Hold That Stretch: Warm-Up Is Challenged
Now a major study is stirring renewed discussion about when stretching is and is not beneficial.
The study, a review of six decades of research by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, found that stretching does little to prevent injury during exercise when done outside of a warm-up. In some cases, the increased flexibility that stretching promotes may actually impede performance.
The researchers analyzed 361 scientific articles on stretching published since 1946. The findings, in the March issue of Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, suggest that athletes who devote pre-exercise time to stretching may be better served with a warm-up that prepares the body for activity and regular exercises that build strength and balance.
“The idea of loosening your joints up and muscle stretching makes sense, but the problem is that it really hasn’t been shown to prevent injury,” said Dr. Stephen B. Thacker, director of the epidemiology program office at the C.D.C. and an author of the study. “If you put on your sweats and simply start stretching, your muscles are not necessarily warmed up.”
Warming up, which typically means raising the body temperature enough to send the blood flowing through the muscles, requires more intense activity than stretching.
“For your muscles to function at optimal capability, they should not be too loose nor too tight,” said Dr. Lisa Bartoli, an attending physician in physical medicine and rehabilitation at the Beth Israel Medical Center in Manhattan. She likened warming up the body for exercise to taking modeling clay from a refrigerator. “You warm it up and work it a little bit,” she said. “And then you can stretch it.”
Like many sports physicians, Dr. Bartoli tells her patients that rather than stretching before physical activity, they should do the sporting activity at 50 percent of the target intensity.
The argument against stretching does make some sense. You need not take a joint to an angle that you will not be using. Too much laxity may make injury more likely (by preventing resistance to injury).
I like the recommendation of warming up. I notice in golf that a slow warm up leads to better golf swings on the course. I notice that prior to my weight lifting sessions, a moderate aerobic activity of 10-15 minutes helps me get ready for action.
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