The Stretching Myth
A recent study challenged that old, vague admonition to stretch before exercise. Apparently, it’s not that simple. Guidelines on who needs to do what kind of stretching and when should be individualized, depending on your exercise or sport, according to experts on the subject.
A recent study performed at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), examined how two kinds of stretching affect muscles used in different physical activities. Twenty-four healthy college students first warmed up with five minutes of treadmill walking, followed by one of three options -- three 30-second periods of static (the "stretch-and-hold" style) stretching... the same three 30-second periods of ballistic stretching (where you bounce back and forth between a starting point and the "stretched muscle" sensation)... or no stretching before engaging in a variety of performance-related activities examining quad and hamstring strength, lower body power and vertical jump, which are important to different degrees in a variety of sports. There were 48 hours between testing days and the order of the stretching alternatives was carefully rotated.
STATIC OR DYNAMIC:
WHICH STRETCH FOR YOU?
As it turned out, for sports that involve vertical jumping (for instance, basketball and volleyball) and quadriceps or hamstring strength (soccer, tennis, running and biking), it won't really matter what kind of stretching is done -- neither version helped or harmed performance. What researchers did find, however, was that for sports that involved speed and leg muscle power (sprinting 800 meters or less, for example) both forms of stretching negatively impacted performance. This is a finding that may turn out to be significant for competitive athletes in sports that demand bursts of power, such as track, soccer or football.
To get more detail about what these findings mean, I contacted UNLV’s William Holcomb, PhD, ATC/L, CSCS, of the department of kinesiology and nutrition sciences and coauthor of the study. He acknowledged that the research is complicated and the results sometimes appear contradictory but noted that the application is simple. "Avoid static stretching prior to performance if speed is going to be a factor," he said, whereas "dynamic (also called "ballistic") stretching should be a part of your warm-up for any athletic activities that require range of motion." For athletes who enjoy both kinds of stretching (that’s me), he recommends dynamic stretching and a warm-up beforehand, plus a cool-down that includes static stretching afterward.
IS IT ALL ABOUT THE WARM-UP?
Strength loss and stretching are two specialties of Malachy McHugh, PhD, director of research, Nicholas Institute of Sports Medicine and Athletic Trauma at New York’s Lenox Hill Hospital, so I called him as well. He basically agrees with the findings, he said, adding that he believes that what an athlete does to warm up and stretch should be specific to his/her choice of sport or activity.
Though the UNLV study was about stretching, Dr. McHugh pointed to the fact that a five-minute warm-up preceded each stretching protocol. Warming up raises body temperature and increases blood and fuel flow to muscles so they are ready for use in exercise. This may be even more critical than stretching, in Dr. McHugh’s view. "The most important preparation activity for a sport is to start with low-intensity exercise simulating the activity you are about to perform," he explained. "Whether or not you add stretches depends on what the activity/sport is."
WHAT TO DO
BEFORE YOUR WORKOUT?
If you're not a competitive athlete, what does all this mean to you?
• Warm up your muscles lightly and aerobically before any kind of stretching or workout.
• Dynamic stretching helps prepare muscles for all types of activity.
• Don’t do static stretching before your sport if it requires your utmost power and speed.
Achieving appropriate range of motion of your joints should be the goal of pre-exercise activity. Whether you do only a gentler version of your activity or also add sport-appropriate stretching depends in part on your activity -- and also on what feels good to you.
Source(s):
William Holcomb, PhD, ATC/L, CSCS, associate professor, department of kinesiology and nutrition sciences, University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Malachy McHugh, PhD, director of research, Nicholas Institute of Sports Medicine and Athletic Trauma, Lenox Hill Hospital, New York City.