By Jonathan Aluzas

When I played soccer, we’d flop down on the ground and stretch out for about 15 minutes before a game or practice.? Same thing in martial arts.? Static stretches, mostly; the butterfly stretch, the hurdler stretch, legs out, legs in, you know the drill.? It’s just what you do, isn’t it?? You stretch before you workout because it helps you avoid injury and improves performance, right?

Wrong.? Recent (and not-so-recent) studies are showing that we’ve been all wrong when it comes to the old school approach to stretching.? As far back as 1999, and probably before, the Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine reported that stretching before training did nothing to reduce injury (https://journals.lww.com/cjsportsmed/Abstract/1999/10000/Stretching_Before_Exercise_Does_Not_Reduce_the.7.aspx).? A few years later, the University of Sydney reported that stretching before training does not reduce soreness (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC119442/).? And a recent article in Sports Illustrated reported that stretching before training does not improve athletic performance, but actually can decrease athletic ability because (and I paraphrase, because I was at the dentist’s office and wasn’t shameless enough to rip the page out of his magazine):

“Stretching impairs performance…..static stretching decreases the elasticity of tendons and muscles which causes them to return less energy with each stride.? Imagine a slinky; each contact with the ground produces more bounce if it’s taut and tightly coiled as opposed to loose and stretched out.”

Makes sense.? So, what are we to do?? Well, first of all, do away with static stretching before training.? Furthermore, most experts suggest a warm-up that will in some way mimic the movements you are about to perform.? For example:

  • If you are going to go on a run, start slowly with a fast walk and a slow jog for 10 minutes before launching into your regular pace.? This allows the relevant muscles to get warmed up prior to the actual event.
  • If you are doing martial arts, do light kicking and shadowboxing drills, jump rope, etc..
  • If you’re at the batting cages, mimic the players who limber up on the on-deck circle before batting.

You get the picture.? The bottom line is, it’s time to put old myths to rest when it comes to stretching before exercise.

Arena Fitness is a Personal Training and Group Exercise Facility in Encino, California.