The Truth About Stretching

This may surprise you, but most top athletes today to not do what most people think of as stretching. In fact, athletes and trainers say that traditional stretching has little benefit and may even do more harm than good.

What most think of as stretching — toe touches, quad stretches — is accurately defined as static stretching, a technique that isolates individual muscles in a lengthened position for 20 to 30 seconds. Think of someone preparing for a game of tennis and placing one leg up on the net while bending forward to stretch. The idea behind this type of stretching is that it loosens muscles before exercise and increases flexibility to aid performance and prevent injury. But research shows that stretching does not reduce injury risk and actually hurts performance. 

Dynamic stretching

What has replaced static stretching is dynamic stretching and soft-tissue manipulation. Think of these warm-ups as stretching your muscles by moving them. Dynamic stretching recruits major joints like the hips and shoulders in a full range of motion to simulate the way your muscles are used during exercise. As opposed to static stretching, dynamic stretching activates blood flow to the muscles, helps open up joints, and warms up cold muscles. 

Soft-tissue manipulation

A form of muscle massage, soft-tissue manipulation improves mobility by releasing trigger points — areas of tension in muscle that limit mobility. Knots in muscle need to be worked out before you can restore the muscle to its original length and full functionality. Imagine pulling a rubber band with a knot in the middle from both ends: When you let go, the knot is still there. The same is true of stretching.

Soft-tissue manipulation is like kneading bread dough: It breaks up knots by increasing blood flow to the area and loosening adhesions in the dense web of connective tissue that holds muscles together. Similar to dynamic stretching, soft-tissue stimulates nerves that help relax muscles, so they stretch more easily during exercise. Most athletes do this using a muscle roller.

Conclusion

• Stop doing static stretching altogether

• Do a minute or so of dynamic stretching to raise body temperature and loosen up joints

• Use a muscle roller to quickly massage muscles involved in that day’s workout