Should You Be Stretching?

My face when my patient who can palm the floor tells me that their hamstrings are always soooo tight:

The concept of using stretching to manage musculoskeletal pain has been around for a while, but it’s gotten a little out of hand in the last five years or so. You can even go to a “stretch lab” where you can have people help you stretch your muscles for you! Is that a waste of time and money? Or is it the secret sauce to staying active for a long time? Let’s discuss.

What the research says about stretching

The trend in current research is that strength training may be as effective if not more effective at improving mobility when performed through full ranges of motion. (1) When you perform an exercise like a squat or deadlift, you can do so in a way that accesses a lot of your available range of motion.

Image by Freepick

And you don’t need to start doing crossfit to get the mobility benefits of strength training. Check out some videos below for some easy mobility exercises that blur the line between strength and mobility.

There is some research to say that static stretching can actually be detrimental to muscular performance. (2) This article by Barbosa et al. found that static stretching of the hamstrings can decrease the eccentric capacity of the muscle both short term and longer term. Eccentric strength is the ability for a muscle to produce force as it is getting longer.

Eccentric strength of the hamstrings is paramount for activities like sprinting, so doing a lot of static stretching right before playing a sport that involves sprinting might actually put you at increased risk for a hamstring strain!

I had a patient before who told me that she did a lot of static stretching right before she did a lower body workout, and she kept straining her quads. The main change that I made to her programming was having her just start her workout without the stretching, and it eliminated the problem! This is only one case, but it illustrates how static stretching can sometimes be detrimental to performance.

Deciding when to stretch

All of the research about static stretching being detrimental to muscular performance is all well and good, but what do you do if you are truly lacking flexibility that is limiting your performance? This is where being able to evaluate your mobility becomes important. The most important thing to understand is that mobility should be task specific. If you are a gymnast, you will require more mobility than an offensive lineman.

If you don’t have a specific activity that you are training for, there are a few benchmarks that we can use to evaluate your flexibility that most people should be able to achieve.

If you find that you have some mobility restrictions, then you can start working on a mobility routine that may include some static stretching, but the timing of that static stretching and what you do to support it is very important. Keep reading to see the important components of a mobility routine.

Mobility Routines

Here is what I recommend as a template for a mobility routine that can be applied to multiple different parts of the body:

1. Get warm: bike, walk, jog (slowly) or elliptical for 5-10 minutes. Especially if you have a job that requires sitting most of the day and you go right from work to your workout/sport

2. Foam Roll (optional) 3-5 minutes: If you are someone who likes foam rolling, this is the time to do it. The research tells us that foam rolling can cause temporary improvements in mobility, so at least for the short term this could help prepare your body to move more

3. Dynamic stretching 5-8 minutes: Think of this as priming your body to move. Dynamic stretching often involves both contracting and stretching the muscles. Take a look at the videos below for some examples.

4. EXERCISE: if you are planning to do a workout or play your sport, this is the time to do it. If not, skip this step and go to number 5

5. Contract relax stretching: This is a concept where you are contracting the muscles that you are trying to stretch at their end range, and then stretching as you relax. This utilizes some of the natural body functions to supercharge the stretch. **Doing this prior to exercise is not generally recommended, as it may temporarily decrease your muscle performance/capacity**

6. Active mobility: Time to use all that mobility that you gained. Otherwise, you’ll probably lose it!

So should you be stretching? If you have some true mobility restrictions then adding some static stretching into your mobility routine is probably a good idea. If you’re hypermobile or hyperflexible, maybe spend more time working on strength, stability, and controlling all of your mobility.

At Alterra, we create well rounded rehab programs to help build resilience in our clients. If you're in Boston's Back Bay and want to dial in your mobility routine, we'd love to help! Book a free discovery call to speak to a physical therapist today.

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Next on your reading list:

1. 5 Signs That You Should See a Physical Therapist: Marathon Training Edition

2. Why You Hurt and How To Fix It: Rehab Tips

3. Performance Physical Therapy at Alterra

Disclaimer: The information in our blog posts is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Consult a healthcare provider before making decisions related to your health. Use our content at your own risk.

Sources

1. Afonso J, Ramirez-Campillo R, Moscão J, et al. Strength training is as effective as stretching for improving range of motion: A systematic review and meta-analysis. doi:10.3390/healthcare9040427.

2. Barbosa M, Trajano S, Dantas A, Silva R, Brita H (2018) Chronic Effects of Static and Dynamic Stretching on Hamstrings Eccentric Strength and Functional Performance: A Randomized Controlled Trial. J Strength Cond Res.