Benefits to stretching a stretch
Listen, fair warning: this column might upset you. It’s not what you think. I’m not going to discuss politics or religion, book burnings or Ground Zero mosques. No, I have something even more incendiary in mind: stretching.
Think about it, if you’ve been involved in some sort of organized sport, trained for a 5K or marathon or been a weekend warrior, you’ve been indoctrinated to believe in the power – and vital import – of stretching. Stretching lets you run faster, jump higher and prevent injury. In all likelihood, you’ve been told that stretching before you run is a given. A no brainer. Common sense.
Yeah, well it’s also a lie.
As it turns out, stretching doesn’t do any of those things. The only thing you’ve accomplished with all that stretching you’ve done over the course of your life is waste your time. In fact, you might actually have hindered your athletic performance by stretching. (Listen, I warned you that this column might upset you.)
This bad news for stretching enthusiasts comes from a new national study published by USA Track and Field that determined static stretching – bending and touching your toes, standing on one leg while holding your other foot behind your butt, etc. – “neither prevented nor induced injury when compared with not stretching before running.” In other words, it does bupkis.
According to the New York Times, the study randomly split 1,400 runners – from teenagers to retirees – into two groups: The first group did everything they normally did but with zero stretching. The second group was given specific instructions to complete three to five minutes of static stretching. (For the uninitiated, static stretching is likely what you think of when you think of stretching: holding a particular stretch for 20 seconds.)
After three months, the researchers looked at how many of each group hurt themselves while running, with an injury that laid them up for three days or more being considered noteworthy. The first group – the non-stretchers – had about 16 percent of the group suffer an injury. The second group of stretchers? About 16 percent suffered injuries.
There was no notable difference in injuries between the two groups, leading researchers to determine that static stretching doesn’t help prevent injury. Dr. Dan Pereles, an orthopedic surgeon who originated and led the study, told the New York Times that the results were surprising.
“I had gone into this thinking that stretching would prevent injuries. I was fairly sure of it. But that’s not what we found.”
But wait, there’s more. Other studies have found that static stretches actually caused muscles to restrict in response to static stretching in an effort to prevent damage. That limits athletes and diminishes performance.
But runners and other athletes remain fiercely committed to stretching. The online version of the New York Times story about the study has more than 200 comments, which is a significant number for a story that doesn’t include the words “Obama” or “Palin.”
In fact, people’s belief in the importance of stretching made life difficult on the researchers, who needed nearly two years to find enough runners willing to go three months without stretching. Turns out, many of the study participants would drop out once they found out they were randomly assigned to the non-stretching group.
The main takeaway from the study is another win for dynamic stretching – “exercises that increase your joints’ range of motion via constant movement” – which has already been gaining popularity over the static stretches you grew up with. In fact, most high-level athletes gave up on the ol’ hold a stretch for 20 seconds long ago in favor of dynamic stretching.
Of course, if your mind has been blown by the amount of time you’ve wasted stretching over the years, that doesn’t mean you should stop stretching cold turkey. Sudden changes to your routine are a recipe for disaster.
The other takeaway? You can add stretching to the list of things you were lied about in grade school, right next to the importance of writing in cursive and how white bread is good for you because it’s on the food pyramid.
If you think it’s a stretch to suggest stretching is bad, Brandon Szuminsky can be reached at bszuminsky@heraldstandard.com. He would also like to thank the many readers who offered suggestions to help his dog, Charlie, this past week.