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 OCTOBER 30, 2007 Stretching Won't Prevent Muscle Soreness Stretching is invaluable in preventing pulled or torn muscles, but has little effect on muscle soreness up to 3 days after exercise, according to a new review of medical studies. Like many people, you may stretch before you start exercising, and stretch again afterward. Your aim may be to prevent injury, to improve your performance, or to limit the chances of feeling stiff in the following days. But stretching won't help with the muscle soreness you feel a few days later, called delayed-onset muscle soreness. This type of muscle soreness relates more to how hard you workout and whether you force muscles to function unnaturally. A review of 10 studies with between 10 and 30 participants who stretched for between 40 seconds and 10 minutes was published in the current issue of The Cochrane Library, a publication of The Cochrane Collaboration, an international organization that evaluates medical research. Stretching reduced muscle soreness by less than 1 point on a 100-point scale from one-half to 3 days later, and this effect was similar if stretching was done before or after activity, state researchers from the University of Sydney in Australia. However, that doesn't mean you should stop stretching altogether. The President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports and the US Department of Health and Human Services suggest 10 to 12 minutes of daily stretching exercises, performed slowly without any bouncing motion, after a warm-up before exercise or during a cool-down following exercise. These organizations recommend stretching to increase flexibility and do not suggest that stretching will help you avoid muscle soreness. |
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