Stretching Before Exercise Increases Risk of Injury

Many people have incorporated stretching as a warm-up technique before they exercise or perform a workout routine. In fact, stretching has become almost mythical in the world of fitness -- stretch before you work out to warm up, stretch after working out to cool down, and stretch even more if you are feeling injured or strained in any area. The commonly held beliefs about stretching, though, are little more than myths unsupported by science, and may actually lead to injury. For a variety of reasons, it may be best not to stretch before a workout and instead perform other movements to warm up.

The first reason not to stretch is that the scientific community has found no evidence that it helps prevent injury. Not only does it not prevent injury itself, but it does not even reduce the risk of becoming injured from engaging in exercise routines. But we have all been told for decades to stretch to improve flexibility and reduce the risk of injury, right? Unfortunately, conventional wisdom has been proven to be almost completely incorrect in regards to stretching before vigorous exercise. In order to reduce the risk of injury and warm up the systems of the body properly, stretching must be avoided before training.

Second, static stretching has been found to damage muscle tissues in people who engage in the activity. This is extremely important for people who use stretching before weight training, running, or any type of exercise that also causes muscle and tissue damage. However, while some activities are designed to cause muscle damage to stimulate the body to repair and rebuild stronger tissues, people usually do not think of stretching as a harmful activity to the tissues. But even mild static stretching has been found to cause damage. It is simply counterproductive to damage the tissues during a warm-up, before actual training has begun.

A final reason to reconsider stretching before working out is that the activity can increase pain tolerance. This happens due to stretching "turning off" the nervous system in the area that is being stretched. As the system is turned off, it is easier to lift more weight, run faster, or engage in a higher-risk activity with less pain in the short term. But once the effects of the stretching on the nervous system have worn off, the resulting extra tissue damage can be even more severe than if the body's pain tolerance was at its normal level.

This all means that stretching can cause muscle damage itself and then anesthetize the damaged muscle as the pain tolerance rises. If this is done during a warm-up, the next action taken by the athlete is usually to exercise and create even more tissue damage to muscles that have had their nervous system functioning reduced. The result is a higher risk of injury than if stretching had not been performed before exercising. Thus, static stretching should be avoided by the majority of active people who are concerned with peak performance and preventing injury.