Are there any benefits of stretching? The research is conflicting. What we hear anecdotally is conflicting. The truth is there is no one set way of stretching guaranteed to work for all. In this article we’ll attempt to help you navigate through this confusion to help you find a stretching regime that works for you.
Should We Stretch At All?
Have you ever seen a wildlife documentary following a pack of lions as they hunt a zebra? The lions stealthily sneak up on their pray and then leap out on their unsuspecting prey. Has the zebra ever asked for 5 minutes to do some stretching to limber up?
Stretching Is A No For Sprinting
Don’t bother stretching just warm up then sprint!
Taking the wildlife example above the research seems to conclusively agree that stretching diminishes the maximum amount of force we can generate in our muscles. In fact it would appear that the longer we hold the stretches the more impact this has.
It’s important at this point to discuss what kind of stretching we are talking about here. At the moment we’re discussing static stretching. This is where we hold a muscle in a stretched position for an amount of time.
For many years now stretching hasn’t been encouraged in sprinting which is why you don’t see any 100 metre runners stretching before the gun goes off. What we do see is lots of jumping up and down, explosive type of movements. This is what we refer to as dynamic stretching. Moving the muscles in ways to get ready for the exercise that is about to be done. There is some research here which suggests that dynamic stretching may increase muscle strength whilst providing short term increase in length.
Interestingly this newer piece of research suggests the negative effects on strength of static stretching are trivial so long as the stretching is under 60 seconds. They become more noticeable thereafter. So perhaps some short duration stretching may not be as negative for performance as previously thought.
Is Stretching Good For Longer Distance Running?
This research specifically summarises many papers on stretching research for long distance runners. In short it concludes that “stretching poses no significant advantage to endurance runners.” It goes onto to say that stretching before running can reduce running economy and performance for up to an hour by diminishing the stiffness and elastic energy produced by muscles. It also suggests no benefit in reducing injury prevalence.
Pretty damming! We will move onto some positive news for stretching I promise but let’s finish off the negative stuff first…
Is Stretching Any Good For Injury Avoidance?
Further damming evidence of the positive impact on injury avoidance can found in this article which concludes that “no compelling evidence that stretching reduces rate of injury.” And this review which confirms “little or no impact on injury prevention with stretching.”
Is Stretching Any Good For Post Training Recovery?
Again the research is looking very negative here as well. This piece suggests that post exercise stretching is no better than light recovery cool down. And this article suggests that stretching doesn’t help in the prevention of post exercise muscle soreness aka DOMS. If you’re interested in how you can reduce post exercise muscles soreness read our article on DOMS.
Is There Any Point To Stretching?
Does any kind of stretching actually help?
After that barrage of evidence above you would be forgiven for asking the question above. Is there any point to stretching? Despite all of the above, my answer is a firm yes. Let’s start to make the case for stretching.
Firstly, all of the research above is talking about stretching just before or just after exercise. There seems to be a strong lesson here. We should probably heed this. Pre and post exercise stretching makes little difference to anything.
Secondly, all the research cited above considers muscles we’re about to use. For example calves for running, quadriceps for kicking etc. What they are not, and cannot possibly consider, is each individual. What if stretching feels like the right thing to do for you?
For example in my very low level football career as a teenager I was very aware of my adductor (groin) muscle if it hadn’t been stretched before I tried to belt the ball. I found out, through painful experimentation, that if I didn’t stretch my adductor before crossing or shooting it would hurt. If I stretched it, and did a bit of a warm up, it didn’t.
As much as we respect the research, our own personal experience of our bodies is way more important.
The Benefits Of Targeted Stretching
At the clinic we advocate what we call targeted stretching. That is stretching that has been specially worked out that works for you. Unfortunately the research will never include such things as it is searching for results in all cases. Lets explain how targeted stretching works…
Muscles are good at shortening. That’s what they are designed to do. We call this a concentric contraction. A good example of this would be straightening your leg at the knee. The quadriceps are contracting concentrically. As you bend the knee back down they are working eccentrically. That is, slowly lengthening the muscles under control. This is harder work for muscles. Because this is harder it is more common that muscles doing the eccentric work will feel tired and feel pain. In this case into the front of our thigh (quadricep) and often, as a result, into the knee.
It may feel very natural to try to stretch out the quadriceps to help out. But, more likely, it’s the hamstrings on the other side that are too tight. In this instance stretching the quadriceps could make the quad sensation or knee pain actually feel worse. Stretching the hamstrings however could well make things a lot better. This is a founding principle of our clinic. We have to work it out for each individual. There are no text book answers that are right for everyone.
To extend this principle further consider the picture below, Anatomy Trains superficial back line:
The superficial back line showing how the neck muscles are continuous with your hamstrings
This hamstring tension could be affected by the tension in the muscles at the base of the skull which are working hard as the head juts forward. A common posture in this day and age due to the amount of screen usage. So it could be that we actually need to stretch and release the muscles that pull the head forward to actually address the sensation of tension in the quadriceps!
I appreciate this is complicated and quite a leap for the casual reader. It can be for some of our clients too. Which is why we like to test our theories. If when we release the muscles pulling the head forward we see an improvement in symptoms in the knee then this suggests this is a good stretch to recommend to help address the quadricep tension. This is what we mean by targeted stretching.
Does Stretching Have Any Lasting Affects?
So we’ve found a muscle that seems to help us when it’s released off. How do we keep it that way? Firstly we advocate noticing when you’re using that muscle more than you need. In the above example it could mean paying more attention to our head position as we’re working. Better than having to stretch a muscle is for it not to get tight in the first place.
But we’re not perfect. Life happens. We’re unlikely to hold perfect posture at all times. So this is where stretching the muscle is useful to help engrain a new movement pattern. The longer we spend in a new posture the easier it becomes to maintain it.
If we do stretch a muscle how long does it last? This research here suggests after 1 minute of stretching we start to see a reduction in tension in a specific muscle. Then after 5 minutes we see a further reduction in tension. It’s relatively easy to elongate a muscle. But most research suggests it returns to it’s normal length relatively quickly. Concluding there is no long term benefit.
If this is the case how is that ballet dancers and gymnasts are so much more flexible than the rest of us? I think the answer lies in adaptation. The muscles do adapt, it just takes time. Just as when we’re trying to get stronger.
Any Other Benefits Of Stretching?
This research suggests that flexibility improves circulation and reduces blood pressure. There’s certainly lots of research to suggest that yoga helps calm our nervous system as we discuss in our physiotherapy vs yoga article. If we calm our nervous system we reduce our pain levels. As we discuss in our What Is Pain? article.
Maybe stretching is useful after all! Despite the negative research above. I appreciate this has been a very research heavy and theoretical article so far so let’s summarise with our final practical thoughts on stretching.
What Stretching Should I Do?
As a basic rule if it feels good carry on, if it doesn’t don’t. If you’ve tried stretching for a long time and haven’t felt any benefit then don’t feel obliged to continue. Try something different instead.
From the research above it appears that stretching for sprinting and long distance running makes very little difference. And I would tend to agree with that in terms of basic stretching the muscles you’re about to use. It looks like it might be better to do a simple warm up and cool down. That might be walking, gentle running or perhaps dynamic stretching.
We talked through our concept of targeted stretching above. Many of you may not be lucky enough to be able to get that specifically worked out for you. What then? You can look into mobility type work outs. Challenging our joints to increase their range of movement.
Probably the longest standing mobility workout is yoga. For me the flow style of yoga such as ashtanga are the ones most aligned with modern mobility workouts. Challenging our bodies to work in a way we’re not used to.
On the flip side is Yin Yoga. Holding poses for a long time. 3-5 minutes per stretch. Using our breath to let go of tension. This is my personal favourite type of yoga. Very good for calming the nervous system for those who are of a more nervous disposition. Good for a whole body stretch rather than stretching just the tight bit. Which, as we’ve seen above, probably won’t make any difference anyway.
When Should I Stretch?
Hopefully we know not to stretch when cold right? The best time to stretch it is generally agreed is after a bit of a warm up when the blood is pumping through the muscles. Equally that could mean stretching with the fire on or wearing a woolly jumper.
Stretching before and after exercise seems to have limited impact. So my view, the most important type of stretching is outside of that window. When we set aside some specific time to do stretch or mobility training. The more we enjoy our preferred stretch training the more sustainable the training and so the better the long term benefits.
What Stretch Should I Feel?
A “nice” stretch is what we advise our clients. It’s actually counter-productive to stretch to pain as muscles will shorten to protect the muscle through a mechanism called the stretch reflex. When we stretch we want to take time to ensure we don’t engage the stretch reflex to ensure our stretch training is productive.
Try stretching to the point that you feel a comfortable stretch and hold for about 30 seconds. After this 30 seconds if the stretch has subsided stretch a bit further and hold this for another 30 seconds. If it hasn’t eased, don’t go further into the stretch. This protocol will avoid the stretch reflex response. Start with a minute. Make sure the effects feel good immediately after and the following day. You can then build up gradually to as much as 5 minutes and beyond if it’s really helping.
Stretching Conclusion
We’ve mentioned lots of ideas for you to try and hopefully freed you from unrealistic expectations of what stretching should do. Hopefully there’s something challenging in here for everyone and it serves as inspiration to change. If we always do what we always did we always get what we always got. All the research is good and well but the most important thing is how you feel. If it feels good and you feel it is helping carry on. But if it doesn’t try something different.
If you’ve got tight bits that aren’t shifting or you have a pain that just isn’t going away and you’d like to know what can be done about it then please fill out the form here and we’ll give you a call to have a chat about your specific situation and your specific needs and how we might be able to help.
