the way Clyde Hart says in seminars. They did two seets of 5-6 X 100 meter strides, progressively faster on opposite sides of the field. Between the two sets, they sat and talked for 10-15 minutes--it appeared that they were supposed to be stretching as one of those bungee stretching devices was present, but the athletes didn't stretch at all.

They ran great.

b789 wrote:

Martial artists, ballerinas and gymnasts all perform large quantities of pre-workout static stretching. Do they seem any less powerful because of it?

Every injured or on the verge of injured athlete I and many others have seen sent to a physiotherapist are told they are lacking flexibility and need to work on it, i.e. stretch.

Well if all the physiotherapists say it, it must be true!!

THe reality is that static flexibility and active/dynamic flexibility are two completely different things.

Being staticly inflexible is no big deal for runners and could even be good.

If a runner can go through the necesary range of motion without any problems, it's unlikely that flexibility is a problem or should be addressed.

Not many runners are limited in their range of motion to complete a running stride.

Add to the fact that static flexibility does little to enhance an active range of motion, and static stretching isn't worth much.

Look if you just sprint, you'll have plenty of dynamic range of motion.

Martial artists, ballerinas, and gymnast perform a bunch of flexibility work because they have to go through crazy range of motion that we do not. I never need to do the splits or bend over backwards, or any of that stuff.

I don't care what they "seem"

Where is this stretching = recovery meme coming from? I can't imagine why stretching would increase recovery.

Night Runner wrote:

No one should stretch cold muscles. Even my dog knows that.

My dog still stretches before every run. Maybe you could get your dog to talk to my dog?

Many articles cite the beneficial role of stretching by realigning elements within muscles that have microtears and related breakup/removal of scar tissue that can inhibit normal repair. Two specific studys involving recovery from injured hamstrings and plantar fascia did show reduced recovery time on the order of 20-30%. I have not found any research to directly support the benefits of stretching on day-to-day workout recovery.

However, it is difficult to obtain quite a bit of available research. Most scholarly journal articles that might directly address this require expensive subscriptions or purchases of articles. Maybe someone on this board with such access can identify the source of claims that stretching aids workout recovery.

Research in sports medicine rarely involves highly trained athletes, so I doubt any articles found will directly support even post-workout stretching for serious runners.

I stretch my hip flexors simply because if I don't, I hunch forward and my shoulders curl giving me back and neck issues. I also notice more fluidity in my stride with some active stretching/ warm-up.

I had IT band issues once and stretching my inner groin actually helped my leg straighten and my IT band issues went away. As for static stretching reducing injuries? who knows. I believe active stretching helps with biomechanics.

Im not gonna waste my time reading the article though.

Stretching pre-run alone = bad

Stretching pre-run + active dynamic warmup = good

Stretching post-run = good

Over-stretching to produce an exaggerated range of mothion = bad

Stretching enough to maintain a functional ROM for your daily life and sports activity = good*

*Long distance runners are typically not designed to be able to touch their toes with knees locked. A successful long distance runner is typically going to have long legs, expecially the femur, in relation to a shorter than normal torso.

Also, I think a good sports massage in place of stretching is even better.

On a side note, the sit-and-reach test typically used to measure flexibility is faulty in regards to absolute measurments of one small population. Give me 100 people with long legs/short torso/short arms and I'll show you 100 people with 'bad' flexibility according to that test.

I don't think tests should be used to measure absolutes, but are better used in measuring IMPROVEMENT.

Alan

Well said Alan.

I might add that stretching is therapeutic for most soft tissue injuries. Its more than relieving pain, it is aiding in the remodeling and realignment of fibers (in addition to helping with cross ways Scar Tissue).So the value of stretching for those already injured should not be lost.

I also agree that muscle stiffness is in fact what makes us faster. Many lose sight of the fact that "tight" groups are actually an adaption to running that make for economy.

Its not saying younger runners are more/less injury prone than older runners

The study said that younger runners that didn't stretch weren't more injury prone than older runners that didn't stretch.

The study wasn't about runners getting hurt doing 300 miles a week compared to the runner doing 50 miles a week it was about stretching.

Isn't Dr. Robert Chapman the director of sport sciences and medicine at USATF? I'd like to know his thoughts on the study.

"More studies like this one should be conducted to confirm or refute the importance of other risk factors."

The most important aspect of any study- keeping everyone employed.

Night Runner wrote:

Most stretching I have seen is after the run when the muscles are loose and supple.

I'll show you supple.

About 2 weeks ago I stopped static stretching and switched to dynamic stretching during my base building for XC. Should i switch over to static stretching again or continue dynamic stretching? My coach makes us static stretch but when I run on my own, I do dynamic stretches

If you are required to static stretch as part of a team activity, then add in some dynamic activity before beginning a hard workout or race. The subsequent dynamic activities will mitigate the detrimental effects of static stretching on your performances.

Stretching cold muscles isn't good; so if one does it all, I would think a dynamic warmup should come first. Before my runs, I usually don't stretch, just do jumps, high knees, etc. It's funny because my XC coach is always advocating stretching and telling us to do it before bed. I'm flexible enough and it seems like stretching too much would obviously be bad for you.

People have this idea trained though. In every sport and even in gym class there always is the pre-activity stretch.

Doesn't Deena warm up during the race, and not before like others ritually do.