Stretch! But Not For Too Long

I actively promote stretching with personal training clients and always see great results in their overall flexibility and ease of movement.

Flexibility training is included in the recommendations from Ornish Lifestyle Medicine program.

Many of the stretches we do from a fitness perspective provide significant benefit and mirror the stress management practices that are also integral to the Ornish program.

Flexibility training is included in the recommendations from The American College of Sports Medicine and the Ornish Lifestyle Medicine.

In a 2011 blog in The New York Times, reporter Gretchen Reynolds, wrote:

For the most comprehensive, and bluntest, of the new reports, published in Sports & Exercise, researchers reviewed more than 100 studies of stretching and concluded that the “detrimental effects of static stretching are mainly limited to longer duration” poses, meaning stretches that last for at least a minute. If you hold a particular stretch for a shorter period, the authors wrote, particularly for less than 30 seconds, you should experience “no detrimental effect.”

The other studies came to similar conclusions. A close reading of earlier studies, published in The European Journal of Applied Physiology, found that “a substantial number” of the experiments did not find “detrimental effects associated with prior static stretching,” especially if the stretches were “of short duration” or were stopped before “the point of discomfort.” And a new study of well-trained female collegiate runners undertaken at Florida State University and published in The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, showed that a static-stretching routine consisting of five leg-muscle stretches, each held for 30 seconds and repeated four times, “did not have an adverse effect” on the women’s performance in a timed treadmill running test.

So I say stretch, stretch, stretch, and you will feel good. Of course, as with any exercise, if you experience pain or discomfort, immediately stop the exercise and consult your physician.

Do you stretch after a workout? If yes, how do you feel?