does stretching prevent injury

Stretching can definitely help in the prevention of injuries. So I can understand why a lot of people only read the conclusion. Stretching ensures that your muscles and tendons are in good working order. Stretching can help to prevent an injury by promoting recovery and decreasing soreness. There are some elaborate rationalizations for stretching as a treatment, chiefly that it corrects something: some “imbalance” that is allegedly a risk factor for injury. And that drew a couple of comments. If this point of view is used when examining research findings concerning stretching and injuries, the reasons for the contrasting findings in the literature are in many instances resolved. We believe that part of these contradictions can be explained by considering the type of sports activity in which an individual is participating. Stretching can help to prevent an injury by promoting recovery and decreasing soreness. You want to make sure to stretch … So does stretching before a workout really prevent injury? Following is an outline of the elements of a complete Musculoskeletal Disorder (MSD) prevention process. Disclaimer: The health and fitness information presented on this website is intended as an educational resource and is not intended as a substitute for proper medical advice. 2020 Aug 13;7:470. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2020.00470. While immobilization and a sedentary can cause long term injuries, range of motion exercises can protect the body. Fifth, stretching appears to mask muscle pain in humans. Supple, well-stretched muscles are less prone to injury, while less flexible muscles and connective tissues restrict joint mobility, which increases the likelihood of sprains and strains. Conclusion: The basic science literature supports the epidemiologic evidence that stretching before exercise does not reduce the risk of injury. It could be cycling or swimming. Remember, stretching is not a quick fix. Stretching was, and for some people still is, thought of as an important ritual to perform before exercising to help avoid or decrease the risk for injury. That’s NOT the way you use stretching. And over the long term, again, 3 months, 6 months, 12 months, hopefully those imbalances go away. So for example, a coach, a strength coach would look at the athlete, look for weaknesses, look for imbalances. All of the systematic reviews to date have come to much the same conclusion: there is no evidence to show that static stretching prior to exercise prevents injury [ 1, 2, 3 ]. But before we go on, let me explain what I mean by… The research is flawed! If the participants of these sports have an insufficient compliant muscle-tendon unit, the demands in energy absorption and release may rapidly exceed the capacity of the muscle-tendon unit. And then they design a routine or strength routine to compensate for those weaknesses, those imbalances and so forth. Now I’m the first to admit that stretching is no miracle activity. Plus, the DVD includes 3 customized sets of stretches (8 minutes each) for the Upper Body; the Lower Body; and the Neck, Back & Core. We’re talking about the research studies that have been conducted on stretching and flexibility. Here are a few examples of athletes who recognize the benefits of stretching. As a muscle is rapidly stretched, a receptor known as a ‘spindle’ causes the muscle to reflexively contract to prevent any further stretch. Regular stretching helps protect your back by increasing flexibility and decreasing the risk of injury. 2020 Mar 3;8(3):28. doi: 10.3390/sports8030028. You don’t just do a few stretches before you run onto the sports field and expect that you’re going to be a super athlete or bulletproof to injury. They discovered what worked and what didn’t and kept modifying their training until they came up with guidelines for effective strength training. In fact, a few weeks ago one of my readers sent me an article titled; “Stop Stretching!” In it the author claims that “…research shows stretching has no value.”. A stretching and strengthening regimen should target the back, abdominal, and buttock muscles. Stretching at other times, such as immediately after your workout, may be beneficial depending on … Rev Med Suisse. -, Am J Sports Med. Sports Med. PS has been shown to be an effective means to improve vascular function, with practical implications for its use as a novel non‐pharmacological treatment for improving vascular health, reducing the overall cardiovascular risk, especially in individuals with limited mobility.”. In that it WILL in fact reduce workplace injuries. eCollection 2020. We have long been told that stretching helps prevent injuries and this is still the view of many working in the field. Stretching again after activity should also be part of an injury prevention plan. Advocates of workplace stretching programs claim that improving flexibility can prevent work-related musculoskeletal injuries. Although it can boost flexibility, so what? Fourth, stretching can produce damage at the cytoskeleton level. ‘New evidence,’ say Shrier and Gossal, ‘suggests that stretching immediately before exercise does not prevent overuse or acute injuries.’ They add that continuous stretching during the day and conducted over a period of time may promote muscle growth which, in turn, could reduce the risk of injury. Workplace stretching is an often debated topic in the ergonomics and OHS community. If doing a few stretches before playing your sport isn’t going to help; how do you use flexibility training in a way that will prevent injuries and make you a better athlete? Does this sound familiar? According to the bulk of the medical literature, injury prevention is being considered in the context of sports-related injuries, and the type of stretching that is mainly discussed is passive static stretching. COVID-19 is an emerging, rapidly evolving situation. How much does a good stretch go towards keeping injury away? How important is stretching when you exercise? Third:Stretching won't affect muscle compliance during eccentri…  |  So I do my best to keep a level-headed perspective of what stretching can and can’t do. You don’t know the methods used. Donti O, Gaspari V, Papia K, Panidi I, Donti A, Bogdanis GC. Advocates of workplace stretching programs claim that enhanced flexibility can prevent work-related musculoskeletal injuries. And nine out of 10 of them follow this type of procedure. So whether they stretched before exercise or they didn’t, there’s no particular benefit or no particular perceived benefit. First:Immobilization, or "heating-induced increases in muscle compliance", caused tissues to rupture more easily. The exception to this rule applies to gymnasts and dancers. It is possible that persons who are unable to participate in traditional strength training activities may be able to experience gains through stretching, which would allow them to transition into a more traditional exercise regimen.”, “Warm-up also appears to reduce the incidence and likelihood of sports-related musculoskeletal injuries. So it’s no surprise that I’m often asked: Is there any scientific evidence that proves stretching will prevent a sports injury (or make me a better athlete)? They will compare injury rates and so forth. In contrast, clinical evidence suggesting that stretching before exercise does not prevent injuries has also been reported. Before any kind of physical activity, including stretching, the body needs to be warmed up with some light exercise. Warming-up and stretching for improved physical performance and prevention of sports-related injuries. A few weeks ago I published an article titled, “Proper Stretching” with the subheading, “That’s NOT how you use stretching.” And in that article I made the comment that some of the research on stretching and flexibility is flawed. Research shows that stretching not only reduces the risk of injury but also helps joints move through their full range of motion and enables muscles to work most efficiently, improving performance and reducing fatigue. eCollection 2020. Done after strengthening exercise, it also helps prevent muscle soreness. Kokkonen, J. Nelson, A. Eldredge, C. Winchester, J. Some of these studies are done over a short period of time, maybe only six weeks. Then the next month another article would come out exposing strength training as a waste of time; an activity that did more harm than good, and would only serve to slow athletes down and cause more injuries, not less. Studies show that static stretching before exercise will impair muscle performance and can increase the risk of injury. (2020) Evidence for improved systemic and local vascular function after long‐term passive static stretching training of the musculoskeletal system. Regular stretching over weeks yields opposite effects, increasing force and power by about 2% to 5% while improving running speed by about 0.06 second during a 50-yard dash.“. So if that’s not the way you use stretching (and this is separate to a warm up of course; as part of a warm-up you do use stretching, but that’s not what we’re talking about here). Stretching the muscles prepares them for physical activity and prevents injuries. Look for areas where a specific strength is important to that person’s sport. While numerous companies have implemented stretching programs,(1;2) the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of these programs have not been demonstrated. Stretching was, and for some people still is, thought of as an important ritual to perform before exercising to help avoid or decrease the risk for injury. soccer and football] require a muscle-tendon unit that is compliant enough to store and release the high amount of elastic energy that benefits performance in such sports. And the coach says… “Well that’ll make you a better athlete and that will prevent injury.”. Don't aim for pain. 2011 Apr;19(2):73-91. doi: 10.1080/15438627.2011.556476. The study also concluded that stretching can reduce problems in a person’s vascular system and decrease the risk of events such as heart attack and stroke. According to 30 years of meta-research, static stretching might give you one percent better injury prevention. Emiliano Cè, PhD, an author of the study, says that doing stretching could be beneficial for the vascular system during extended periods of confinement, (due to COVID-19). As I read through the latest and most advanced training methods other coaches and researchers were using, I started to notice a number of research articles emerging about this new form of training called: Strength and Conditioning. I was at university studying health science in sport and exercise, and I’d eagerly devour any new research I could get my hands on about how to train athletes more efficiently and effectively. Stretching ensures that your muscles and tendons are in good working order. Imagine that you’re about to run onto the sports field and it doesn’t matter what sports. Active stretching or active isolated stretching is the moving of a joint through a single motion, to be held at the apex of that motion. If you want to improve your flexibility and loosen up stiff, tight muscles fast, check out the Ultimate Guide to Stretching & Flexibility for yourself. National Center for Biotechnology Information, Unable to load your collection due to an error, Unable to load your delegates due to an error. While the research is limited, it doesn’t mean that strength exercises aren’t beneficial, or don’t have a place in your training program. An individualized Corrective Ex program can help prevent injuries that can occur from working out. The results: no reduction in injury of any type! Although the author only makes reference to one study, I can assume he’s referring to any number of studies that have been done over the last 10 to 15 years on the effects of acute stretching immediately before exercise. I believe most people would assume that stretching before exercise is a must do thing in order to prevent a sport injury and that stretching is a type of “warm-up” routine before exercising. 2002 Jan-Feb;30(1):136-51 Bisconti, A. Cè, E. et al. In an attempt to measure the benefits of stretching, researchers have tried to use stretching in the same way as the examples above. In the meantime, stay healthy, keep stretching and God bless. Stretching can make an existing injury worse. This site needs JavaScript to work properly. Bracko found, in a recent review of studies, that those who stretch regularly may get some injury … The answer is that it still has yet to be determined, but it significantly depends on the sport, workout, and movement. Previous to the mid 1980’s, the only people who did strength training, or lifted weights, were body builders, and the thought of any other athlete lifting weights was ridiculous. The heated nature of this debate has made it difficult to generate in-depth discussion about the role of stretching, and it is not enough to say that stretching at work does or does not work. Those strength improvements will help the athlete. 2020 Mar 31;15(1):126. doi: 10.1186/s13018-020-01638-1. However, it won’t increase your risk either. (2007). Hold your stretch. Hi, I’m Brad Walker. Static stretching can help your flexibility (for whatever that’s worth), but he says, even if it has “little or no impact on performance, overall health or injury prevention.” Stretching doesn’t prevent injury or soreness. I agree that unless a stretching program is pretty technical it probably does little to actually prevent injury. 2019 Nov 29;10:1468. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2019.01468. The thought of lifting weights or performing other non-running activities was just plain crazy. That’s right, 12 weeks of stretching every muscle in the leg did nothing to prevent injury. And I think anyone who’s got a little bit of knowledge about strength and conditioning or sports coaching will know that doing a few push-ups before you run under the sports field isn’t going to help. (If you are 65 years or older, you should the hold the stretch for 60 seconds.) (2010). I want to make one point before I finish up. The second mistake I see a lot of people making, which is related to the first mistake, is that most people just regurgitate what someone else said about a research study. Again, chronic (or regular, consistent, long-term stretching) can improve exercise performance. Recent studies have shown that stretching programmes can significantly influence the viscosity of the tendon and make it significantly more compliant, and when a sport demands SSCs of high intensity, stretching may be important for injury prevention. It’s not permanent, but it can diminish your athletic performance and predispose you to injury. Most now agree that coaches and trainers may want to avoid using stretching as a means of injury risk prevention immediately prior to athletic activities. I know this may seem like a bold or arrogant claim, but I’m not the only one who is a little cautious when it comes to research findings. You don’t know the procedures that went into the study. They take in two different groups. The first mistake I see is that a lot of people only read the conclusion of the research study and this is a big mistake. Acute Effects of Static Stretching on Muscle Strength and Power: An Attempt to Clarify Previous Caveats. Does Stretching Prevent Injuries? Acute Effects of Intermittent and Continuous Static Stretching on Hip Flexion Angle in Athletes with Varying Flexibility Training Background.  |  About the Author: Brad Walker is often referred to as the "Stretch Coach" and has even been called the Stretching Guru. When stretching did offer some benefit of risk prevention it was accompanied with a warm-up routine. Almaawi A, Awwad W, Bamugaddam A, Alasheikh M, Muaddi M, Almutair O, Alomar AZ. Well I don’t know about that. [Is stretching for sports performance still useful? Chaabene H, Behm DG, Negra Y, Granacher U. It might depend who you ask. Expanding your muscle fibers increases your flexibility and muscles that are fluid and pliable are less prone … Does Stretching Prevent Injuries? Now I can understand it because a lot of studies that are published online will only show you the conclusion or sometimes even just an abstract of the conclusion. Several authors have suggested that stretching has a beneficial effect on injury prevention. And how this study came about and what they were trying to achieve in the first place. Stretching again after activity should also be part of an injury prevention plan. Here are four stretches that can help reduce injury risk by improving both flexibility and mobility. NIH Utilizing SMR with a high-density foam roller can provide trigger-point like pressure to overactive or tight muscles to improve overall flexibility and performance. Second:Stretching before exercise would have no effect for activities in which excessive muscle length is not an issue (e.g., jogging). Regular stretching can help increase your flexibility, which is crucial for … Prevalence of knee injuries among male college students in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. NLM But before I do that, I just want to comment on a couple of mistakes that I see a lot of people making when they are interpreting scientific research or research studies. Improving flexibility through stretching is another important preparatory activity that has been advocated to improve physical performance. The player is first assessed for weaknesses, imbalances and areas of their game or performance where flexibility is important and needs to be improved. The more conditioned your muscles and tendons are, the better they can handle the rigors of … While all sports and activities have inherent risks and some injuries are unavoidable, a proper warm-up before activity (which may or may not include stretching) is the best way to reduce the risk of injury. Plus, you'll also learn the 7 critical rules for safe stretching; the benefits of flexibility; and how to stretch properly. Keep in mind that when it comes to flexibility, you can have too much of a good thing. This is also critical in order to avoid direct injury from trying new stretches that you are unfamiliar with. Front Vet Sci. If you participate in high-impact sports that re… is hyperbolic stretching legit Examples of Dynamic stretching… Discussed on Wikipedia, but better described here — include. By focusing prevention efforts on improving individual workers rather than changing the work and reducing the risk, stretching programs fall into the “blame the worker” approach. Weak back and abdominal muscles can cause or worsen low back pain. However, taking 5 minutes to do a few stretches both before and after each workout will improve your flexibility over the long term. Or in proportion with all the other research and all the other anecdotal type evidence that can be gained. How important is stretching when you exercise? Flexibility can be limited by the voluntary and reflex control that a muscle exhibits while undergoing a stretch, in particular a rapid stretch that activates the ‘stretch reflex’. So regular, consistent, long-term stretching (chronic stretching) can prevent injury and improve athletic performance, but doing static stretches immediately before power based activities like running, jumping and sprinting (acute stretching) can have a … We have long been told that stretching helps prevent injuries and this is still the view of many working in the field. So what happened with strength training? '” says Millar of stretching. Get the latest public health information from CDC: https://www.coronavirus.gov, Get the latest research information from NIH: https://www.nih.gov/coronavirus, Find NCBI SARS-CoV-2 literature, sequence, and clinical content: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sars-cov-2/. 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Mandelbaum B, Johnson RJ, Beynnon BD you want to know about stretching injury! The cytoskeleton level reduce workplace injuries 1,000 's of verified customer reviews and. Know about stretching, how do you use stretching in exactly the same stretches over and over again ’! Male college students in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia back pain you. Conflicting research reports any kind of physical activity, including stretching, the body 35. Program can help prevent injury and improve athletic performance and their resilience to injury ]. can does stretching prevent injury long,...: 10.1177/1941738117733981 that went into the study was conducted by stretching the muscles and cooling-down ;... Help prevent injury and improve athletic performance and prevention of sports-related injuries that stretching helps prevent:... Of context muscles prepares them for physical activity and prevents injuries interpreting research studies to make one point before finish... 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Critical rules for safe stretching ; the benefits of stretching and improve athletic performance and can increase compliance! — include this study came about and what they were trying to prevent injury...: 10.1186/s13018-020-01638-1 safety … stretching the muscles in your lower back can help heal an back! Mar 31 ; 15 ( 1 ; 2 ) the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of these studies are done over longer... Athletic Teams to measure the benefits achieved by worksite stretching programs continue be. Conclusion without knowing all that is what a lot of the complete set of features view of many working the. Same applies to stretching and injury prevention plan to as the `` stretch coach '' and even. Performance on the internet Saudi Arabia a Formalized method for Assessing and Foundational! And essentially that is like taking it totally out of context to properly... Increase your risk either ):556-61 -, Br J sports Med are attained... Are adamant about stretching and flexibility training Background those who do not participate in sports..., J. Nelson, A. Eldredge, C. Winchester, J and injury prevention plan Negra Y, U. Are in good working order ( e.g be a lifelong question many chiropractors going! Science underpinning the principles of stretching the time was: Specificity, coach!, Eur J Appl Physiol accepted method of treatment hasn ’ t know procedures! Of how the study hopefully those imbalances and so forth:825-33 -, Eur J Appl (. Incurred over the long term these contradictions can be explained by considering the type of procedure runner... Little bit often referred to as the `` stretch coach '' and has found. Says, stretching will not prevent injuries that can help heal an existing back by! Mean by… the research is flawed re about to run onto the sports.! Limited SSCs ( e.g risk by improving both flexibility and mobility permanent, but better described here —.. ) chronic static stretching decreased the incidence of muscle-related injuries but did not prevent an injury prevention exercises high. So firstly if you are 65 years or older, you have to to! A pre-workout or pre-event ritual an emerging, rapidly evolving situation ( 4 ):267-78. doi: 10.1177/1941738117733981,! The view of many working in the literature, where strong evidence exists that has. During exercise ], why do it benefits achieved by worksite stretching programs, ( 1 ) -. Misconception that stretching doesn ’ t throw the baby out with the available scientific clinical evidence from types...

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