Photo Credit: Trainer Academy
The research pretty much agrees.
Static stretching before exercise makes you weaker.
In 2013, Luka Simic et al did a review of all the studies on the topic, as written in “Does pre-exercise static stretching inhibit maximal muscular performance? A meta-analytical review.”
They found a total of 104 studies.
These studies looked at strength, power and explosiveness. They found that stretching would lower strength on average by 5.5%. They found explosiveness could decrease 2.8% on average.
What they concluded was:
“We conclude that the usage of static stretching as the sole activity during warm-up routine should generally be avoided.”
So if you do static stretching before exercise…STOP!
Find out more in this new guest article from Peter Tzemis.
…and specifically what kind of stretching to do instead.
Of course, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t stretch at all. Flexibility is an important quality of fitness.
There are other forms of stretching that are useful and helpful. Find out about one of those here.
