Contrary to popular thinking, stretching before or after exercise does not prevent muscle soreness or muscle injury, according to a systematic review of controlled trials in the Aug. 31 issue of the British Medical Journal.
“Stretching before or after exercising does not confer protection from muscle soreness,” write Rob D. Herbert and Michael Gabriel from the University of Sydney in New South Wales, Australia. “Stretching before exercising does not seem to confer a practically useful reduction in the risk of injury, but the generality of this finding needs testing. Insufficient research has been done with which to determine the effects of stretching on sporting performance.”
From a literature search, the authors identified five randomized or quasi-randomized studies of moderate quality which reported sufficient data on the effects of stretching on muscle soreness to be included in the analysis. Three studies evaluated stretching after exercising, and two evaluated stretching before exercising.
Pooled analysis of data from 77 healthy, young adult subjects suggested that stretching produced small and statistically insignificant reductions in muscle soreness 24 hours after exercising, estimated to be only 0.9 mm on a 100 mm scale (95% confidence interval [CI], -2.6 to 4.4 mm).
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