Believe it or not, this isn't actually news. Research has been saying this for a decade or more. A pre-run stretch has been proven, over and over, to have absolutely NO usefulness in preventing injuries. The CDC came out with a study back in 2001. USA Track and Field -- the governing body for the sport -- published a study 2 months ago. And there have been many, many studies in between.
So why do runners keep stretching?
For lack of a better explanation, old habits die hard. Doctors and sports medicine professionals started recommending stretching generations ago and, well...just never stopped. They just assumed stretching must be helpful, and virtually no one since has bothered to read the research.
And here's the kicker. Stretching before exercise can actually hurt your performance. Studies have found that an athlete's vertical jump is lower after a bout of stretching than with no stretching at all. The reason? Static stretches (like the one in the picture) reduce your ability to generate power. In physics terms, power is the ability to do work quickly. Translation: power is a measure of "explosiveness". It's what makes you fast.
Takeaway point: Stretching makes you slow.
QUESTION: "If stretching doesn't prevent injuries, what should I be doing?"
ANSWER: A pre-run warm-up.
We'll be discussing how to warm up properly in the next note. Stay tuned!
-Daniel Bockmann, DC
To read the 2001 CDC study, click here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1071358/
To read about the 2010 USA Track and Field study, click here: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/01/phys-ed-does-stretching-before-running-prevent-injuries/
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