Regular stretching over a few days or weeks before sports or exercise appears to improve performance, while performing stretches only just before these activities may actually decrease performance. Many clinicians and fitness instructors advise people to stretch before exercising to prevent injury, but recent reviews of studies examining the benefits of such stretching suggest that it may not reduce one's injury risk. Some experts also believe that stretching may improve performance. Researchers from the General Hospital in Montreal, Quebec, analysed the results of studies on stretching and sport performance. The results of 22 of the 23 articles that looked at the benefits of stretching immediately before exercise showed that stretching did not improve the study participants' outcome in various measures, including a test of their jumping height - a skill that can definitely affect a basketball player's performance. Of the four articles that examined whether pre-exercise stretching helps improve running speeds, one showed it to have a positive effect, while another showed it to be detrimental. The remaining two had ambiguous results. Overall, the researchers found that an acute bout of stretching did not improve force or jump height, and the results for running speed were contradictory. In contrast, seven of the nine studies involving regular stretching showed it to have a beneficial effect on performance. Repeated stretching was found to improve study participants' jump height, speed and force. None of the studies suggested that regular stretching hampered performance. These findings are similar to those previously reported by researchers who found that regular stretching, rather than pre-exercise stretching, may reduce one's risk of injury, the authors note.
Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine,
September 2004