What is the brand stretching?

What is the modern medical opinion on stretching?

• I read that "There are many recent studies and researched literature that have inconclusive evidence or contradict with other sources. More detailed evidence, especially pertaining to time, intensity, and repetition of stretches are needed. Stretching may be able to help athletic performance in some situations, but the most recent literature claims that pre-exercise stretching is detrimental to performance. Not all possible outlets of stretching have been explored; therefore, no specific claim can be made about the benefits of stretching." So is stretching worth it or not?

• Answer:

  Not really. Studies show it reduces speed, power, and force production, and doesn't decrease (actually can increase) the chance of injury. What you want to do is a dynamic warm up. Either biking or jogging, running, for 7-10 minutes (more or less depending on the person), or if you're doing sports: High knees Butt kickers Side shuffles (feet nearly touch in between each rep) Backwards running Lunges (get low) Karaokes Arm Swing, circles Running, sprints Push ups Or even a hot shower for 10 minutes. The goal is to raise the body temperature 1-1 1/2º C. "When muscles are stretched beyond natural voluntary ranges of motion, the muscles and tendons are stretched unnaturally. Excessive stretching damages tissues and promotes inflammation" (Yang, Im, & Wang, 2005). Continual stretching can lead to "lengthened" muscles. That condition leads to two performance altering states. 1) The range of movement of the joint about which the lengthened muscles gird is increased. That results in the range of effective contraction of the muscles being altered. Maximum muscle performance will have to occur in a different range of motion to the original natural range. IF a lengthened muscle is required still to perform in the orginal natural range, then performance in that range will be reduced because of the extra stretch. Maximally lenghtened muscles about a joint are associated often with a loosening of the joint. Increased leaxity can expose the joint to increased injury through collisions or simply through maximum efforts. Intra-joint movements can also stimulate aggravations to other structural tissues as well as bony structures. 2) If continued for a long time, muscles, tendons, etc... will start to loose some of their elastic properties, which would further decrease power and speed.