Stretching before exercise may not always be best

[Naveed Yaseen]

Although stretching is part of the warm-up routine of athletes everywhere, the practice may actually be counterproductive in certain cases, research suggests.

Most people stretch before hitting the court, trail or slopes because they believe that it reduces their odds of injury and boosts their athletic prowess.

There is, however, no clear evidence that a pre-game stretch prevents injuries during the game. And in some instances, stretching right before activity may actually detract from an athlete’s performance, according to Dr. Ian Shrier, of the Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Community Studies at SMBD-Jewish General Hospital in Montreal.

Shrier, who is also a past-president of the Canadian Academy of Sport Medicine, reviews the research evidence on stretching in the March issue of The Physician and Sportsmedicine.

The potential downside of stretching, according to Shrier, rests in its immediate, short-term effects, with research showing that it causes a small, temporary reduction in a muscle’s force and power.

In the case of an athlete who is already flexible but needs an injection of power in her performance — greater force in her soccer kick, for example —stretching right before the game may bring no benefit, according to Shrier.

That is not to say, however, that stretching is of no use to athletes. Stretching is analogous to weight training, Shrier told Reuters Health.

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