In recent years, stretching has become a debatable subject: “Do you stretch before exercise, after warming up, or not at all?” In PE classes stretching was always done before exercise, and was frequently considered the “warm-up.” More recently, some said that stretching is most beneficial (and less likely to damage/tear muscles) if done after a brief cardio warm-up. But a study by Nebraska Wesleyan University published last year suggests that stretching (and more specifically, flexibility gained by stretching) is unnecessary.
To gather information, researchers measured the flexibility and elasticity of runners’ hamstrings using the standard sit-and-reach test. While flexibility varied some between runners, as a whole they did not have exceptional elasticity. Initially, this may seem like a mundane coincidence, but when the results from the sit-and-reach test were compared with the runners’ laps, a correlation became clear. The less flexible runners had greater economy in their laps, allowing them to store more energy and run for longer periods of time, rather than simply being fast.
But where does that leave us? Dr. Malachy McHugh is the director of research for the Nicholas Institute of Sports Medicine and Athletic Trauma at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York, and he says, “to a large degree, flexibility is genetic.” After repeated sessions of performing the same stretch, the “pull” that we feel the first few times seems to subside, making us believe that we are getting more flexible. However, Dr. McHugh suggests that this is simply our body developing “a tolerance” for the stretch, and does not prove that we are more flexible. Dr. Duane Knudson, professor of biomechanics at Texas State University, provides this bit of advice: “You only need enough range of motion in your joints to avoid injury. More is not necessarily better.”
You can read more about the research in this New York Times article.
