Static Stretching: For And Against

Stretching is surrounded by hype, mythology and misconception. In this article, we'll take the major claims for and against static stretching and see if the evidence supports them. Then we'll look at some more effective strategies.

First, what is static stretching?

Static stretching is when you get into a stretch and hold it without moving for time. What most people mean by static stretching is passive stretching - you use your weight or some tension in another part of your body to move you into the stretch and the body part you're stretching is completely relaxed. Everything from the figure-4 stretch to the hand-behind-the-head triceps stretch, all the way out to the splits, counts as static/passive stretching. There's such a thing as active static stretching, but we'll touch on that later.

1: Stretching prevents injury

The idea:

Making your muscles longer makes you less likely to hurt them when you exercise. They won't bump up against their maximum range of motion if they're longer, so you should stretch before you exercise.

The facts:

The facts don't really bear this out. Long term stretching might make you more flexible - but probably not, as we'll see. However, says Judie Gilchrist at the CDC, 'most injuries take place within the normal range of motion.'

Studies that appear to show stretching reducing the risk of injury are often made meaningless by including a dynamic warm-up along with stretching, making it impossible to distinguish their effects.  Dr Gilchrist agrees: 'Stretching and warming up have just gone together for decades. It's simply what's done, and it hasn't been approached through rigorous science.' 

2: Stretching causes injuries

The idea:

Stretching passively reduces neural drive to the muscles you stretch - yo neurologically 'turn them off' when you stretch. Therefore, you're increasing your chances of winding up with an injury!

The facts:

Stretching for injury prevention has been studied and studied. The results are quite mixed, and they don't show much effect either way. Stretching isn't very effective at preventing injury, but doesn't seem to cause injuries either. In fact, disconcertingly, it doesn't seem to do much of anything for your risk of injury either way.

3: Stretching prevents muscle soreness/DOMS

The idea:

Stretching loosens tight muscles which would otherwise restrict the flow of blood and lymph, making muscles stay filled with metabolic waste products, which makes them sore.

The facts:

Stretching has a poor record at preventing DOMS. Lund et al found that 'passive stretching after eccentric exercise cannot prevent secondary pathological alterations.' 

See Also: 7 Stretching Exercises You Should Perform

4: Stretching increases flexibility by lengthening your muscles

The idea: 

Stretching makes you more flexible by forcing your muscles to get longer, allowing for a greater range of motion

The facts:

According to a study by Weppler and Magnusson, stretching doesn't have much to do with lengthening muscles. It has more to do with making people feel safer in more extreme ranges of motion than with any physical changes. Muscles do get longer when they're stretched, the study found, but 'this length increase is transient,' and over stretching programs of 3-8 weeks, the changes in flexibility that took places were due to sensory changes: people got used to being more flexible. Their muscles didn't get any longer. The study did add that the effect of programs longer than 8 weeks 'have yet to be evaluated.'

So stretching doesn't really do much. What should You do to prevent injury, prevent DOMS, and get more range of motion?

Alternative Options To Prevent Injury, Prevent DOMS, And Get More Range Of Motion

Static stretching isn't the only option to help you reach those goals. And it's far from the best one too.

Here are some alternatives:

Prevent Injury

Long term, an injury prevention strategy should focus on getting some 'spare strength,' so that you're slightly stronger than you need to be to do most of the things you're going to do. Think of it like a car engine: the speed limit may be 55, but that doesn't make it safe to drive on fast roads in a car that can only do 55 tops. You're not planning to speed, but the extra power translates to extra acceleration, safer overtaking and a safer journey. Strength is the same. For mechanoreception issues, train in a discipline that stresses movement quality and improve your control over the moves you do so you don't catch yourself at a bad angle.

In individual training sessions you should use a warm-up that includes both a basic cardio warm-up that raises core temperature and blood flow, and a skill-type warm-up that lets you practice the movements you're about to do at lower intensity, preparing the relevant muscles and getting you to move right at the same time.

Prevent DOMS

Sad to say, there really isn't very much good information on how to prevent muscle soreness. DOMS, particularly, is mysterious, since the reasons behind it aren't well understood either. Everyone has their favorite trick to treat DOMS, so ask around and you'll hear about pulsing temperature showers, ice baths, walking it off, concentric-only exercise, high-potassium diets and, yes, massage. 'It’s mostly a myth that DOMS can be effectively treated by massage…or anything else,' says registered massage practitioner and blogger Paul Ingraham. Unfortunately, 'medical science can barely even explain DOMS, let alone treat it.'

Increase Range of Motion

Passive stretching is far from the best way to increase range of motion. As we've seen, the idea behind using it for this is that you'll make your muscles longer, and then you'll be able to move them more. For instance, you stretch your hamstrings. Then your hamstrings resist your quadriceps and hip flexors less and you can kick higher. But kicking higher is active flexibility - it's mobility. And mobility is a skill, just like passive flexibility - and they're different skills. Stretching makes you good at stretching.

See Also: Warm Up Before Exercise And Relax Afterwards: Dynamic Warm-Ups Vs Static Stretching

If you'd like more detail on anything we've discussed today, or you have something you'd like to add, use the comments box below!