Does Stretching Work? Your Guide To Better Flexibility

by Andrew SchaefferJan 18, 2019Fitness2 comments

There are a lot of myths and misconceptions about stretching out there. Here is a review of what the research currently says and how you can use that to make yourself a routine.

As a quick note, for the purposes of this article we are discussing static stretching, which is the reach and hold method of stretching. There are other forms, but the steady hold is the most commonly used by non-athletes so that is what we’ll talk about here.

Stretching Improves Your Flexibility, Probably By Improving Tolerance

There is a good amount of evidence and widespread agreement that stretching does improve range of motion over time.¹, ² Research on why stretching works seems to lean towards the idea that the muscles themselves are not truly changing in a mechanical way. Instead of getting longer or becoming more ‘stretchy’, they are simply becoming more tolerant of the position.³, ⁴ That tolerance allows you to move your joints through a larger range without your muscles feeling uncomfortable and resisting.

Stretching Likely Does Not Reduce Soreness Or Reduce Your Injury Risk

Common wisdom is to stretch before exercise in order to reduce the risk of injury and to stretch after exercise in order to reduce soreness. The research does not convincingly support either of these ideas. In fact, when it comes to injury and soreness, meta-analyses show that the research actually points in the direction of no benefit. However, they also note that we need more high quality research before drawing any definitive conclusions. For your purposes, it’s just useful to know that the two most common reasons for stretching are in doubt and may very well prove to be false. That might change your decision on when and how to use stretching. (More on that later.)⁵, ⁶

Strength Training Might Improve Your Flexibility Just As Well

It is often said that strength training leads to less flexibility. In truth, there is research being conducted showing that when done through a full range of motion, strength training can increase flexibility just as effectively as stretching.⁷, ⁸ This fits together with the aforementioned idea that flexibility does not have to do with any mechanical changes in the muscle, but rather with a tolerance for a position. Strength training through full ranges of motion asks the body to get comfortable with new positions—perhaps this leads to an increased tolerance as well. Moreover, range of motion is not solely limited to muscles and their flexibility. It can also depend on strength and stability, both of which are positively influenced by strength training. If you’re interested, you can read more about that here.

Acute Stretching Does Not Improve Performance. Chronic Stretching Might

Another interesting area of research is the effects of stretching on performance. Studies show that acute stretching, i.e. stretching done right before an activity, does not improve performance.⁹ This aligns with other research that has shown that stretching temporarily reduces power output of muscles. However, chronic stretching, i.e. stretching done consistently over time does seem to improve performance. One study reported improvements in tests such as standing long jump, vertical jump, and sprinting, among others. The results lead the authors to suggest that an intense stretching program might even be a useful entry into exercise for severely deconditioned individuals.¹⁰

How You Can Use Stretching To Maximize Your Results

So what do we know and how can we use it to improve our routine? Firstly, static stretching does help flexibility and might even improve performance, so it is worth doing, but to get the benefits you need to be stretching regularly over a period of time. Secondly, stretching does not seem to reduce soreness or the risk of injury so that shouldn’t be our primary reason for using it. Finally, the research has also shown that strength training can be as effective on improving range of motion as static stretching. Taken together, this suggests that a very reasonable strategy might be to do stretching on your off days and let strength training stand on its own on your workout days.

This approach could have two benefits. First, you are not wasting any time when you are in the gym by doing redundant exercises. If you are getting good mobility and flexibility work with strength training, through a full range of motion, then that should be enough. (Make sure you are going through a proper, movement based, warm up of course.) Then, on off days, when you might be tempted to do nothing, you can spend ten minutes, or even five, with a little static stretching. This will add to your progress significantly with a minimal increase of commitment.

Don’t Do Anything Drastic

A final note here. As with anything in fitness, if you are going to do it make sure you take it slow. If you are used to a certain stretch routine, especially before or after activity, remember that your body may have gotten used to that. Suddenly making a dramatic change could cause problems, so have a strategy and go easy. Also, if you’re getting into it for the first time, or after a long hiatus, the same applies. Your body may not be ready for a week filled with deadlifts and hamstring stretches. Use caution and when in doubt, consult a professional.