Posted: February 12, 2008

Sportsmedicine: A Stretching Conversation

Stretching and flexibility research update A few weeks back I got an email from Neil Cook at the Asphalt Green Triathlon Club. He had read a few of our articles and Stretching Tips and was concerned that we were contradicting some of the latest research on stretching and flexibility. Neil is an endurance coach and athlete with multiple post graduate degrees in physical education, coaching, motor learning and neurophysiology, so he's no amateur when it comes to exercise physiology. Our emails went back and forth over the course of a few weeks and I know we both enjoyed the depth of our conversation; so I thought I would share our conversation with you. What follows is our discussion... Neil Cook Your recent series of articles... "Stretching Tips" mentions stretching before and after exercise. I'm an endurance coach and athlete. I have multiple post graduate degrees in Physical Education, Coaching, Motor Learning and Neurophysiology and have been a long distance runner for 30 years. I have never stretched. I have not experienced any significant injuries or down time. I am however interested in staying on top of current research. But, I find your comments about the research concerning stretching before exercising concerning. The research I've read showed a diminished performance with pre-exercise stretching (endurance runners). The reasoning expressed was that a stretched muscle is not as strong. While this was just one study, the logic makes sense and my personal experience, and that of a number of athletes I coach support their findings. The study you quoted only states that there is not enough research to support stretching or not stretching for that matter. Yet, you use the review study to support stretching prior to exercising I completely agree about warming-up prior to exercising and cooling-down after. It's just the recommendation to stretch prior to exercising and the research cited that concerns me. On the other hand, maintaining range of motion has been strongly correlated to maintaining performance as an athlete ages. I'm not opposed to stretching, just trying to understand your logic on pre-exercise stretching. Brad Walker Hi Neil, Thanks for your inquiry. The key to understanding the current research is to be clear on the type of stretching that the research is referring to. Current research suggests that STATIC stretching immediately prior to power based activities can have a negative effect on muscle contraction speed and result in diminished performance. This study was specifically referring to standing jump height. DYNAMIC stretching, on the other hand, in the later part of the warm-up is beneficial for improved performance. But that doesn't mean that static stretching should be avoided all together. This is why I recommend static stretching early in the warm-up procedure and dynamic stretching in the later stages. Neil Cook Thanks for your quick reply. Please do not take this as argumentative, to the contrary. You are the first person I've encountered that uses stretching; supports stretching; and has actually looked at research about stretching and has formed a reasonable opinion. If you do not mind, I'd like to continue our discussion. You see, I've never stretched. Maybe I'm just lucky and have not had problems. Some points I believe - loss of range of motion as an athlete (runner) is the most significant factor related to loss of performance. I can't cite the research article, but I believe that Owen Anderson reviewed it, specifically looked at running and stretching prior to a workout or performance test and noted loss of performance. The logic - this is where I'm looking for your comments - was that a muscle that is longer than normal, or has reduced tension, is weaker. It makes sense to me, from all my exercise physiology studies and my kinesiology studies, as well as my personal and coaching experience. What do you think? I do agree; most people do not know how to stretch properly. I am familiar with Active Isolation Stretching and generally agree with its concept - activate the opposing muscle prior to stretching. Brad Walker It's always a pleasure to talk with people like yourself and I'm more than happy to continue our discussion. At present the research on stretching and flexibility is very limited and in some cases contradictory. It is at a similar level to that of strength training 20 or 30 years ago. So we still have a long way to go with the research. One of the flaws with a lot of the current research is that it is trying to test whether stretching before activity will improve performance or reduce injury. And unfortunately most of the people doing the research have no idea about how to stretch properly. (Which type of stretching is most beneficial for what purpose) Case in point; USA Track and Field are currently doing a study on stretching to see if doing 3 pre-run stretches will reduce injury. http://www.usatf.org/stretchStudy/ I can tell you right now that doing the 3 stretches, in the way they are recommending, will increase the likelihood of injury, not reduce it. http://www.usatf.org/stretchStudy/stretches.asp Unfortunately, the results will most likely "prove" that stretching before exercise is a waste of time and many people will continue to ignore stretching as a means of injury reduction. The real problem however, is the study, not stretching. And until the mindset of the people doing the research is changed we will continue to get flawed results. THIS IS THE IMPORTANT POINT... Most people still don't realize that the purpose of pre-workout stretching is NOT to reduce injury or improve performance. And while people continue to do research studies to determine whether pre-workout stretching will reduce injury or improve performance, we will continue to get flawed results. To refer to the study that you cite below (Owen Anderson reviewed it). Firstly, I don't know what type of stretching they are referring to, but if they tested (like in the USATF study) whether doing a few static stretches before running will improve performance, the results will be negative. Now, on the other hand, improving flexibility in the long term will have a positive effect on athletic performance in most cases. Just like improving overall strength will improve athletic performance. For example, increasing hamstring length will increase stride length and therefore improve running speed. Now that's a very simplistic way of looking at it, and there are obviously a lot of other considerations. But you don't improve flexibility by doing a few stretches before your workout. Just as you don't improve your strength by doing a few bicep curls before you exercise. So to emphasize again, it is knowing WHAT type of stretching to do and WHEN to do it, which yields the greatest results. Neil Cook It seems to me from what I've read, that warming up may or may not have benefits in performance - longer duration, endurance activities. But, only long term, on-going stretching has any benefit. And the evidence seems strong that PNF stretching is the most beneficial and should be done after an activity, and not before. I suspect we are in a phase of transition. Moving from traditional beliefs about warming up and stretching to one based on research. I think the studies cited are a bit more sound than you thought. But, I do agree there needs to be more - both specific and broad based, with suggestions for implementation. For now, I have to go with what I've suspected all along: Only stretch when fully warmed up. Only stretch after a workout, or as a discrete workout, but not prior to a workout. Stretching done long term, and as PNF has some benefit in maintaining ROM. There also seem to be support for benefits of injury recovery with stretching, particularly PNF. As I said, my wife stretches regularly, after and between workouts and there seems to be benefits for her - injury control and recovery. There doesn't seem to be anything about preventing loss of ROM with age, which would be the most interesting for me. I think that we are both making statements that are worded generally and broadly. And I think that is a problem. The research is not at a stage yet where generalizations can be made or the results extrapolated to more practical situations. Hopefully that will happen soon. Thanks for discussing this with me, I am going to take the set of tips you sent out (which triggered my initial e-mail) and find a way to implement them with my athletes and observe the effect. Brad Walker The thing to remember is that it's the TYPE of stretching that's important. So instead of saying you shouldn't stretch before exercise, a more accurate statement would be you shouldn't do static stretching immediately before exercise. And while some of the studies ignore this altogether, some of them are starting to make the distinction between the different types of stretching. I'm sure we'll see large advances forward in this area over the next few years. Neil Cook Thanks for the kind words. On a business level, your e-mail subscription been a great asset to me, I've been able to expand my view of stretching, and your examples are very helpful. I've enjoyed our discussion, and do feel free to post our discussion on your web site. Whenever you are in the metro NYC area, please let me know, I'd love to show you around Asphalt Green and can provide you with passes to use the facilities while here. All the best. Brad Walker Thanks Neil I've really enjoyed our discussion, and if I ever get over your way I'll let you know and we can talk face to face. Article by Brad Walker. Brad is a leading stretching and sports injury consultant with nearly 20 years experience in the health and fitness industry. For more free articles on stretching, flexibility and sports injury, subscribe to The Stretching & Sports Injury Newsletter by visiting www.thestretchinghandbook.com.

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