BEYOND LOCAL: What you need to know about warming up before stretching
The benefits of static stretching as part of a full warm-up before exercise seem to outweigh the disadvantages
Feb 25, 2021 8:55 PM By: The Conversation
Stock photo
Over the past 20 years, static muscle stretching has gotten a bad rap. Once considered an essential part of any sport or exercise warm-up, static stretching has now been removed from the picture almost entirely.
This move followed extensive research showing that static stretching where we stretch and then hold the muscle at an extended length for seconds or minutes can reduce muscle strength (reflected in things like lifting weights), power (for example, jump height), running speed, balance and other capacities for a short time after the stretching.
To stretch or not to stretch before exercise: What you need to know about warm-ups
To put the research into context, the average performance decrease (decrease in strength, power, speed) after static stretching across all studies is about three to five per cent. (Pixabay photo)
Over the past 20 years, static muscle stretching has gotten a bad rap. Once considered an essential part of any sport or exercise warm-up, static stretching has now been removed from the picture almost entirely.
This move followed extensive research showing that static stretching where we stretch and then hold the muscle at an extended length for seconds or minutes can reduce muscle strength (reflected in things like lifting weights), power (for example, jump height), running speed, balance and other capacities for a short time after the stretching.