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| Posted: 03 May 2005 15:03 | |
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This is my first entry in this forum.
I've always enjoyed stretching and felt it was beneficial for preventing injuries and recovery. However, I just was at a research presentation that seemed to indicate that there is not any benefit for recovery, and in fact stretching may hinder recovery. I'd appreciate hearing what others think of stretching. |
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| Posted: 03 May 2005 15:07 | |
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Well, besides the recovery aspect, I have heard the world class Kenyan runners are not stretching much, and are in fact very inflexible.
Interesting research there Gerhard, did they mention any injury risks from the stretching itself? |
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| Posted: 08 May 2005 10:11 Last Edited By: lakesd | |
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Hello! As a young(ish) girl who only started running a couple of years ago I am always really interested in all the information that I find out about running. I have recently read that stretching is not too good for you and can actually do more harm than good in some cases. Whether this is true or not I have found that most times I have done a run without stretching before and after I have pulled or sprained something! It would be interesting to know the facts really.
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| Posted: 26 Aug 2005 20:31 Last Edited By: Susanne | |
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Hmm, I sometimes have a tight hamstring after hard runs and once I stretch it out, the tightness goes away.
I think overstretching is what can harm you. I also hear different opinions on how long one should stretch and I am still not sure how long one should stretch. http://www.mayoclinic.com/invoke.cfm?id=HQ01447 |
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| Posted: 08 Sep 2005 03:05 | |
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Alot of the research that I have read about stretching and running have been abused by the media such as Runners world. To do good research you need to ask very specific questions prior to doing the study. Most if not all research focus on injury prevention. They ask the question does stretching prevent injuries, they then recruit people to stretch before/after or both and then run and look to see if they have injuries. And I think it is well established that stretching cold prior to running actually increases (slightly) your chance of injury and that stretching after decrease (slightly if at all) that chance. So this is where the media runs into trouble when they ask the rhetorical question "Is stretching good for you", the discussions are to broad base for what the research shows. There is a need for studies in performance impact and specific issues such as cramping and other problems. There is some good work coming out of South Africa about stretching for people with cramping issues and they're results are very promising.
Anyway just a few thoughts, great discussion. Paul |
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