Does stretching prevent injuries?

Hamstring stretch

The exercise and wellness world is filled with blanket statements about stretching and injury prevention that make bold claims and assert confidence but...

BEWARE of blanket statements!

Blanket statements lack context and clarity, which is so important especially when making decisions about your own health and wellness.

Let's dive into the nuance of stretching and injury prevention...

There are a few things to become aware of here:

1. We can never fully prevent injuries! Injuries are a part of life. We might be involved in an accident, experience an unforeseen trauma, or step off the curb the wrong way. Injuries happen.

2. Injuries are multifactorial. Sleep, nutrition, hydration, fatigue, stress, disease processes, etc., all play a role in injury risk.

3. In terms of stretching preventing injury, we need to define the type of injury that we are aiming to prevent, the specific stretching intervention being applied, and the outcome being measured.

Most research on stretching investigates the effects of state or PNF types of stretching on musculoskeletal injuries and is mixed and inconsistent in terms of stretching’s role at preventing injury.

So, what do we currently know about stretching and injuries?

Let’s take a look at some research by David Behm

(link to the studies by clicking the picture of the study title)

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Systematic Review of Stretching

Key points:

• Purpose: Compare the acute effects of static stretching (SS), dynamic stretching (DS), and proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) stretching on physical performance, joint range of motion (ROM), and injury incidence in healthy active individuals.

• In terms of injury incidence: The effect of pre-activity stretching on injury risk was analyzed, focusing on all-cause injuries, overuse injuries, and acute muscle strain injuries.

• Findings: 

  • SS and PNF had no overall effect on all cause or overuse injuries such as shin splints and tendinopathies.

  • There is some evidence that stretching reduces acute muscle injuries such as hamstring strains in sports like sprinting or repetitive contractions, however stretching does not prevent all injuries.

  • All-cause injury rates (the total number of injuries of any kind be it muscle, joint, ligament, bone) demonstrated no clear benefit and no consistent ability to reduce overall injury rates.

  • Additionally, 4 Randomized Control Trials examined ankle stretching interventions on ankle sprains and showed no benefit of stretching in reducing ankle sprains.

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Study on Dynamic Stretching and Injury

Key points:

• Purpose: To examine the acute and training effects of dynamic stretching (DS) on injury incidence in athletes, and to explore potential moderating variables such as range of motion, strength, balance, proprioception, muscle morphology, and psychophysiological responses.

• Findings: Only 2 studies examined the effects of DS on injury. Numerous studies showed that warm-up programs incorporating DS and other dynamic activities were effective in reducing injury incidence especially in the lower extremity. 

• Conclusion: While dynamic warm-ups that include DS are generally beneficial, the specific contribution of DS to injury prevention is inconclusive due to limited and conflicting evidence. More targeted research is needed and more evidence is needed to support the bold claim that stretching prevents injuries.

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So what does all of this mean for you right now?

There are better ways to “prevent injury” than stretching! Stretching alone is not sufficient enough. Before your strength training session or cardio activity (like a run/hike/walk/dance class) you might instead combine stretching with more dynamic or sport specific movement.

For example:

If you are about to go out for a run, maybe you do some dynamic hip abduction, heel to butt kicks, straight leg hamstring kicks, and knee drives as shown here:

Dynamic warm up exercises for runners

IN SUMMARY:

Beware of blanket & catchy statements. Be curious, be skeptical, be willing to challenge your biases and beliefs, and experiment with what works for you!

I personally LOVE to stretch!

...always have and always will, but I am aware of its advantages and its limitations.

What this recap video and stretching and injury risk & share it if you find it helpful!