Q and A with Brad (Stretching)
| Question: | HI Brad I’m a Track and field coach from Greece. I was having a conversation yesterday with a senior colleague of mine and he expressed the opinion that stretching exercises after having completed the training are not only useless but harmful as well. I argued about the usefulness of mild stretching exercises, but he continued in trying to convince me otherwise. Could you please give us a more scientific response to our subject? Thank you in advance, |
Hi Yiannis……thank you for writing to me.
There are a lot of studies that have been published in exercise and sports journals on stretching. However the only concrete research that I am aware of is that stretching does not alleviate muscle soreness, and over stretching before exercise leads to decreased strength.
According to Paul Cribb, Ph.D., CSCS at Victoria University in Australia, “a comprehensive review of the scientific literature on this topic shows that stretching before or after exercise has little or no effect on muscle soreness.”
Additionally, a study published in 2006 showed that college age males and females that stretched extensively before a workout show a significant decrease in muscle strength and force. Look it up in Res Quart Exerc Sport 76;500-506, 2006.
I find it hard to believe that stretching at any time could be “harmfull.” However in light of this information, I do not stretch before and after working out. I do like to move a lot and try to use a nice full range of motion for a warm up, but I would not say it is stretching. However, stretching is too important to overlook and not include in a persons life. I like to stretch at night when I have returned home from work. I hold about 6 stretching exercises for about 30 seconds each 4 - 5 times a week. I would advise your athletes to stretch about an hour after the workout, the hard part is getting them to comply.
Hope that helps, thanks again for writing in to me, I feel honored!!
