Pre-Activity Stretching May Hinder Athletic Performance, Unlv Study Finds
Main Category: Sports Medicine / FitnessAlso Included In: Rehabilitation / Physical Therapy
Article Date: 22 Sep 2008 - 2:00 PDT
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Contrary to the prevailing idea that stretching enhances athletic performance, a new study by UNLV kinesiology researchers found that certain stretching may actually reduce performance by decreasing leg power.
The study, which appears in the September 2008 issue of the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, investigated how two typical stretching techniques for the hamstrings and quadriceps muscles in the legs affected measures of strength and power in a group of male and female athletes.
Specifically, participants were asked to perform a vertical jump and seated knee flex on three occasions after a typical duration of basic static (holding) and ballistic (bouncing) stretches, or no stretching at all. While little or no difference was found in vertical jump and leg torque, power measures for the stretching groups were significantly reduced.
"Athletes typically include static stretching as a part of the warm-up, but the evidence is clear that this practice will decrease performance in sports that require explosive movements," said UNLV kinesiology professor and study co-author Bill Holcomb, who directs the university's Sports Injury Research Center. "Developing flexibility is important for reducing sports injury, but the time to stretch is after, not before, performance."
Holcomb suggests that coaches limit stretch duration as a part of the warm up in most sports and refrain from pre-activity stretching altogether for sports that are reliant on maximum power. Instead, athletes should perform a whole-body warm-up activity followed by sport specific, or dynamic, stretching.
Power, calculated using a force-measuring device during the vertical jump testing, decreased between 2.4 and 3.4 percent after ballistic and static stretching. Vertical jump is commonly used in research as a predictor of power because the process of jumping requires a person to effectively generate force with their legs at rapid speed. Also, the hamstrings and quadriceps both function as major muscles used in jumping.
While the percentage of the power decrease may not warrant a change in warm up routine for recreational athletes, it is quite significant for competitive athletes participating in activities requiring maximum power, such as track and field and football, for example.
Participating in the study with Holcomb were UNLV Department of Kinesiology and Nutrition professors Mack Rubley and Mark Guadagnoli, and graduate kinesiology student Michelle Samuel. The study appeared in the September 2008 issue of the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research and can be found online at: http://www.nsca-jscr.org.
UNLV is a doctoral-degree-granting institution of 28,000 students and 3,300 faculty and staff. Founded in 1957, the university offers more than 220 undergraduate, master's and doctoral degree programs. UNLV is located on a 350-acre campus in dynamic Southern Nevada and is classified in the category of Research Universities (high research activity) by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
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The Truth Is Here
posted by Nathaniel on 22 Sep 2008 at 3:13 pmIt is good that this is being acknowledged, because some coaches still believe that static stretching is supposed to be done before explosive events, when in fact, it is counterproductive. It all boils down to a factor known as musculotendonal stiffness. This stiffness allows muscle fibers to better generate larger amounts of power, which is vital for the sprints, the jumps et al.
The Whole Truth Is Here
posted by Stretchsportguy on 19 Feb 2009 at 11:21 pmCardiovascular fitness is almost always a target in most training programs. Muscularity is also imperative. But stretching is usually neglected. Like a salad that is too tedious to bother with, a steak and potato will do a food's job better. A macho man tends to skip stretching. Flexibility becomes a side dish left on the plate.
That said, it is misleading to write off stretching as a contraindication toward athletic performance. A lot depends on the type of training an athlete requires. Having been a gymnast, I can attest that by training both flexibility and strength the two work to enhance performance for each other. Stretching when trained in conjunction with strength and power, acts as a trigger to set off the power and strength about to be used.
Having been a gymnast I agree that stretching could leave you weak before a performance if you stretch beyond the usual levels you maintain in your training. However, the two types of exercise will feed on each other if you train that way. The caution before a performance is not to exceed the level of stretching you do during your usual training sessions.
A runner or weight lifter who rarely trains his flexibility before he runs or lifts weights, will feel the weakening affect of stretching before a performance.
However, if you know anything about Dara Torez who came back to train for the 2008 Olympics after turning 40 credits her strength and power which won her three silver medals to the stretching she added to her training.
It is unfair to see articles such as this one start off with misleading statements. "Contrary to the prevailing idea that stretching enhances athletic performance..."
Ask Dara Torez what her prevailing idea is behind starting over at the age of 40 and her secret weapon for success is stretching before she swims.
I think we've been right all along and people who have no patience for salad prefer to skip this healthy food.
Lets put this type of research where it belongs. In its place it has merit. But empirically, it does not hold water. It depends on how you train and what type of exercises are in your training. If you diverge from what you are used to, then it could get you in trouble. But gymnasts and swimmer Dara Torez prove that the opening statement to this article is unfair and downright erroneous. Instead of publishing rhetoric against a healthy practice which most people avoid, we should be encouraging athletes to use untapped potential to their advantage.
Stretching the wrong way yes, may decrease your ability to perform. But done the way Dara Torez and gymnasts exercise on a daily basis proves stretching adds to strength and power. Even if they stretch just before they perform.
Anecdotal experiences don't trump quantitative analyses
posted by Cyril Butler on 6 Jul 2010 at 7:09 amThe opinion-writer, who claims that because he or she found stretching to be useful, this article must be wrong, is in error.
The article is very carefully written, and makes no claims past its own data's conclusions. The research has been consistent for 10 years: pre-exercise static stretching (and/or ballistic, from some studies) decreases athletic performance by a measurable amount. It really doesn't matter how you personally feel about those results. You cannot counter them by saying that such stretches helped you or anyone else, unless you have data comparing quantifiable parameters to back it up. This is a classic example of 'bad science': to take a counter-position on an issue based merely on how you or another person feels about the issue. If you wish to argue the conclusions, provide counter-examples that are medically sound, or point out where all the studies' methodology was wrong; but do not simply give us your life story, or anyone else's, and attempt to use that as the basis for a scientific argument.
Who knows: perhaps you and the other athlete mentioned would have done much better had you used other forms of warmups.....
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