Active Living Newsletter
The Active Living Newsletter is an ongoing feature of our website designed to help educate athletes of all levels learn about new studies, training methodologies, treatment advancements/options, and various other aspects of sports performance related topics.
Our most recent newsletter can be found below, and an archive listing of our previous and current newsletters can be found in the column to the left. We hope you enjoy this online feature of the UF Sports Performance website.
Pre-Exercise Static Stretching: Does it affect exercise performance?
By Jake Martenson
Flexibility work, such as static stretching, is an key component of a well-rounded fitness routine. The benefits of stretching include improving the range of motion and reducing the risk of injury. Though there is certainly evidence that supports these benefits, some show that static stretching prior to exercise may actually impair performance by reducing muscle force production. In fact, the current American College of Sports Medicine’s (ACSM) guidelines recommend the removal of static stretching from a warm-up routine.
A systematic review of 106 studies was performed that examined the effects of pre-exercise stretching on strength, power, and speed performance. Overall, 55% of these studies found a reduction in strength-, power-, or speed-dependent tasks following a bout of static stretching. Also, this review studied the effects of static stretch duration on these same measures of performance. Studies were separated according to stretch durations in groups of <30 seconds, 30-45 seconds, 1-2 minutes, or >2 minutes. The authors found that a longer stretching duration was related to lower strength, power, and speed performance. Over 60% of the studies that used 1 to >2 minutes of stretching before exercise demonstrating lower performance afterwards.
Bottom Line
Despite ACSM’s call for the removal of pre-exercise stretching, it appears that static stretching may be used as part of a warm-up prior to exercise requiring strength, power, or speed-related tasks. The duration of stretch for a particular muscle group should not exceed 45 seconds if exercise performance is a concern.Source
Kay, A.D., Blazevich, AJ. (2012) Effect of Acute Static Stretch on Maximal Muscle Performance: A Systematic Review. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 44(1), 154-164.
