Stretching Before Exercise May Be Bad For You

You’ve been told your whole life that it was absolutely necessary to stretch prior to any physical activity, as a means of trying to prevent injuries and increase performance and flexibility.

Well, that may no longer be the case. Two new studies have found that too much pre-exercise stretching could hurt you, rather than help you. According to the New York Times, static stretching, where you slowly lean into stretches until your muscles start to get sore may actually impair your strength and may not even prevent injuries after all.

Another study, which was published in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research this month, found that stretching before lifting weights might result in feelings of weakness and wobbliness. Another study even found that pre-exercise stretching was counterproductive and should be “generally avoided.”

These researchers believe that muscles may actually lose flexibility during stretching, because they are then overworked. I could understand how over stretching your muscles could of course overwork them over the course of your entire workout, but I wouldn’t eliminate stretching all together.

Regardless, this study is interesting, will this cause you to switch up your workout routine now?

Ally | Elite.

Photo Credit: Getty Images