Pre Workout Static Stretching

Over the years the notion that pre workout static stretching can prevent injury has been continually reinforced. Numerous research studies over the years have shown little or no relationship between static stretching before exercise and performance or injury. Shrier in his extensive review of the literature came to the conclusion that “The basic science literature supports the epidemiological evidence that stretching before exercise does not reduce the risk of injury.” (Shrier 1999) After an extensive review of the studies pertaining to pre exercise stretching and prevention of injuries Thacker et al also concluded that stretching was not associated with prevention of injuries. (Thacker et al 2004) Despite this when an athlete pulls a hamstring or a groin the first reaction is that they probably did not stretch enough. Some studies have shown static stretching to be harmful to performance. An unpublished study by Benton and Young on ten national level sprinters in Australia showed that when the group included static stretching before their starts from blocks they were 3.38% slower that when they included dynamic stretching in their warm-up. The sample size was not large enough to show statistical significance, but a 3.38% difference in the performance world is significant to the coach and athlete!