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When Should You Stretch?

Posted October 16, 2007 at 09:00 AM by Shannon Clark

Section: Her Fitness, Training Programs, Her News

You likely already know that any good workout program should involve some stretching activity in one form or another. Increased flexibility has a variety of advantages, from a reduced risk of injuries to being able to move through a greater range of motion, thus improving your performance.

But what is the ideal stretching protocol? This is the question that was posed by a few researchers in a recent study by the Journal of Strength Conditioning Exercise.

The study’s purpose was to determine whether the timing (before or after a workout) of a series of static stretching would impact flexibility levels in the hip, knee and ankle. The stretching would be performed either before or after a workout and then results would be taken.

The researchers gathered thirty college-aged men and women to participate and all subjects followed both protocols. Nine of the subjects were highly trained, thirteen were moderately trained and eight were completely sedentary.

In the first scenario, participants warmed up by walking on a treadmill for 5 minutes at about 50% of their max HR. After this, they performed three static stretching exercises, one for their quadriceps, one for the hamstrings and one for their calf muscles. After this was finished their measures of flexibility would be taken using a machine called a goniometer.

The second test performed, which was spaced 24-48 hours after the first, consisted of twenty minutes of treadmill work, followed by the stretching exercises. Flexibility measures were then taken again.

The results of the study indicated that there were no significant differences seen between the different protocols, and researchers concluded that in terms of static stretching exercise, it isn’t going to make much of a difference whether you perform these at the start of your workout or the end.

Do note, however, that it is never a good idea to stretch a completely cold muscle, and even in the pre-workout program the participants were still walking on the treadmill for a short time beforehand. This is an important feature of the study that cannot be neglected when applying it to your program.